To help cut down on any malicious software applications from running on your computer, and the beginner computer users from changing critical settings on a computer. Vista has now has a new feature called User Account Protection, primarily known as UAP.

Shutting Down User Account Protection

A quick way to shut down "User Account Protection" (UAP) is to open the "Start Menu" and click on your picture at the top of the main menu to open up "User Accounts".

Click on "Turn User Account on or off". Then un-check "Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer".
Click "OK" and exit. This will turn off all the User Account Protection (UAP).

Myself, I strongly suggest against turning your UAP off completely. UAP is helpful against Spyware and other malicious software because it will require the user to consent to any action before any system changes are made. It can be used to prevent a beginner or family member from making changes to your computer by restricting them from accessing or even saving any changes to critical areas.

To manually adjust User Account Protection (UAP)

NOTE: This list comes from Vista Ultimate settings, and some of these settings may not appear in other versions of Vista.
The "Suggested settings for UAC" list below will work on all builds of Vista.

I find that it is necessary to tweak it a little so that it is less annoying for more experienced users. Advanced user will be overwhelmed by the number of pop ups for authorization they will receive. By tweaking the settings you can reduce the number of those warnings you see.

1. To get started, open up the Local Security Settings MMC to show the local security policies by running secpol.msc.

2. Navigate through Local Policies and then to Security Options.

3. Scroll through the list on the right of the various security settings until your reach the User Account Control settings. Refer to the list below of the various settings, to change them, just right click select properties.

Suggested Settings for UAC

UAC should never be turned off. Follow these suggestions for changing UAC settings.

The following procedures step you through the tasks of disabling Admin Approval Mode, disabling UAC from prompting for credentials to install applications, and changing the elevation prompt behavior.

Disable Admin Approval Mode

Use the following procedure to disable Admin Approval Mode.
To perform the following procedure, you must be logged into a client computer as a local administrator.

To disable Admin Approval Mode

1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click Run, type secpol.msc in the Open text box, and then click OK.

2. If UAC is currently active, a User Account Control dialog box will appear. If so, verify that the details presented match the request you initiated, and click Continue.

3. From the Local Security Settings console tree, click Local Policies, and then click Security Options.

4. Scroll down and double-click User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode.

5. From the User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode Properties dialog box, click Disabled, and then click OK.

6. Close the Local Security Settings window.

Disable User Account Control from prompting for credentials to install applications

Use the following procedure to disable UAC from prompting for credentials to install applications.
To perform the following procedure, you must be logged into a client computer as a local administrator.

To disable UAC from prompting for credentials to install applications

1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click Run, type secpol.msc in the Open text box, and then click OK.

2. From the Local Security Settings console tree, click Local Policies, and then Security Options.

3. Scroll down and double-click User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation.

4. From the User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation Properties dialog box, click Disabled, and then click OK.

5. Close the Local Security Settings window.

Change the elevation prompt behavior

Use the following procedure to change the elevation prompt behavior for UAC.
To perform the following procedure, you must be logged into a client computer as a local administrator.

To change the elevation prompt behavior

1. Click Start, click Accessories, click Run, type secpol.msc in the Open text box, and then click OK.

2. From the Local Security Settings console tree, click Local Policies, and then Security Options.

3. Scroll down to and double-click User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators or User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for standard users.

4. From the drop-down menu, select one of the following settings:

•No prompt

•Prompt for credentials (this setting requires user name and password input before an application or task will run as elevated, and is the default for standard users)

•Prompt for consent (this is the default setting for administrators only)

5. Click OK.

6. Close the Local Security Settings window.

For Basic and Premium Edition:

Through the Registry:
NOTE: This will work for all Vista versions.

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.
3. Click Continue button for UAC prompt.
4. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
5. In the right pane, right click on ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin and click Modify. (See screenshot below)

6. Type 0 (Number) and click OK. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: To restore the default settings for this, type 2 instead.