Stop the Vista User Account Control (UAC) Prompt for Firefox

After the Firefox automatic update failed several times yesterday for the 2.0.0.4 patch, I manually downloaded and installed the update. Afterwards, anytime I opened Firefox I would get the User Account Control (UAC) prompt to allow Firefox to run as an administrator. This became increasingly irritating when clicking on links from within Outlook or MSN messenger.

The solution is NOT to disable UAC. Instead, follow these easy steps to prevent Firefox from running as an Administrator thus preventing the UAC prompt.

1. Go to your Firefox install location, usually (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox) and right click on firefox.exe and click on Properties.
2. Click on the 'Compatibility' tab, and then click on the 'Show settings for all users' at the bottom.
3. Under the 'Privilege Level' group ensure that the 'Run this program as an administrator' is unchecked. Click OK on both dialog boxes.
4. Run Firefox using your normal user permissions.

Disclaimer

The reason my Firefox automatic update failed in the first place is because Firefox wasn't running in administrator mode. So be warned that if you do want to install automatic updates that you will have to run Firefox by right clicking on firefox.exe and clicking 'Run as Administrator'.

Further Reading

• Discussion that lead to these steps
• How to setup Vista to run programs at different permission levels