What is the customer's User Account Control experience for a session using Admin Mode?
User Account Control (UAC) is a Windows security feature that helps prevent unauthorized changes to the operating system. The level of UAC setting on the customer's computer influences the experience provided by the GoToAssist Remote Support application. Agents can help customers check or change their UAC settings for the best experience.
What is User Account Control?
User Account Control (UAC) is a Windows security feature that helps prevent unauthorized changes to the operating system. These changes can be initiated both by legitimate applications or users, and by viruses or other forms of malware. The feature can help reduce the number of programs that run with elevated privileges, therefore preventing users from accidentally changing their system settings, and preventing malware from gaining system-wide access.
How can the customer check or change their UAC settings?
- To open the Run box, press Windows+R on your keyboard.
- Type Control Panel into the Open field of the Run box, then click OK.
- On the Control Panel, navigate to .
- Select Change User Account Control settings.
Note: If you are prompted for UAC permission, click Yes to continue.
- In the User Account Control Settings window, check your current setting, and move the slider to change it.
Note: For detailed information about different levels of protection, see the related Microsoft help article.
User Account Control and the GoToAssist Remote Support application experience
The GoToAssist Remote Support application has been designed to function with all levels of UAC setting. However, the experience may be different depending on the selected setting.
- Level 4 (Always Notify)
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- This requires the customer to accept the UAC prompt.
- The agent cannot see the remote screen or gain remote control until the customer accepts the UAC prompt.
Remember: While the UAC prompt is being displayed to the customer, remote control access is suspended in the Agent Console. This sometimes results in the agent seeing only a blank screen until the customer accepts the UAC prompt.
- Once the session is successfully elevated to run in Admin Mode, subsequent UAC prompts during the session will be visible for both the agent and the customer.
- Level 3 (Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer)
- Same behavior as for Level 4 above.
- Level 2 (Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer, do not dim my desktop)
- Same behavior as for Level 4 above, except that the agent can see the UAC prompts, but cannot gain remote control access until the session is elevated to Admin Mode.
- Level 1 (Never Notify - Disable UAC)
- There is no UAC notification, and elevation to Admin Mode completes without a UAC prompt.