User Account Control

What is UAC?

User Account Control (UAC) was a feature first introduced in Microsoft Windows Vista to avoid unauthorized changes in system settings. Each time a program is executed, UAC asks for administrator permission. UAC has been an annoyance to some users.

Why Do We Turn Off UAC?

Problem: The status log for OpenVPN will produce errors, saying that it can not modify the route tables.

Reason: The installer asks to be run as an administrator, and it runs with elevated permissions. Until the computer is rebooted, the program launched also has elevated permissions. After the machine has been rebooted, the program isn't launched with elevated permisions and thus doesn't have access to the route API.

Solution: Turning the UAC off prevents this problem from occurring.

Alternative Solution

One alternative to turning off the UAC is to set the compatibility mode of OpenVPN to run as administrator.

1. Right click on the OpenVPN icon in the start menu.
2. Click on Properties.
3. Click on the Compatibility tab.
4. Check the Run this program as an administrator box to enable or disable this option.
5. Click on OK to apply the changes.