Authoring Packages without the UAC Dialog Box

When elevated privileges are not required to install a Windows Installer package, the author of the package can suppress the dialog box that User Account Control (UAC) displays to prompt users for administrator authorization.

To suppress the display of the UAC dialog box when installing the application, the author of the package should do the following:

  • Install the application using Window Installer 4.0 or later on Windows Vista.
  • Do not depend on using elevated system privileges to install the application on the computer.
  • Install the application in the per-user context and make this the default installation context of the package. If the ALLUSERS property is not set, the installer installs the package in the per-user context. If you do not include the ALLUSERS property in the Property table, the installer does not set this property and so per-user installation becomes the default installation context. You can override this default by setting the ALLUSERS property on the command line.
  • Set Bit 3 in the Word Count Summary property to indicate that elevated privileges are not required to install the application.