Understanding Windows 7 Control Panel – Action Center | TechnoEnclave

The Control Panel in Windows 7 consists of numerous items using which you can control and manage your system effectively . In this article, I will examine the importance of Action Center which can be accessed by selecting Start | Control Panel | Action Center. In fact, Action Center is the first item you will see when you view Control Panel.

Action Center mainly showcases alerts in the form of human readable text and the required buttons to perform action. For example, a sample view of the Action Center is given below

As you can see, Action Center displays that User Account Control (UAC) is turned off. This means that Windows will never prompt you while you are making any changes to your system. You can enable UAC by clicking the link titled Choose your UAC level. You will view a new window as shown below.

As you can see, there are four options for managing UAC.

Always Notify – Windows will always prompt you when you try to install a software, make changes to computer and windows settings.

Default – Notifies when you try to install a software, make changes to computer and windows settings by dimming desktop

Third Option – Notifies when you try to install a software, make changes to computer and windows settings without dimming desktop

Never Notify - Windows will never prompt you when you try to install a software, make changes to computer and windows settings. I generally doesn’t recommend this option unless you are sure about the work being done by you on your computer.

For instance, if you install third party applications from reliable sources then you can proceed without enabling UAC. User Access Control is recommended for beginners since it will help them to double check the work that is being carried out by them.

I would suggest you to check the Action Center page once in a week as it will remind you the work which has to be completed in order to make your computer safe.