Stop UAC/Secure Desktop from dimming the screen

I like the concepts of UAC and the "Secure Desktop" in Windows 7, but I don't like the dimming of the Secure Desktop to prompt for Admin credentials (or OK button to get clicked).

However, dimming goes so far that my monitor regularly goes into PowerSaver mode, which is annoying (as it takes another 10 seconds for it to wake up), and might harm the monitor: two weeks after switching from XP to Windows 7, my 30" monitor stayed black and it had to get replaced.

The web is full of tips how to turn off dimming, but that will always also turn off the "Secure Desktop".

Is there a way to present the Secure Desktop without dimming? Or with a different visual effect to show that it is the Secure Desktop?

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not looking for a way to disable dimming by disabling Secure Desktop (as is done by lowering the UAC level). I want to keep both UAC and Secure Desktop.

Solution 1:

Ok, the thread is old, however, as I managed to find the solution for myself, I want to share it with everybody who like OP or me wanted UAC with Secure Desktop and ON but had problems of monitor/video modes switching. I'm on Windows 7 but I hope there's no difference to Vista for this solution to implement (can anybody try?).

The root cause of the problem (in my case at least) appeared to be slow switching to another video mode on Secure Desktop before dimming the screen. So, I looked for the way to find these settings somewhere then change them to more appropriate. As described here http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/windows-7-changes-screen-resolution-on-boot-up/13c17468-0d70-4827-a559-dca0fa558a69 the resolution and refresh settings are stored in multiple subkeys here:

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VIDEO

so all I had to do is get my current user settings from Control Panel -> Desktop -> Adjust resolution (note Resolution parameters) and then -> Advanced settings -> Monitor (note Screen refresh rate parameter). These parameters could be entered by regedit in all subkeys having values DefaultSettings.XResolution, DefaultSettings.YResolution and DefaultSettings.VRefresh. Now Secure Desktop (check it by Ctrl+Alt+Del) doesn't switch to different mode, so that unacceptable UAC delay stopped to bother me. Hope it can help.

P.S. Another approach that worked temporarily was switching to Secure Desktop by Ctrl+Alt+Del, pressing accessibility button and checking High Contrast option. In my case it worked till first logout, so if the first approach won't work, try to investigate more in this alternative direction.

Solution 2:

On Windows 7 search for "Change user account control settings" in the start menu and then move the slider to the position shown in the image. This will keep UAC enabled but won't dim the desktop.