Requirements for Administrative (admin) Privileges

Individuals with administrative privileges to their computers must follow these guidelines. Failure to follow the guidelines may result in your administrative account being disabled.

• The administrative account should not be used, except for when prompted for authorization by Windows (request for “elevation”). Otherwise, you should use your campus account to log into your computer and for day to day operations. Windows will request administrative privileges when necessary, at which time you can enter the administrative account to perform the action.
• You should only install software on the computer needed for your university-related work. 
• When you install software, please email cws-it@ucdavis.edu to inform us of what you’ve installed.
• You *must* obtain a legal license for any software you install. This includes software for which a free version exists for noncommercial use – we must make sure that a license that’s compatible with the work you’re doing is acquired. We can still help you with this portion if you reach out to us via email or in person – usually discounted licenses are available through campus or through the vendor for academic research. We will immediately revoke admin privileges for anyone caught using pirated software, and may elect to do the same for inadequately licensed software. Violations of software licensing can get the University into serious legal and financial trouble. By using an administrative account, you agree to accept responsibility for obtaining a license to any installed software, whether by communicating with us or by your own acquisition.
• If you suspect you may have had a virus, malware, ransomware, or other security problem on your computer, report it to CWS IT immediately. There will be no punitive action or shaming for these types of issues, but we need to know as soon as possible so we can clean the infected computer and protect other network resources from potential infections.