Getting Windows 7 to accept a program

[Ton van Vliet]

There is one program I have used regularly on Windows 7, but suggenly it has
taken to interrupting it by asking if I want to allow it to make changes to my
system, and it does this several times a day -- every time I use this program,
in fact.

Is there any way I can get Windows 7 to "remember" that I am willing to allow
THIS program to make changes to my system, without turning that off for all
other programs?

Although I cannot explain how you got into the situation you are,
being that you cannot launch your program without getting the UAC
prompt, where 'it used to work before', there is a way (that worked
for me at least) to accomplish this, by creating a special task that
starts your program using the Task Scheduler.

The following steps may not be 'fool-proof' but should get you going:

launch the Task Scheduler (eg by pressing the Start button, typing
'Task Scheduler' in the search box and clicking the 'Task Scheduler'
program in de list)

select the 'Task Scheduler Library', to show the defined user tasks

click on 'Create Task'

-- on the General tab
give the task a name, eg. "AsksamSkipUAC"
select Configure for "Windows 7 & Co"
enable the 'Run with highest priviliges' option (if you forget this,
you will still be prompted!)

-- on the Triggers tab
Here you can add one or more events that would trigger the task. There
are several possibilities here (eg. when you "Log On") but in your
case it is slightly more complicated because you want to run the
program 'On demand', therefore you do not create a new 'Trigger' here

-- on the Actions tab
create a new action to 'Start a program'
select the program you want to run by browsing to it
fill in evt arguments and startup location

-- on the Conditions tab
adapt to your needs

-- on the Settings tab
adapt to your needs but make sure the 'Allow task to be run on demand'
option is enabled

In principle you are done now and should be able to launch your
program by selecting it in the task list and select 'Run' (note: you
should try this now, to make sure the 'task' on itself works
properly!)

However, to make your program 'Run on Demand' by clicking on an Icon
on your desktop, we need another way to 'Run' the task

I assume there are other/better ways to launch a task (someone please
enlighten me), but the way that I have been able to accomplish this is
by creating a small batch file containing the commands to run the
task:

create a new text file on your desktop
rename it to AskSam.bat
edit it to contain the following command:
schtasks /run /tn "AskSamSkipUAC"
save it on your desktop

Now (hopefully) double clicking on the newly created item launches
your program without UAC prompt.

 

[Steve Hayes]

So you didn't go and edit the exe file properties and allow it to be run
as to your requirements?

Doing that is what creates the pif files in the first place.

 

[Steve Hayes]

Although I cannot explain how you got into the situation you are,
being that you cannot launch your program without getting the UAC
prompt, where 'it used to work before', there is a way (that worked
for me at least) to accomplish this, by creating a special task that
starts your program using the Task Scheduler.

The following steps may not be 'fool-proof' but should get you going:

Thanks for that. I haven'tt tried it yet, but will save the instructions for
when I get a chance to do so.

 

[Char Jackson]

Doing that is what creates the pif files in the first place.

I may have missed it, but why do you bother with the pif file in the
first place? Since you say there's an executable, why not just execute
the executable and ignore the pif?

 

[Steve Hayes]

I may have missed it, but why do you bother with the pif file in the
first place? Since you say there's an executable, why not just execute
the executable and ignore the pif?

I do.

But windows 7 creates the pif, and then keeps asking me whether I want to
allow it to make changes to my computer. I'm just looking for some way to make
it remember the answer, other than to stop it asking that for ANY program.

I can understand having that as a security feature -- if a new program wants
to make changes, and it isn't a program I installed, then I want to know about
it. But when it is a program I installed and know about, and use several times
a day, then that pop-up becomes annoying.

 

[G. Morgan]

Did you see my other message?

I guess not.

These pifs were all created by Windows 7.

Huh? Windows 7 does not create .pif's, the installer of the program may
have though.

Why didn't the target .exe "work" when you set it's properties to 'run
as administrator"? Does it still ask you to elevate?

 

[G. Morgan]

I tried deleting the .pif file on the XP machine where I'm typing this, and it
worked fine without it. I see that the pif file was created in Dec 1999. That
was when I bought a new computer using Windows 98, so that is obviously the
version of Windows that created the pif file. I'll try deleting the pif file
on the Windows 7 machine and see if that solves the problem.

You just said Win 7 created the .pif, which I think is impossible.

You may need to go into "compatibility mode" and set it for 'XP'.

 

[Steve Hayes]

I guess not.

Here it is again then:

So it does, and I have checked and find that all the .pif files on my computer
were created by Windows 7 when I set up short cuts to the programs, like this

Volume in drive C is WINDOWS
Volume Serial Number is 6E41-047E

Directory of C:\Users\Steve\Desktop

2010-06-12 01:59 PM 2ÿ853 askSam DOS.pif
2010-03-31 01:16 PM 2ÿ853 FHS.pif
2010-06-14 12:06 PM 2ÿ853 Inmagic.pif
2010-04-22 12:22 PM 2ÿ853 Research Data Filer.pif
2010-02-24 05:13 PM 2ÿ853 XyWrite 3.pif
2010-03-25 04:55 PM 2ÿ853 XyWrite 4.pif
6 File(s) 17ÿ118 bytes
0 Dir(s) 85ÿ989ÿ343ÿ232 bytes free

I don't know why the file sizes look funny, but they are all the same size.

The askSam one is the only one that nags me for permission to allow it to make
changes to my computer. The others just open the program.

I took someone's advice and changed its properties to run it as administrator,
but that made no difference.

And, as I said, it worked fine until a few months ago.

Huh? Windows 7 does not create .pif's, the installer of the program may
have though.

I am the installer of the program, and when I installed it (ie set the
properties) Windows created the pif.

Why didn't the target .exe "work" when you set it's properties to 'run
as administrator"? Does it still ask you to elevate?

I've no idea why it didn't work -- that's why I'm asking here, where I think
there may be some people who know more than me.

It still asks me if I want to allow the program to make changes to my
computer.

Perhaps it's like false positives in an anti-virus program, and should be
reported to Microsoft.

 

[G. Morgan]

Perhaps it's like false positives in an anti-virus program, and should be
reported to Microsoft.

Maybe, did you try "compatibility mode" yet?

 

[G. Morgan]

I am the installer of the program, and when I installed it (ie set the
properties) Windows created the pif.

I meant the program's installer, not the user who ran it. ;-)

 

[Steve Hayes]

You just said Win 7 created the .pif, which I think is impossible.

Well I certainly didn't create them. but they magically appeared when I set up
desktop links for the programs.

My other gripe is that when I set them up, the the "gange icon" thingy didn't
work, so they all have the same desktop icon -- a blank white square. But I
can live with that.

You may need to go into "compatibility mode" and set it for 'XP'.

The troubleshooting thingy recommended that, so I set it up. It made no
difference. The program runs as it always has, and Windows still asks me if I
want to let it make changes to my computer.

 

[Steve Hayes]

Maybe, did you try "compatibility mode" yet?

Yep.

 

[Steve Hayes]

I meant the program's installer, not the user who ran it. ;-)

DOS programs don't have installers -- you just copy the program where you want
it to be, then type the program name or click on it, and it runs (or doesn't,
as the case may be).

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

DOS programs don't have installers -- you just copy the program where you want
it to be, then type the program name or click on it, and it runs (or doesn't,
as the case may be).

Some do.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

There is one program I have used regularly on Windows 7, but suggenly it has
taken to interrupting it by asking if I want to allow it to make changes to my
system, and it does this several times a day -- every time I use this program,
in fact.

Is there any way I can get Windows 7 to "remember" that I am willing to allow
THIS program to make changes to my system, without turning that off for all
other programs?

I'm not sure where to add this to the thread, so I chose the highest
level...

I just searched my C drive and found a grand total of two pif files.

They are in the Malware Bytes folder. One is called firefox and the
other is called mbam-chameleon - oddly, with no extension visible in
Explorer, but dir in cmd shows .pif.