8/21/2019 Configure or Turn Off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

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Con gure or Turn Off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

It can cause issues with some older third-party software

Written by: Aseem Kishore, Twitter: @akishore

Posted on: November 13th, 2015 in: Windows XP

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Data Execution Prevention, otherwise known as DEP, is a set of technologies incorporated into Windows XP SP2 and later that prevents code from being
run in certain regions of memory that are not authorized.

This helps to prevent all kinds of attacks and exploits, that normally would be able to run freely, from executing. Data Execution Prevention comes in two
avors, hardware-enforced DEP and software-enforced DEP.

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8/21/2019 Configure or Turn Off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

Most users will never need to worry about DEP because it works in the background and normally only protects Windows system binaries or programs that
“opt-in”. However, if DEP is turned on for all programs, it can cause issues with certain programs.

DEP will sometimes shut down a program or process without any noti cation if it violates DEP. Normally, these are third-party or older programs not
Get an Indian domain, written properly for Windows.
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one low price. You can turn off Data Execution Prevention for a particular program in Windows by following the steps below. Note that you can turn off DEP globally for
the entire system, but it’s not recommended as it makes your computer less secure.

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Enable/Disbable DEP
Step 1: Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties. Then click on the Advanced tab and then Settings under Performance.

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8/21/2019 Configure or Turn Off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

In Windows 8 or Windows 10, you right-click on This PC, choose Properties and then click on the Advanced system settings link.

Step 2: Now click on the Data Execution Prevention tab and you’ll see two radio buttons:

Step 3: Here is where it can be a bit tricky. By default, DEP should be set to the rst radio button and therefore only protect essential Windows programs and services. If the second radio button is
selected, it will turn on DEP for ALL processes, not just Windows processes.

If you’re having issues with a program, go ahead and try to select the rst radio button, restart your computer and see if that xes the issue. If not, you can go ahead and click the Turn on DEP for all
programs and services except those I select button and then add the program that is having problems. Make sure to check the box also.

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8/21/2019 Configure or Turn Off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

However, DEP is now turned on for every other program in Windows and you might end up having the same problem with other programs. In that case, you have to manually each program to the
exception list.

Step 4: Click the Add button and browse to the location of the executable for the program you want to remove from DEP protection.

It’s also worth noting that you might get an error message stating You can not set DEP attributes on 64-bit executables when adding a 64-bit executable to the exception list. This is OK because it means
that your computer is 64-bit and that your processor already supports hardware-based DEP.

This means that all 64-bit processes are always protected. The only way to prevent DEP from protecting a 64-bit application is to turn it off completely. However, in order to turn off DEP completely, you
have to use the command line.

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8/21/2019 Configure or Turn Off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

Turn DEP Always On/Always Off

In addition to the two settings you see in the Data Execution Prevention tab above, there are two more settings you can con gure for DEP.

Always On - DEP will be on for all processes in Window and you cannot exempt any process or program from protection

Always Off - DEP will be completely turned off and no process or program, including Windows processes, will be protected.

To do this, open the command prompt by clicking on Start, typing in CMD, right-clicking on the rst item and choosing Run as administrator.

Now to turn DEP to always on, copy and paste the following command:

bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOn

To always turn off DEP, type the following command:

bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff

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8/21/2019 Configure or Turn Off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

Note that you only need to run one of these commands, not both like shown above. You’ll also need to restart your computer after any change you make to DEP.

Once you have made the changes, you’ll notice that the Windows interface for changing DEP settings has been disabled, so only use the command line options if necessary. One option gives you
absolutely no protection and one gives you complete protection.

The default and ideal option is to have the rst radio button checked, which will  only protect essential Windows programs and services. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!

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Founder of Online Tech Tips and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical
certi cations.

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8/21/2019 Configure or Turn Off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

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