Prevent a program from running: If you want to prevent a specific program from running, for whatever reason, the Windows system does not provide a built-in and clear option within the settings that perform this task for you, in the sense that you add specific programs to a list similar to the denylist of contacts, which leads to blocking their operation. However, there are still hidden ways and tricks that do this, but you will need to complete a set of steps that seem complicated to the novice user. In general, if you want to prevent running a specific program installed on your device without deleting it from the System, you will not get out of this topic unless you have found the best way to enable you to do so. Let’s start straight.
Group Policy Editor
This method relies on the Local Group Policy Editor tool included in the Windows system, which allows the Administrator Account to control Windows features, applications, and even services and settings. This tool is only available in the Pro and Enterprise version; however, the device can also be run in the Home version, but unofficially, as we explained in a previous article. Anyway, all you have to do is press Win + S, type “group policy” in the search field, and press Open.
After running the tool, double-click on User Configuration, then click on Administrative Templates, then click on System. On the right side, right-click on “Don’t run specified Windows applications” and select “Edit” from the menu.
From the window that appears, select the “Enabled” option, and in part called “Options,” press the Show button to open a new window where you can add the programs you want to block from running. In each field under the Value column, type the name of the program’s executable file that you wish to stop, which usually ends in “exe.” This file is often in the Program Files or Program Files (x86) folder. Once found, copy the file name and paste it into any new field within the Show Contents window.
When you’re done, click OK and close the Local Group Policy Editor window. From now on, if you try to run a program from the programs placed in the list, you will see an error message, and you will not be able to run the program in any way except by changing these settings and removing the name of the program from the list.
Registry modification
Alterations can already be added to the Windows Registry to prevent a specific program from running. This method works in almost all versions of Windows, starting from XP to Windows 11. Still, before you begin applying any step, I strongly advise you to review how to make a registry backup to restore it in anticipation of any potential problems, so save a backup first, which will not take minutes to accomplish.
If you have checked the How Backup Works topic attached above, you probably know how to open the Registry Editor tool on Windows. Anyway, you can do that by pressing the Win + R keys together to open the Run window, then type “regedit” and press Enter, or you can type “Registry Editor” in the search field within the Start menu to run the tool from the results. After the Registry Editor window appears, copy the following path and Paste it into the address bar at the top of the window, then press Enter:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
When you select the Policies folder from the left side menu, right-click on it and choose from the “New” menu, then press the “Key” option from the drop-down list to create a new subfolder and name this folder “Explorer.” After that, inside this subfolder, right-click in any empty place on the right side, then choose New and select from the list “DWORD (32-bit”) to create a new value, name it “DisallowRun” and after completing it, double-click on it to show you Edit value window. Press the OK button to replace “0” with “1” in the Value data field.
After that, right-click on the Explorer sub-folder and choose New, then Key to create another sub-folder that you will name “DisallowRun,” On the right-hand side, right-click in any empty place and select Value String and give the new value any name; let it be a number. 1″ to number the values since you will block a group of programs. In general, after creating the value, right-click on it and choose Edit, and in the Value data field, write the name of the operational file of the program that you want to block from running and press OK. You can create infinite values within the DisallowRun folder, each representing a blocked program. When finished, restart your computer, after which you cannot open and rerun this program.
Simple Run Blocker
If none of the previous methods work, you can try a third-party program to block specific programs from running on your computer. And Simple Run Blocker is considered one of the best in this regard. This portable and free program is the best to complete this task perfectly and quickly; all you have to do is run the program and then press the plus sign (+) to select the file to run the program that you want to prevent from running to add it to the list, then press the check mark icon to save the settings Then you can close Simple Run Blocker and restart your computer to apply the block to the program in the list.
You can also review the previous sections for some information and applications. And do not forget to share the article with friends and include a comment below.
