Problems with "Run Only Allowed Windows Application"

ID: Q178723

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information on how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" online Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" online Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to start an application by opening an associated document, the application fails to start and you receive the following error message:

Restrictions: This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in
effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

This error occurs when there is a System Policy in effect that enables the item marked "Run only allowed Windows applications."

This error is expected behavior if your application's executable is not in the List of allowed applications dialog box. However, in this case, the application is restricted even though it is included in this list.

CAUSE

The shell restriction implemented by the "Run only allowed Windows applications" policy does not correctly parse file associations when the executable path contains a space.

For instance, if a document of type TEST1 were opened by the application APP1 with the path C:\Program Files\APP1\Binary Files\APP1.EXE %1, you would encounter this problem when double-clicking on a TEST1 document.

RESOLUTION

Use one or more of the following methods to resolve this problem:

Method 1

To resolve this problem on computers that have Internet Explorer 4.0 or earlier or that have Internet Explorer 4.01 or later installed but not the Desktop Update Component (Active Desktop), obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT version 4.0.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

NOTE: Internet Explorer 4.0 with the Desktop Update Component, ships with its own version of Shell32.dll. Installing this fix may cause Internet Explorer not to function correctly.

Method 2

Install Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 and select the Desktop Update Component.

Method 3

On systems running the earlier version of Internet Explorer 4.0 or not running Internet Explorer at all, you may be able to work around this problem by either surrounding the entire association executable path with quotes, or by altering the executable path into its equivalent 8.3 format. To do this:

Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

Go to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\<application>\shell\open\command
where <application> is the application name of the associated files you are attempting to open.

Modify the (Default) string value from its current path, for example, C:\Program Files\APP1\Binary Files\APP1.EXE %1, to one of the following:

"C:\Program Files\APP1\Binary Files\APP1.EXE %1" (notice the quotes)

-or-
C:\PROGRA~1\APP1\BINARY~1\APP1.EXE %1 (no quotes needed)

NOTE: Use dir /x to determine 8.3 equivalents of long file names.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

Keywords : NT4SP4Fix kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00.sp4 NTSrvWkst
Version : WinNT:4.0
Platform :
Issue type : kbbug