How to turn off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows

Posted on May 10, 2009 at 5:13 am

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 for storage.

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

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 some certain programs.

DEP will sometimes shut down a program or process without any notification if it violates DEP. Normally, these are third-party or older programs not written properly for Windows.

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.

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

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

Step 3: Go ahead and click on Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select.

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

After you do this, you should reboot your machine once in order for the changes to take place.

» Filed Under Windows XP

Comments

6 Responses to “How to turn off DEP (Data Execution Prevention) in Windows”

saynt said on : May 27th, 2009 at 11:19 pm

if i cannot choose any options (because it is not highlighted) on the DEP tab, how can i access it? how can i activate it again? i appreciate if you can help me on this, i cannot run some of my programs, i think because of this. thanks a lot.

Chuck said on : June 30th, 2009 at 3:57 pm

great as long as the app is not black listed. I get the error Dep cannot be turned off for this application. for tweaking apps.

olong said on : July 4th, 2009 at 10:44 am

DEP option is disabled (because it is not highlighted, greyed out). Do this:

# Navigate to “All Programs” and “Accessories”

# Right-click on the icon “Command Prompt”

# Click “Properties” tab and in the “Shortcuts” where you normally are, click “Advanced”

# Check “Run as Administrator” and confirm with ‘OK’

# Click on “Command Prompt”

# Paste this to later in the prompt window: bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx OptIn

# Confirm by pressing “enter”

# The message “Success” appears.

# Restart to finalize your work.

steven said on : August 10th, 2009 at 2:03 pm

olong- thanks so much! Worked flawlessly, and fixed a long-standing problem I’ve had with DEP! Thanks again!

lee said on : November 2nd, 2009 at 10:33 pm

I too am having problems with DEP it wont let me print any pdf files. I have ticked Adobe in the DEP box, but it still wont print

Peter said on : November 15th, 2009 at 10:56 pm

Same problem as Lee! I have also added Adobe in the DEP box, but get the error if I try to print, regards Peter