Unmanifested Control Panel Applications (User Account Control)
AdminStudio 2022 | 23.0 | Application Manager
For this operating system compatibility test, the Windows Installer database is scanned for the presence of unmanifested Control Panel Applications. The file extensions that are scanned are .exe and .dll.
Test Group/Test Category
| • | 0303—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 8.1 (32-Bit) |
| • | 0403—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 8.1 (64-Bit) |
| • | 0503—Operating System Compatibility/Windows Server 2012 |
| • | 0603—Operating System Compatibility/Windows Server 2016 |
| • | 1003—Operating System Compatibility/Windows Server 2019 |
| • | 2803—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-1809 (and 2019 LTSC) (32-Bit) |
| • | 5203—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-1909 (32-Bit) |
| • | 5403—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-2004 (32-Bit) |
| • | 5603—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-20H2 (32-Bit) |
| • | 5803—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-21H1 (32-Bit) |
| • | 7003—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-21H2 (32-Bit) |
| • | 2903—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-1809 (and 2019 LTSC) (64-Bit) |
| • | 5303—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-1909 (64-Bit) |
| • | 5503—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-2004 (64-Bit) |
| • | 5703—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-20H2 (64-Bit) |
| • | 5903—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-21H1 (64-Bit) |
| • | 7103—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 10-21H2 (64-Bit) |
| • | 6703—Operating System Compatibility/Windows 11-21H2 (64-Bit) |
Severity
Warning
Message
This Windows Installer database contains unmanifested Control Panel Application [FILE_NAME] (Table: File, Key: [FILE_KEY]).
Background
On Windows Vista and later systems, all applications are run by default with standard user privileges, even when the logged-on user is a member of the Administrators group. As a result, unmanifested Control Panel (.cpl) files might fail. A manifest file is a simple .xml file that contains settings that inform the operating system how to handle the program when it is launched.
Resolution
The following resolutions are available.
Manual Fix
An external manifest file should be created and included in the same folder with the Control Panel Application file and named the same as the full file name of the executable with a .manifest extension (for example <application_name.extension>.manifest).
Basic Auto Fix
For each unmanifested Control Panel Application file, a manifest file that specifies privilege level highestAvailable is added in a Windows Installer transform.
This fix is enabled by default.
Advanced Auto Fix
For each unmanifested Control Panel Application file, a manifest file that specifies privilege level requireAdministrator is added in a Windows Installer transform.
See Also
The Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Developer Story: Application Compatibility Cookbook