Microsoft has confirmed a new issue in the operating system Windows 10 which prevents applications from opening from non-administrator accounts. Users who have installed the latest optional update are the ones affected by this issue, according to details provided by Microsoft.
Pe Windows 10, certain applications refuse to start when launched from a regular account without administrator rights. Affected apps include Quick Assist, Microsoft Teams and Windows Narrator, and the issue was identified after installing optional update KB5043131.
Related: What is Optional Updates in Windows and how does it help?
Content
The risks that come with optional updates
Optional updates from Windows are considered versions Beta, which means they may contain bugs and should only be installed if they fix a major problem on the system. Otherwise, the changes brought about by these updates are included in the more stable monthly cumulative packages released by Microsoft.
This bug that prevents apps from opening from non-administrator accounts affects apps that are launched from certain locations of the Windows and which requests elevated privileges using the attribute uiAccess=true. Therefore, the problem only occurs in accounts with limited privileges, not in administrator accounts.
Among the locations in Windows 10 affected by this problem are:
%ProgramFiles%(and its subdirectories)%ProgramFiles(x86)%(for versions of Windows 64-bit)%systemroot%\system32%systemroot%\syswow64(for 64-bit versions)
Any application launched from these directories and requesting elevated rights will experience this error.
What can you do if there are problems opening applications from non-administrator accounts on your computer Windows 10
Microsoft has implemented a workaround through the method Known Issue Rollback (KIR), which removes the problematic changes from the update. This solution is automatically applied to non-managed devices, most consumer devices and business devices that are not managed by an IT department, and will receive the fix in the shortest possible time.
For managed systems (managed by an IT team), the fix is not applied automatically. In these cases, system administrators must configure a specific policy to enable remediation on affected devices.
For IT administrators, monitoring of affected applications can be done using Procmon (Process Monitor). Microsoft recommends checking the integrity level of the application, which should be "medium" instead of "low" to work properly.
A definitive fix for this bug will most likely come with the next major operating systems update Windows 10.
Aside from the issue itself, this inconvenience once again highlights the risks of installing optional updates and the importance of careful update management on devices Windows 10. Microsoft recommends using updates only when necessary, until safe cumulative versions are released, to avoid possible inconvenience.
