Why some exe's have shield icons and others don't?

[Cat]

I installed an application which has 3 exe's. Two exe's have no shield
icon, but one exe has a shield icon. So, if I double click it, UAC
dialog box pops up. I wonder what arethe differences between these
exe's. How does Windows decide which exe should have a shield icon?

 

[Dennis Pack]

Cat:
A shield on the icon indicates that it needs elevated privileges to
run.

 

[Cat]

Thank you. I assumed that. But the question is, how Windows decides
that. It seems that Windows adds shield icons even before those exe
have been executed. Does Windows scan exes to find out some specific
machine instruction codes when they are first copied?

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Odd. My new versions of PerfectDisk, jv16Powertools, and RegVac don't
have shields, but my Ccleaner and old freeware version of Total Install do.

 

[Steve Drake]

A few things.

If it can workout if the app is a setup it gets a shield.
If its got an application manifest that says it needs elevated privs, it
gets a shield.
If its a short cut that says it needs elevated privs, its gets a shield.

I am guessing it could do more, like scan the EXE for simple signs.

This is from memory, I went on a Vista DEV training course last year. wow a
year has gone so fast.

Steve

 

[Alexander Suhovey]

Personally, I think shield icon is a bit misleading.

You see, its purpose is to warn you that an app or function you are about to execute requires elevated privileges which means that it'll put you at a higher level of risk while you are running it even if there are sane reasons for app to require admin rights.

IMHO something more of "alarm" kind of visuals would be more appropriate here since "shield" in my mind generally relates to something that *protects* or something that *is protected* - take Symantec Antivirus, Security Center or Windows Update icons for example. I understand that in Windows "shield" means "security-related" but still it's not the best visual for all security-related topics.

Not that it is a big issue, just a thought.

--
Alexander Suhovey
Nico, I just want you to know how much better I sleep at night knowing I have shields on my executibles.
Windows evaluates the item and what context it needs to run in. If it is something that requires administative (elevated) priviledges, it will mark it with the shield icon.

Hope that answers your question.

Thx,
Nico

 

[Guest]

i wanted to know this too, i have a shield on the EXE for battlefield 2142
but not for any of my other games. i was thinking it was hindering the
program in some way because it does not fun fantasticly in vista.