Fix Start Menu Shortcuts Open File Security Warning in Windows7 and Windows Vista

Monday, October 18, 2010

When launching applications via Start menu – Programs, the "Open File – Security Warning" prompt may appear, containing the text "Do you want to open this file?" with Open and Cancel buttons. Clicking Open may launch the application correctly. The confirmation prompt could be the result of incorrect mandatory integrity level assigned for the Start menu.

By default no integrity level label is explicitly assigned for the Start menu\Programs folder, which means that the "Medium" integrity level is assigned (implied). I’m still yet to understand what causes this problem in the first case and I was unable to reproduce the problem. But resetting the integrity level using the ICACLS command took care of the problem in a user’s system running Windows 7.

Resetting the Start Menu Programs Integrity Level to Medium

1. Click Start, type cmd.exe

2. Right-click cmd.exe in Start menu search results and click Run as Administrator.

3. Type the following command and press {ENTER}

ICACLS "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs" /Setintegritylevel (OI)(CI)Medium