| Previous | Next |
| ERROR_ACCESS_AUDIT_BY_POLICY | ERROR_ABANDON_HIBERFILE |
ERROR_ACCESS_DISABLED_NO_SAFER_UI_BY_POLICY
An administrator policy blocked the resource and no interactive SAFER prompt is available.
ERROR_ACCESS_DISABLED_NO_SAFER_UI_BY_POLICY means that an administrator policy blocked the resource and no interactive SAFER prompt is available. Software Restriction Policies or related application-control evaluation determined that the target cannot run or be accessed. The “no SAFER UI” portion matters for services, noninteractive processes, and environments where Windows cannot ask a user to approve or explain the blocked action.
Where the result appears
- CreateProcess or shell launch of a file disallowed by policy.
- installer, updater, or script host running outside an interactive desktop.
- service accounts attempting to execute software from an untrusted location.
- legacy Software Restriction Policy enforcement integrated into an application.
What the result tells you
The value identifies a specific Windows state, but it does not by itself identify the component that introduced that state. Preserve the original this result value, the API or subsystem that produced it, and the object being operated on. A wrapper that replaces it with a generic exception or Boolean failure removes the distinction needed to choose the correct recovery path.
Diagnostic evidence to collect
- the exact executable, script, library, or resource path.
- file hash, signer, zone information, and publisher metadata.
- the matching SRP, AppLocker, or application-control policy rule.
- caller identity, session type, integrity level, and interactive availability.
Correlate the result evidence on one timeline. The first event that changes the state associated with this result is usually more valuable than later retries returning the same code. Record process and thread identity, session, timestamp, API parameters, and the immediately preceding successful operation.
Handling and recovery
Do not bypass the rule by copying or renaming the file. Validate whether the software should be allowed, then modify the centrally managed policy or deploy the file to an approved, correctly signed location. A service should report the policy rule and actionable deployment guidance to its administrator.
Retry after this result only when the evidence shows that an external condition can change. When it is caused by malformed input, revoked authority, unsupported state, hardware damage, or an offline maintenance requirement, an unchanged retry adds noise and can overwrite the earliest useful diagnostics.
Common misinterpretation
This is not a missing-file or ordinary ACL problem. Granting NTFS permissions will not override a software restriction rule.
Guidance for developers
Keep it in its Win32/LRESULT domain in structured telemetry. When converting it to an HRESULT, exception, RPC response, or JSON field, retain the source domain and numeric value alongside the human-readable text. Do not branch on the localized message string for it.
A it test should construct the specific state, assert the exact result, and verify that partial resources are released. The recovery test for it should prove that the operation is either deferred until a measurable state change or fails without an uncontrolled retry loop.
References
Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.