Data Execution Prevention

[DuBsTaR]

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone could help.

I've noticed whenever I want to shut down the computer, the pc freezes for a few seconds then get an error pop, saying 'Data error protection' has closed a programme etc, then asks me to send an error report.

Does anyone know what this could be ?
Thanks in advance. Sorry for the lack of information, if there is anything I can try and find more about this error ?

[redwudz]

Are you sure that's not 'Data Execution Prevention' or DEP? If so, Windows thinks that a unauthorized program is being ran that could damage your computer. If you go to your 'Help and Support Center' in your computer and type in 'DEP' in the search box, it will tell you more about it.

A couple of articles: http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com/2005/04/data-protection-error-wha/ OR http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;875351

[DuBsTaR]

Are you sure that's not 'Data Execution Prevention' or DEP? If so, Windows thinks that a unauthorized program is being ran that could damage your computer. If you go to your 'Help and Support Center' in your computer and type in 'DEP' in the search box, it will tell you more about it.

A couple of articles: http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com/2005/04/data-protection-error-wha/ OR http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;875351

Yes you are correct, my apologies, I'll edit the topic title. I will look into it, I was aware that this can be disabled, but would this be a good idea ?

[jman98]

I was aware that this can be disabled, but would this be a good idea ?

Maybe, but it depends on your level of computer experience and what kinds of things you do on your PC, whether you download a lot of programs you don't pay for, and so on. I don't run it, but then again I work IT for a living and I don't need Microsoft to hold my hand.

[JohnnyMalaria]

You can add specific applications to an exclusion list. For some programs, it is necessary. For example, applications that are wrapped in a protective shell to guard against hacking etc can trigger a DEP exception.

If you want to fully disable it, though, you can do so in your computer's BIOS since it operates at the hardware level (the CPU looks out for it).

[redwudz]

If it's only doing it on shutdown, I would try to find out what's triggering it. I get it with IE 7 on occasion when Windows sees something in the browser it doesn't like. You should be able to set it to ignore some programs, which would probably be better than turning it off completely. Windows Explorer is one common program that triggers it, but some codecs or graphics programs can also cause it, though not likely at shutdown.

It can also be caused by malware on your computer, something running as the computer is shutdown. In that case you may have a buffer overrun that is one way malware can run on your computer, maybe a trojan. If you are keeping up your anti-malware programs, less likely. You could try a scan with something like Trend Micro's online scan: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

[DuBsTaR]

[quote="JohnnyMalaria"]You can add specific applications to an exclusion list. For some programs, it is necessary. For example, applications that are wrapped in a protective shell to guard against hacking etc can trigger a DEP exception.

tanks

[DuBsTaR]

[quote="DuBsTaR"][quote="JohnnyMalaria"]You can add specific applications to an exclusion list. For some programs, it is necessary. For example, applications that are wrapped in a protective shell to guard against hacking etc can trigger a DEP exception.



Thanks very much for your response. This made sense. I had a look in my 'DEP' settings, and 'Windows Explorer' was not checked, so I've enabled it now, in hope this will sort this out.

Thanks

[JohnnyMalaria]

Having Windows Explorer as the culprit is a bit unusual/worrying since it uses a lot of .dll's from many vendors so I would suspect something that is installed that integrates with Windows Explorer.

Does it happen everytime you run it or only if you try to do specific things - e.g., view folders with certain kinds of video files in? In such a case, Windows Explorer loads the appropriate decoder to generate a thumbnail and if the decoder triggers a DEP exception then Windows Explorer will stop.

[DuBsTaR]

I'm not sure to be honest. This only happens when I want to shut the computer down, it freezes for a few seconds, or sometimes, not always, when I play a video file or something, then I get the DEP.

I've now gone into DEP settings, and the only thing that was ticked was the top one, so I ticked the bottom one.

I'm hoping it will sort the problem out anyway.

I've attached a screen grab of how it's set to now.