[windows] How to avoid the "Windows Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting warning"

If you have a standard code signing certificate, some time will be needed for your application to build trust. Microsoft affirms that an Extended Validation (EV) Code Signing Certificate allows us to skip this period of trust-building. According to Microsoft, extended validation certificates allow the developer to immediately establish a reputation with SmartScreen. Otherwise, the users will see a warning like "Windows Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.", with the two buttons: "Run anyway" and "Don't run".

Another Microsoft resource states the following (quote): "Although not required, programs signed by an EV code signing certificate can immediately establish a reputation with SmartScreen reputation services even if no prior reputation exists for that file or publisher. EV code signing certificates also have a unique identifier which makes it easier to maintain reputation across certificate renewals."

My experience is as follows. Since 2005, we have been using regular (non-EV) code signing certificates to sign .MSI, .EXE and .DLL files with time stamps, and there has never been a problem with SmartScreen until 2018, when there was just one case when it took 3 days for a beta version of our application to build trust since we have released it to beta testers, and it was in the middle of certificate validity period. I don't know what SmartScreen might not like in that specific version of our application, but there have been no SmartScreen complaints since then. Therefore, if your certificate is a non-EV, it is a signed application (such as an .MSI file) that will build trust over time, not a certificate. For example, a certificate can be issued a few months ago and used to sign many files, but for each signed file you publish, it may take a few days for SmartScreen to stop complaining about the file after publishing, as was in our case in 2018.

As a conclusion, to avoid the warning completely, i.e. prevent it from happening even suddenly, you need an Extended Validation (EV) code signing certificate.

Examples related to windows

"Permission Denied" trying to run Python on Windows 10 A fatal error occurred while creating a TLS client credential. The internal error state is 10013 How to install OpenJDK 11 on Windows? I can't install pyaudio on Windows? How to solve "error: Microsoft Visual C++ 14.0 is required."? git clone: Authentication failed for <URL> How to avoid the "Windows Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting warning" XCOPY: Overwrite all without prompt in BATCH Laravel 5 show ErrorException file_put_contents failed to open stream: No such file or directory how to open Jupyter notebook in chrome on windows Tensorflow import error: No module named 'tensorflow'

Examples related to installation

You don't have write permissions for the /Library/Ruby/Gems/2.3.0 directory. (mac user) Conda version pip install -r requirements.txt --target ./lib How to avoid the "Windows Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting warning" PackagesNotFoundError: The following packages are not available from current channels: Tensorflow import error: No module named 'tensorflow' Downgrade npm to an older version Create Setup/MSI installer in Visual Studio 2017 how to install tensorflow on anaconda python 3.6 Application Installation Failed in Android Studio How to install pip for Python 3.6 on Ubuntu 16.10?

Examples related to windows-installer

How to avoid the "Windows Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting warning" How can I find the product GUID of an installed MSI setup? Batch script to install MSI How to uninstall with msiexec using product id guid without .msi file present Create an application setup in visual studio 2013 Error 1920 service failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services How to install .MSI using PowerShell Create MSI or setup project with Visual Studio 2012 AppFabric installation failed because installer MSI returned with error code : 1603 How to create an installer for a .net Windows Service using Visual Studio