This program is blocked by group policy is a trending error that many users have faced. Last week I was just scrolling the Tomshardware Forum for latest technology news and stuff. I noticed that a lot of users were reporting this issue.
I might be wrong as it can be an old issue, but to be honest, I learned about it last week. I then started to find the solution to this problem as a usual hobby. If you are looking for the answer to “This program is blocked by group policy,” then you are in the right place.
Today we will learn what causes the “this program is blocked by group policy” error. In addition to this, we will also learn about the step by step methods on how to solve this issue. Now I have listed these solutions after doing a lot of research online. Someone these might not work for you depending on the root cause of your problem. I recommend you try all of these steps, one by one, to ensure a better solution to the problem.
Table of Contents
What is Group Policy?
We all know Microsoft keeps on updating their OS and adding on new features. Now the Group Policy is another excellent feature just like the “service host delivery optimization.” In contrast to the service host delivery optimization, group policy is a useful tool. It contains several different settings that are advanced in nature. These settings are related explicitly to network administrators.
The Group policy is better known as GPO on different online forums. It stands for the Group Policy Object. I also found that the GPO is a collection of policy settings. These settings decide the look of a system and its behaviour. The GPOs are linked to a directory organizational unit. It can be applied to users as well as computer.
How Useful is the Group Policy?
The Group Policy can be very handy. You can do almost anything with this powerful tool. The cool thing about Group Policy is that it allows the user to control different tasks such as Windows Updates, Drive Encryption, etc. All these tasks can be managed using pre-defined settings. For instance, there isn’t any pre-defined setting available for anything; you can always use scripts.
Yes, scripts are not only limited to movie actors or News Anchors, but our computers rely on a lot of scripts. You can use Batch and VBScript as all clients support these. However, another option s the PowerShell scripts that can be run on Windows 7 hosts.
Group types are categorized as follow:
- Local Group Policy Objects (Local GPO)
- Nonlocal Group Policy Objects (Domain GPO)
- Starter Group Policy Objects (Starter GPO)
Local GPO
The local GPO is limited to a local machine running windows only. It can be used when policy settings are needed to apply to a single windows client or user. It exists on all Microsoft Windows clients.
Domain GPO
It can be applied to more than one windows client or user. The domain GPO applies to windows clients that are linked to active directory objects such as websites, domains, or organizational units.
Starter GPO
It is a type of non-local GPO that serves as a template for creating new GPOS. These templates are used to ensure the pre-population of mandatory settings. It helps to save time for administrators because of the pre-built templates.
Main Causes of “This program is blocked by group policy”
There could be several causes of this program is blocked by group policy. I have found some issues that can be the root cause of this issue. Some of the main things that I noticed while my research are as under
- Software Restriction Policy
- Bugs in Softwares
- Third-party security programs causing this issue.
Software Restriction Policy
Sometimes the user enables software restriction policy on purpose. As I said earlier, the software restriction policy is not a harmful thing. Microsoft has introduced this particular tool to help its users. The use of this tool is to enhance user experience. It is the user that makes it a problem for themselves.
Sometimes the user enables it for some specific purposes. Later on, he or she forgets about it. Now the Software Restriction policy running in the ground starts causing issues. A useful tool becomes the most annoying one. It is because it prevents the running of applications and stuff.
Bugs
Of course, we cannot blame the user for everything. I am sorry if I have hurt your feelings, but I am telling the truth. Now we all know that there are different kinds of bugs associated with computer applications and software. These bugs cause various unwanted computer problems. They also affect a system’s behaviour. So it is possible that these bugs can enable the software restriction group policy.
As a result, a user may face issues like This program is blocked by group policy. Don’t worry at all though we will learn its solution in a step by step tutorial today though. But for that, you will have to read the article to the end. It is because learning about the causes of the problem is much more essential for its solution.
Third-Party Programs causing the issue
In most of the cases, the real culprit is the main hero. Yes, Sir, we are talking about the security programs that we install on our computers. These programs claim to protect our systems from unwanted app installations. In addition to this, they also claim to protect us from different harmful viruses and malware attacks. Some of them even prevent a user from being hacked.
I am not against the security programs. They are essential for a computer, especially in today’s modern world. It is because the technology has evolved very much. There is a lot of risk of getting hacked and have your valuable information leaked quickly.
Now there might be something else that is causing This program is blocked by group policy. But I have found these reasons during my research. Please let me know in the comments if there is anything else I will add them to the article and make it more helpful.
Now in this next phase, we will learn about the solution of This program is blocked by group policy. Please keep in mind that you need to try all the methods and look for yourself if a technique doesn’t work for you to move to the next one.
As I said earlier, not all computers need to have the same problems. Therefore the solution can also be different on every machine.
Solving This program is blocked by group policy
The following steps will help you get rid of the problem and have a beautiful day. Please make sure that you follow them to the letter. Otherwise, they won’t work for you.
Method 1- Performing a clean boot
A clean boot is something beneficial. It can help you save a lot of time and effort and solve the problem. Sometimes a cleaner boot just kills all of the issues, and it is also the first method to try out. You might have noticed that the third-party applications on the computer can cause interference with apps. It can also cause the issue i.e.; This program is blocked by group policy.
The best way to get rid of these third-party apps interference is a clean boot. There are a lot of chances that you will get rid of the issue without anything hard. Follow the below steps
- Open “Run” window by pressing “Window key” along with “R”. Then Write down “msconfig” and click “Ok”.
- After opening msconfig First, select “Selective startup” then only uncheck “Load startup items” and keep “Load system services” checked.
- Go to “Services” tab, check “Hide all Microsoft services” > click “Disable all”.
- Going to the next tab “Startup” in that click on “Open Task Manager“.
- Disable all startups, by selecting one by one and hitting “Disable” button. There is no way to disable all startups in a single click. Close that window.
- After click on “Apply” > “Ok”.
- Now a popup window open and telling to restart your system by pressing “Restart” button.
Method 2- Scanning the system using bootable media
Another great way to solve the problem is to scan it with a bootable medium simply. You can do it by downloading some software like “Rescue CD” Bitdefender Rescue CD or AVG Business PC rescue CD. Make sure you have downloaded the software on a non effected computer. This might come in handy when solving the problem.
Method 3- Disabling software restriction policy via .BAT file
- The first method is useful when it comes to solving This program is blocked by group policy. All you need is to right-click on your desktop and scroll down to “new.” There you need to make a new notepad file. Now once you have created a new notepad file past the following lines of code in that file.
REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\ /v DefaultLevel /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00040000 /f 
- Now save the document and make sure you name it as Fix.BAT. The name isn’t significant; you can give it anything you want. Make sure that the file ends with .BAT. Now click on save and exit.
- Next, you have to open the file from where you have saved it. If it asks for confirmation, make sure you confirm it. Now the file with Fix.BAT extension will launch a command prompt and execute the command line. It is the same command line that we have pasted in the notepad document.
Don’t worry as it will not take long. Once the command prompt has done running the command-line successfully, it will be closed by itself. You will have to restart your PC after that. Now after a reboot tries launching the app and see if it works. However, if the problem persists, move to the next method.
Method 4- Removing Config group policies via Reg. Editor
Another technique that can help you solve that particular problem is the registry editor tool. With the help of a registry editor, you can disable the software restriction policy. For this, you will need to follow the steps below exactly.
- The first thing that you need to do is to open the “Run” window. You can do this by pressing the window key along with R. A window will pop up, which is called the Run window as soon as you get the run window type “regedit” into the dialogue box and hit enter.
- Hitting enter key after typing “regedit” should open the registry editor if you have typed it correctly. Now once you have the registry editor, I want you to go to the following Dir.
- Got to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and open Software folder.
- Under the Software open “Policies“. Lookout at the Microsoft Folder.
- Right-click on the “Microsoft” sub-key and then click on delete in the menu after that a popup appears. Click on yes for confirmation of the action.
Now once again, navigate your way to the following directory.
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- As the previous method go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER and find “Software” folder and open Microsoft.
- Under Microsoft find “Windows” and open it up, in there you will see CurrentVesrion folder.
- And this time right-click on the Group Policy subkey under the current version. Now click on delete and press yes for the confirmation.
Now restart your computer and try running the application to see if the problem is still there. It will turn the software restriction policy off. I hope this method will work for you; otherwise, you will have to navigate your way to method 5.
Method 5- Create a new user
Sometimes the user can get bugs or get affected by malware etc. In such cases, it started causing different kinds of errors. The best way to get rid of these errors is to create a new user. Creating a new user on your pc may save you from different corrupted files. As a result, you may not see. This program is blocked by group policy again.
Conclusion
In this article, we have gone through detailed information about This program is blocked by group policy. First, we learned about the possible causes of the issue. After learning about the causes, we learned different ways to solve the problem. I hope it will help you get rid of the error and start living happy life again.
If this article helped you solve the problem, make sure o share it with your friends and family. Also, let me know in the comment if you want me to add any improvements to the article.
