Windows 10: How to workaround "'This app has been blocked for your protection' error when installing software on Windwos 10?

User protection in Windows 10 seems to be a bit aggressive, which may be helpful but it gets in the way too much. When we try to install an application some are denied with the following message - "An administrator has blocked you from running this app. For more information, contact the administrator." Even if the software you are trying to install is trusted, you seem to have not option to install this now. Let's find out how to workaround this error.

Before you are more interested, you are warned that this restriction is in place to prevent malicious software. So it is up to you to verify from where you got the file you want to install. Is the source of the program trustworthy? Have you downloaded the file from any software or driver download websites that are less trustworthy? That is up to you to verify. If it is not trusted, the software is better not installed. But sometimes we may want to install a legitimate software, and this error may get in the way. In that case, we are good to go.

The error "An administrator has blocked you from running this app. For more information, contact the administrator." appears even if a software is installed with administrative privileges, that is, by selecting "Run as Administrator".

Workaround 1: Install blocked programs from elevated Command Prompt (recommended)

• Launch Start menu and type "cmd" for command prompt
• Right-click on the Command Prompt and click "Run as Administrator" to run with elevated privilege.
• Command Prompt should open at "C:\WINDOWS\system32>"
• Navigate to the directory where the setup file is. To do this you can copy the location of the file in Windows Explorer's address bar by right-clicking and selecting "Copy address as text".

• In the open Command Prompt window, type "cd" (without quotes), space and then right-click and paste the address copied. So it looks like: C:\WINDOWS\system32>cd C:\SwSetup\HPPM
•  Next type "dir" to list the directory contents.
• Look for the name of the setup file and just type its name and hit enter to run.

•  The installation which was blocked earlier will now install as nothing happened.

Workaround 2: Installing software after enabling the hidden Windows Administrator account (not recommended)

Although you can also install programs blocked by Windows 10 from the hidden Administrator account, it is not recommended. Because, it require one to logoff the current account and login to the Administrator account. It is much easier to simply do it from the command prompt without leaving the existing account using the command prompt as discussed in Workaround 1. Also beacuse, it is not secure to enable the hidden Administrator account which is otherwise hidden by default. If you still want to then the following is the process.

•     Activate the hidden Administrator Account
•         Launch Start Menu
•         Type "cmd" for Command Prompt and "Run as Administrator"
•         Run the command: "net user administrator /active:yes" (without quotes)
•         Message saying "command completed successfully" is displayed.
•     Login to the Administrator Account
•         Launch Start Menu once again and right-click on user-account title at the top-left of the screen. Then click Sign-out.
•         At the login screen, you should see Administrator account. 
•         Log into the Administrator account
•         Locate and run the .exe file for the program which you want to install.
•         Log out.
•     Go back to the user account
•         Disable the administrator account by executing the command in an elevated command prompt: "net user administrator /active:no"

Note:  Don't forget to deactivate the administrator account.

Though both the process accomplish the task, it is recommended to install blocked programs using the command prompt. It is easier and faster.