CODEWITHSUNDEEP
visual-studio
Chris Klingsater
Chris Klingsater

Reputation: 154

Why does Visual Studio open with a guid exe file

What's the guid appended after devenv about? Does it have something to do with the fact that it runs as Administrator?

Visual Studio 2015 UAC prompt

Upvotes: 3

Views: 300

Answers (1)

Hans Passant
Hans Passant

Reputation: 941465

The UAC prompt displays the name of the program as embedded in the digital signature. Something you can see with Explorer. Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE, right-click devenv.exe, Properties, select the "Digital Signatures" tab. Select the SHA256 signature, click Details.

Select the Advanced tab and the 1.3.6.1.4.311.2.1.12 field. The hex dump shows the name.

Why Microsoft started gluing a guid after the "devenv" is unclear to me. It used to be "devenv_2.exe" in earlier versions. Well, "_2" doesn't win any prizes either. You can file a bug at connect.microsoft.com (say "devenv elevation prompt doesn't name program correctly") and with some luck they'll tell you.

Upvotes: 4

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