How to Manage UserChoice Protection Driver in Windows 11

This article explains how to enable or disable the “UserChoice Protection Driver (UCPD)” feature on Windows 11.

The UserChoice Protection Driver is a Windows feature that helps prevent unauthorized changes to file type associations. When a user sets a default program for opening a specific file type, Windows adds an entry for that program in the UserChoice registry key.

The UCPD monitors this key and prevents other programs or users from modifying it without permission. This does not restrict users from manually altering their default app settings; it solely impacts third-party applications.

The UserChoice Protection Driver should not be disabled, as it helps prevent unauthorized changes to file type associations and ensures that the user’s preferred program is always used to open the associated files.

However, there may be situations where you need to temporarily disable it to allow a specific program to change file type associations.

Enable or disable UserChoice Protection Driver in Windows

As mentioned, users can enable or disable UCPD in Windows. The steps below show you how to do it.

First, check to see if UCPD is running. You can do that using the Terminal app with the PowerShell or Command Prompt tab.

PowerShell:

Get-Service ucpd

Command Prompt:

sc query ucpd

To enable UCPD using PowerShell, run the commands below. You must open the Terminal app as administrator to run it.

Set-Service -Name UCPD -StartupType Automatic
Enable-ScheduledTask -TaskName "\Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient\UCPD velocity"

To use the Command Prompt, run the command below:

sc config UCPD start=auto
schtasks /change /Enable /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient\UCPD velocity"

Restart your computer for the changes to apply.

To disable UCPD using PowerShell, run the command below. You must open the Terminal app as administrator to run it.

Set-Service -Name UCPD -StartupType Disabled
Disable-ScheduledTask -TaskName "\Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient\UCPD velocity"

Using the Command Prompt, run the command below.

sc config UCPD start=disabled
schtasks /change /Disable /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient\UCPD velocity"

Restart your computer for the changes to apply.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• UserChoice Protection Driver (UCPD) is a crucial Windows feature that safeguards file type associations and prevents unauthorized changes.
• Although it is generally recommended to keep UCPD enabled to maintain the integrity and security of file-type associations, there may be specific scenarios where temporary disabling is necessary for certain programs to modify these associations.
• The provided steps using PowerShell and Command Prompt allow users to easily enable or disable UCPD based on their requirements.
• Considering the potential security implications, it’s important to exercise caution and ensure the necessity of disabling UCPD.
• For further details and insights, refer to Gunnar Haslinger’s comprehensive post on UCPD.

Feel free to use the provided commands to successfully manage the UserChoice Protection Driver on your Windows 11 system.