ShellExecute to open an .exe in C++

Question

I am trying to open sigverif.exe from my code in c++ but the return value is 2 and .exe does not open

ShellExecute(NULL, _T("open"), _T("C:\\Windows\\System32\\sigverif.exe"), NULL, NULL, SW_RESTORE);

If I open the sigverif.exe from run command typing

"C:\Windows\system32\sigverif.exe"

it works fine

What could be the issue?

The backslash \ has a special meaning in a string. Either escape it using two \\ or write the string as a verbatim `@"string"` — Havenard, Oct 04 '17 at 06:25
The same line of code works for opening other executable in the same location — Sandeep Kumar, Oct 04 '17 at 06:27
What's the deal with `SW_RESTORE`? Shouldn't you be using `SW_SHOW`? Pretty sure that's the default mode for opening new windows. — Havenard, Oct 04 '17 at 06:31
Consider c:\windows\sysnative so it even works in a 32-bit process. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384187(v=vs.85).aspx — Hans Passant, Oct 04 '17 at 06:37
Does c:\windows\sysnative works for all OS(XP, windows 7 and Higher version ) and for both 32 bit and 64 bit ? — Sandeep Kumar, Oct 04 '17 at 06:41
Hmm, you'll know what to try next when sysnative doesn't get the job done. Assuming that the OS is installed to c:\windows is already wrong btw. — Hans Passant, Oct 04 '17 at 06:45
I suspect this may be the issue: https://stackoverflow.com/q/11586139/156811 try using `runas` instead of `open` and see what happens. — Havenard, Oct 04 '17 at 06:58
default open is done with `NULL`, `"open"` might not be defined — sp2danny, Oct 04 '17 at 09:11

Dean Seo · Answer 1 · 2019-03-23T10:02:37.840

the return value is 2 and .exe does not open

The return value based on System Error Codes means ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND.

Yes, indeed your application failed to find the given path, because you're building it on x86, where Windows's automatic redirection involves, and replace C:\Windows\System32 with C:\Windows\SysWOW64, which contains 32-bit binaries for Windows.

You have two options:

Either you just build it on x64, or disable the automatic redirection by using Wow64DisableWow64FsRedirection as follows:

PVOID OldValue = nullptr;
Wow64DisableWow64FsRedirection(&OldValue);
ShellExecute(NULL, _T("open"), _T("C:\\Windows\\System32\\sigverif.exe"), NULL, NULL, SW_RESTORE);

Be aware that Wow64DisableWow64FsRedirection affects globally in the current thread, as you can find more detail in the page:

Note The Wow64DisableWow64FsRedirection function affects all file operations performed by the current thread, which can have unintended consequences if file system redirection is disabled for any length of time....

So make sure it won't affect other operations unintentionally, or set it back to enabled immediately after your desire is resolved by invoking Wow64EnableWow64FsRedirection.

ShellExecute to open an .exe in C++

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