microsoft / microsoft/PowerToys

wixstdba.exe blocked by WDAC - unable to extract file to find certificate

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#44,948 8 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee Claimed by @vanzue View on GitHub
Area-Setup/Install Issue-Bug Needs-Triage Product-General
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Description

### Microsoft PowerToys version

0.97.0

### Installation method

GitHub

### Area(s) with issue?

Installer

### Steps to reproduce

We use Windows Defender Application Control to only allow digitally signed files to run on our systems.
In PowerToys 0.93.0, this is not an issue, I first discovered it as an issue in version 0.95.0, and is still present now.

The issue seems to be that wixstdba.exe is not digitally signed, and in WiX V5 it seems that installers are spawned as free standing processes, not as child processes (I'm not expert so this may be wrong).
I am completely unable to extract the file to check status, as opening the exe in 7zip gives me nothing usable, opening the msi in Master Packager only gives me the finished installer files.

Is this file signed, and if so, where and how can I find the certificate? If not, would you please sign it with a certificate so we can continue using PowerToys?

Here's the relevant parts installer log:

```
[11F8:4D84][2026-01-22T11:54:31]e000: Error 0x800711c7: CreateProcessW failed with return code: 4551

[11F8:4D84][2026-01-22T11:54:31]e000: Error 0x800711c7: Failed to launch bootstrapper application process: "C:\WINDOWS\SystemTemp\{674ECEEA-4DBC-49E8-A3ED-268EF8A7BA86}\.ba\wixstdba.exe" -burn.ba.apiver 569705357157400576 -burn.ba.pipe BurnPipe.{53BB4191-5100-4277-BC6E-29DE58815E85} {DFD9B7A4-73B4-427B-9AAE-706F6E930C26}

[11F8:4D84][2026-01-22T11:54:31]e000: Error 0x800711c7: Failed to create bootstrapper application process: C:\WINDOWS\SystemTemp\{674ECEEA-4DBC-49E8-A3ED-268EF8A7BA86}\.ba\wixstdba.exe

[11F8:4D84][2026-01-22T11:54:31]e000: Error 0x800711c7: Failed to start bootstrapper application.
```

### ✔️ Expected Behavior

_No response_

### ❌ Actual Behavior

_No response_

### Additional Information

_No response_

### Other Software

_No response_

Contributor guide

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