Windows 7 – Get Rid of ‘The Publisher Cannot Be Verified’ on Network Files

To disable this dialogue box for ALL .exe files, you can add the following key to your registry:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Associations]
"LowRiskFileTypes"=".exe

Note: this is not advisable, as it opens up your computer to other risks.

Other than that, ClickOff is your friend (a more general approach to such annoyances :)

ClickOff has been written out of a personal need - like most programs here. Questions like "are you sure you want to exit the program?" made me go insane after having seen them a dozen of times.

ClickOff is developed to be the Swiss Army knife for window handling, not just a simple popup blocker.

Here are some key features:

• Automatically clicks button on error messages that come up all the time.
• Intuitive user interface.
• Closes browser popups
• Minimizes or maximizes windows
• Delay times can be set to allow user intervention
• Single buttons can be disabled temporarily
• False clicks are avoided by taking the message text into the proccess of detecting.
• To close windows that contain certain words, wildcards can be used
• The scanning speed can be set
• Can be disabled for a short period or permanently without having to be exited.
• Has very low system resource needs, takes about 1 sec. to load and doesn't slow down the system while running.

ClickOff is freeware.

My idea is to create a supporter app that can piggyback on the Image File Execution registry entries to run EditPad correctly.

Note: You will have to restore your original Windows Notepad first, either through the error message that pops up, or by undoing the changes you made. Otherwise Windows may keep pestering you with the error message no matter what you try.

Tip: Notepad Replacer suggested by Dracs does something similar to what is below automatically. Try that first, unless you have reasons to avoid it such as the application being closed source. In which case, you can use the method below:

1. Create a batch file with the following code. The batch file could be named Replacer.bat for example, and it could be placed anywhere such as EditPad's installation folder. (I assume EditPad is installed in the path given. If not, please change it.)

   SET NotepadTempVar=%*
   IF DEFINED NotepadTempVar SET NotepadTempVar=%NotepadTempVar:"C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe"=%
   IF DEFINED NotepadTempVar SET NotepadTempVar=%NotepadTempVar:"C:\Windows\notepad.exe"=%
   IF DEFINED NotepadTempVar (
       FOR /F "tokens=*" %%A IN ("%NotepadTempVar%") DO SET NotepadTempVar=%%A
   )
   IF DEFINED NotepadTempVar (
       START "" "C:\Program Files\EditPad\EditPad.exe" "%NotepadTempVar%"
   ) ELSE (
       START "" "C:\Program Files\EditPad\EditPad.exe"
   )
   

   • CAUTION! It is necessary to have the empty string "" after START command, otherwise your system can go into an infinite loop of creating new Command Prompt windows.
   • You may have to verify the paths of the original Notepad in second and third lines to reflect your system. I found the paths to be same in both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. The paths are case-insensitive but be careful to keep the quote marks around them.

   • On 64-bit Windows, you may need to add this extra line between the second and third lines:

     IF DEFINED NotepadTempVar SET NotepadTempVar=%NotepadTempVar:"C:\Windows\SysWOW64\notepad.exe"=%
     

     
     

2. (optional) Use Batch To Exe Converter to compile the batch file to an executable program. Choose the "Invisible application" option.

   • If you do not wish to use Batch To Exe Converter, you may use another solution, or you may use the batch file itself for the following steps, instead of the compiled EXE file. However, if you use the batch file itself, you will see a momentary flashing of a command window before EditPad opens.
     
     

3. Open Registry Editor by opening Start menu and searching for regedit (or using the Run command to run regedit).

4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

5. If a key (folder in left pane) named notepad.exe does not exist inside Image File Execution Options, click Edit > New > Key and type notepad.exe as the new key's name. If it already exists, simply navigate to it.

6. If an entry named Debugger (type REG_SZ) does not exist in the notepad.exe key (on right side), click Edit > New > String Value and type Debugger as the new entry's name.

7. Double-click the entry named Debugger and enter the full qualified location and name of the EXE file generated by Batch To Exe Converter or the batch file if you did not use a compiler. Enclose the location in quotation marks.

   • For example, assuming you have stored the batch file in EditPad's program folder, the value of Debugger entry could be "C:\Program Files\EditPad\Replacer.bat" or "C:\Program Files\EditPad\Replacer.exe" where Replacer.bat is the batch file and Replacer.exe is the compiled EXE file obtained in step 2, if any.
     
     

8. Test the setup by:

   • Opening Windows Notepad from Start Menu. EditPad should open instead.
   • Double-clicking on a text file or any file that's associated with Windows Notepad.
   • Testing other means you know should normally open Windows Notepad. They will very likely open EditPad instead.

If there are any problems, your paths in the batch file created in step 1 may not be correct. All other steps should be OK without any problem if you followed them correctly. Just verify and correct the paths in the batch file (and recompile EXE if needed).