How to compare between two executable files?

Question

I have a file which doesn't require UAC Warning. I copied the file to another location using C#.NET

 File.Copy("Original.exe", "Copy.exe");

Now i see that Copy.exe require UAC warning to run under windows 7/Vista.

How can i compare between Original.exe and Copy.exe to see exactly what happened to the file and change it manually so that it doesn't require UAC anymore. Which tool can i use to achieve that ?

BOTH EXECUTABLE ARE THE SAME FILE : How to know the difference between these two files ?

Answer 1

Windows Installer Detection Technology is the reason of such behavior. There is a set of conditions which force executable file to be considered as requiring administrator privileges:

1. 32 bit executables
2. Applications without a requestedExecutionLevel
3. Interactive processes running as a Standard User with LUA enabled

Before a 32 bit process is created, the following attributes are checked to determine whether it is an installer:

• Filename includes keywords like "install," "setup," "update," etc.
• Keywords in the following Versioning Resource fields: Vendor, Company Name, Product Name, File Description, Original Filename, Internal Name, and Export Name.
• Keywords in the side-by-side manifest embedded in the executable.
• Keywords in specific StringTable entries linked in the executable.
• Key attributes in the RC data linked in the executable.
• Targeted sequences of bytes within the executable.

Related MSDN article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709628%28WS.10%29.aspx

Possible solutions:

• If you are the author of executable, include manifest with specified requestedExecutionLevel
• If you don't have access to source code - try to add or modify manifest using appropriate utilities (mt for example or maybe some generic resource editor)
• Avoid keywords update, install and setup in executable file name