When sharing a MATLAB standalone desktop app, the installed .exe gives a permissions error and deletes itself

I'm trying to share a standalone desktop app using the application compiler in the app designer. I've successfully done this before for the same project using the MATLAB R2020a version, but I am now using R2023a and it's giving me problems. When I run the installer, it installs the .exe and related files with no apparent issue, but when I try to run the .exe I get a Windows error message: "Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have appropriate permissions to access the item." Even stranger, the .exe is then automatically deleted. I've confirmed that I have the appropriate permissions in the folder where the application was installed, tried "Run as Administrator," installing it in different locations, and even tried running it on different machines, but I have the same problem each time. I've confirmed that I can still install and run older versions of the application that I compiled using the R2020a version; only those compiled with R2023a seem to have this issue.

[Rik]

Did you confirm this isn't caused by your antivirus software putting the file in a quarantine? That happens to me on a regular basis when working with files I created myself.

[James Moore]

That's certainly a possiblity. Unfortunately I don't think I have permissions to view my quarantine history to check, but I've already put in a help request to our IT department in case it's something like this or some other issue with the way my system is set up.

Answer 1

[Swaraj]

Hi James,

I understand your problem. You can check the following points :

Check Windows security settings: Make sure that your Windows security settings are not blocking the execution of the .exe file. You can check your security settings by going to the Windows Security app and making sure that the "App & browser control" settings are not blocking the .exe file.

Disable antivirus software: Temporarily disable any antivirus software running on your computer and try running the .exe file again. If the file runs successfully with the antivirus software disabled, you may need to configure your antivirus software to allow the .exe file to run.

Check folder permissions: Make sure that you have the appropriate permissions to access the folder where the application was installed. You may need to check the permissions for both the user account you are logged in with and the "SYSTEM" account.

Check MATLAB Compiler Runtime (MCR) version: Make sure that the MCR version you are using to compile the application is compatible with the version of MATLAB you are using. If you are using an MCR version that is not compatible with your MATLAB version, this could cause issues with the application.

What is the version of the MATLAB Compiler Runtime (MCR) that corresponds to the version of MATLAB Compiler I am using? - MATLAB Answers - MATLAB Central (mathworks.com)

Hope it helps!!!

[James Moore]

Thanks for the answer. It doesn't seem to be the folder permissions or the MCR version. Since this is a work computer the security settings and antivirus aren't controlled by me, so I need to wait until the IT department responds to my request. In the meantime I've gone back to the R2020a version of MATLAB that I was previously using and have been able to compile and run the application that way.