When Windows Keeps Asking for Permission at Startup

Every so often a shop tells us the same thing: every single time they open TORO, Windows throws up a blue "Do you want to allow this app to make changes?" box — sometimes mentioning PowerShell — and clicking Yes doesn't make it stop. The next launch, there it is again.

Here's what's actually going on, and the two-minute fix.

Why it happens

When TORO updates itself, it unpacks its working files into a folder on your computer. Some antivirus programs — most often the Windows Defender that's built into Windows — get suspicious of those freshly-unpacked files and quietly delete or "quarantine" them. TORO then has to repair itself on the next launch, which is what triggers that permission box.

Normally TORO tries to settle this automatically by telling Defender "these are my own files, leave them alone." But Windows has a safety feature called Tamper Protection that blocks any program — including TORO — from changing antivirus settings on its own. When it's switched on (and on Windows 11 it usually is), TORO can't fix this itself, so the prompt keeps coming back.

The good news: you can tell Defender to leave TORO's folder alone in about two minutes, and the prompt stops for good.

Is Tamper Protection on? (optional)

You can skip straight to the fix — it works either way. But if you'd like to check first:

1. Click Start, type Windows Security, and press Enter.
2. Click Virus & threat protection.
3. Under Virus & threat protection settings, click Manage settings.
4. Look at Tamper Protection. If it's On, that's why TORO couldn't sort this out by itself — keep going.

The fix: tell Defender to leave TORO alone

This adds TORO's working folder to Defender's "exclusions" list — its do-not-touch list. It's completely safe; you're only excluding TORO's own files, nothing else on your computer changes.

1. Click Start, type Windows Security, and press Enter.

2. Click Virus & threat protection.

3. Under Virus & threat protection settings, click Manage settings.

4. Scroll down to Exclusions and click Add or remove exclusions.

   • If Windows asks for permission here, click Yes. This one is expected — it's how Windows lets you make the change by hand.

5. Click Add an exclusion, then choose Folder.

6. In the address bar at the top of the window that opens, paste this exact line and press Enter:

   %LOCALAPPDATA%\warp
   

   Windows jumps to a folder named warp. (Don't see one? Open TORO once — it creates the folder on startup — then come back to this step.)

7. With that warp folder selected, click Select Folder.

That's it. Close Windows Security and open TORO. The repeated permission box should be gone.

How to know it worked

• The warp folder now shows up in Defender's Exclusions list.
• TORO opens normally, and the Windows permission box no longer appears every time you launch.

If it's still happening after this, you may be running a different antivirus (not Windows Defender) that's doing the quarantining. Give us a call and we'll help you add the same exclusion there — it's the same idea, just a different screen.