Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a security feature included in Microsoft Windows that is intended to prevent an application or service from executing code from a non-executable memory region. This is useful in blocking many malicious programs and prevention from getting infected. You can check if your Windows has DEP enabled or turned off in the following manner :
- Open an elevated command prompt in Windows Vista.
- In the command prompt type wmic OS Get DataExecutionPrevention_SupportPolicy and press Enter
- If you get a 0 response, then your DEP is set to AlwaysOff