[Tip] How to Prevent/Restrict “Retail Demo Mode” in Windows 10

We have told you about the hidden secret Retail Demo Mode in Windows 10 which has been developed for retail shops and comes with lots of usage restrictions.

[Tip] Activate Hidden Secret “Retail Demo Mode” in Windows 10

We also told you how to deactivate/turn off Retail Demo mode if turned on/activated on any Windows 10 device:

[Tip] How to Deactivate/Remove “Retail Demo Mode” in Windows 10

Now we’ll talk about restricting Retail Demo mode activation. If you are worried about accidental activation of this restricted mode in your Windows 10 machine, this tutorial will help you.

Sometimes your friend or any other person can activate Retail Demo mode on your Windows 10 device intentionally without your permission to play prank. So you may want to prevent activation of Retail Demo mode in your Windows 10 PC as a precaution. You may want to restrict all users from turning on Retail Demo mode in your computer.

Once you restrict Retail Demo mode in Windows 10, it’ll permanently disable this mode and no one will be able to turn on or activate this mode on your PC.

Unfortunately by default Microsoft has not provided any built-in way to disable or restrict Retail Demo mode in Windows 10 and anyone can turn on this mode.

So we’ll use a workaround to prevent activation of Retail Demo mode in Windows 10. Actually there is a system file called “RDXTaskFactory.dll” in C:\Windows\System32 folder which is responsible for this mode. This file manages activation of Retail Demo mode in Windows 10. So if we rename/delete or move this DLL file, Windows 10 will not be able to find the file, hence no one will be able to activate Retail Demo mode in Windows 10.

If you also want to prevent/restrict activation of Retail Demo mode in your Windows 10 device, following steps will help you:

1. Open This PC and go to C:\Windows\System32 folder. You can directly go to this folder by using System32 command in RUN dialog box.

2. Now scroll down and look for “RDXTaskFactory.dll” file.

3. Now we’ll rename this file but its a system file and Windows will not allow us to rename this file. So we’ll take its ownership first. To take ownership, you can follow steps given in following tutorials:

[Tip] Add “Take Ownership” Option in Files and Folders Context Menu in Windows

[Guide] How to Take Ownership (Permission) of a File or Folder Manually in Windows?

4. Now rename the DLL file to BAK_RDXTaskFactory.dll or any other desired name.

That’s it. Now try to activate Retail Demo mode in Settings app. It’ll show the dialog box asking for activating the mode but when you click on Change button, nothing will happen because Windows will be unable to find the required DLL file.

Now no one will be able to activate/turn on Retail Demo mode in your Windows 10 computer without your permission.

PS: If you want, you can move the DLL file to some other place instead of renaming it.