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UCPD

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Recommendation

Leave as default

Leave UCPD enabled.

Disabling it reduces protection of the default app choice — browser, viewers and editors. There is no gaming benefit from disabling it.

Scope
File and app associations
FPS and memory
FPS is not affected

What changes

Section titled “What changes”

UCPD (UserChoice Protection Driver) is a Windows driver that protects the user’s choice of default apps: browser, PDF viewer, image editor and other programs that open files. Windows stores this choice in the registry, and the driver blocks third-party programs from directly accessing the corresponding entries so that associations are not changed without the user’s explicit consent. A typical protection scenario is an installer that silently assigns itself as the default browser.

The BoosterX setting disables this protection. The change to the driver’s startup type takes effect after a reboot. The ability to change default apps in “Settings” itself remains: what is disabled is specifically the protection against substitution.

Exceptions and differences

Section titled “Exceptions and differences”

According to the visible BoosterX description, the driver applies in Windows 10 and Windows 11, but the tweak is available only when the UCPD service is present: if the service is absent, the app shows a warning that the tweak requires it.

How to verify the result

Section titled “How to verify the result”
  1. Before the change, open Settings → Apps → Default apps and change the default browser.
  2. Disable the setting, reboot and change the default browser again.
  3. The standard change should work the same before and after; check that the choice persists after a reboot.

How to change and revert

Section titled “How to change and revert”

In BoosterX, open “Optimization” → “Tweaks” → “System policies and integrations” → “UCPD”, move the toggle to the desired state and click “Apply”. If “Instant apply” is enabled, a separate click is not required. Reboot and check changing the default app.

Confirmation

Section titled “Confirmation”
  • Research of services and background components — UCPD is among the services checked by BoosterX.
  • The driver’s purpose is described according to the visible BoosterX description. No separate public Microsoft documentation about this driver was found as of the verification date, so the statement remains without an external source.

Last verified: 2026-09-19.