There is nothing stopping them disabling it, however they should not when trying to run 16-bit applications, so if they happen to do so and disable it, their applications will fail.
Ntvdm.exe description: Ntvdm.exe is a system process.
When you start a 16-bit program on a computer running Windows NT, the Ntvdm.exe and Wowexec.exe processes start. After you quit the 16-bit program, the Ntvdm.exe and Wowexec.exe processes remain in memory. This behavior is a design feature of Windows NT. The Ntvdm.exe and Wowexec.exe processes remain in memory in case you start another 16-bit program. Leaving the Windows-On-Windows (WOW) environment (which consists of the Ntvdm.exe and Wowexec.exe processes) in memory improves performance. The WOW environment is not loaded when you start Windows NT. It is loaded when you first start a 16-bit program.
System Process: Yes
Background Process: Yes
Uses Network: No
Hardware Related: No
Common Errors: N/A
Eamonn.
