eset Internet Security Installation Bug?

[riverofwind 0]

HI I got this error when installing Eset Internet Security with Windows Defender already running by default in Windows 10 with ransomware protection enabled. Not sure if it makes any difference or not. Thanks for the help.

 

[SeriousHoax 83]

This is common when If Controlled Folder Access of Windows Defender was enabled prior to ESET installation.

Now if ESET has been installed then Windows Defender and it's Controlled Folder Access module should be disabled by now. Restart the system to be sure and everything should be alright now.

[itman 1,659]

The problem here as I see it is you or something is protecting C:\Program Files directory via WD' s Controlled Folders  option. Normally if the Controlled Folders option is enabled, the folders protected are those listed in C:\Users\xxxxx directory; namely Documents, Music, etc..

Appears you got "carried away" and started protecting folders you shouldn't be. I would set WD's controlled folders settings back to default which I believe results in no folders being protected. Now run Eset's installer and you should have no issues.

[riverofwind 0]

@SeriousHoax I didn't get any error messages directly from Eset during install, only from Controlled folder access, and everything appears to be fine now. I did restart. You're saying no need to uninstall and/or reinstall everything is just dandy as it is now right?

@itman I used the default settings for Controlled Folders in Windows Defender, no customizations at all.

Thanks!

*For Google search purposes:

The error is Windows 10 Notification Center reports Controlled Folder Access Blocked ekrn.exe from making changes to memory.

[Marcos 5,074]

Controlled folder access should not be active as long as Windows Defender real-time protection is inactive which happens after installing ESET. Could you confirm that CFA is now deactivated?

[itman 1,659]

Also and again, WD Controlled Folders by default only protects:

Quote

Default folders protected by controlled folder access

Windows system folders are protected by default. In addition, there are several folders that are protected by controlled folder access by default. You can configure additional folders as protected, but cannot remove the default folders from the controlled folder access protection. See Protect additional folders for more information.

Here's the list of default protected folders:

• %USERPROFILE%\Documents
• %USERPROFILE%\Favorites
• %USERPROFILE%\Music
• %USERPROFILE%\Pictures
• %USERPROFILE%\Videos
• %PUBLIC%\Documents
• %PUBLIC%\Music
• %PUBLIC%\Pictures
• %PUBLIC%\Videos

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-atp/controlled-folders

Note that C:\Program Files directory is not a system folder.

Edited December 12, 2020 by itman

[riverofwind 0]

@marcos Now that Eset is active I'm pretty sure I can't even navigate to the CFA page in Windows Security in PC Settings (I browsed around thoroughly) so it's almost certainly deactivated.

@itman If you'll look at the error message again it shows that the offending executable is located in C:\Program Files however the modification to be performed was in memory, which I guess is protected by default.

[itman 1,659]

7 minutes ago, riverofwind said:

@itman If you'll look at the error message again it shows that the offending executable is located in C:\Program Files however the modification to be performed was in memory, which I guess is protected by default.

Yeah, I originally noted the screen shot you posted. It also makes absolutely no sense. WD's Protected Folders protection is supposed to prevent an disallowed process from modify any files stored in a defined protected folder.

Best I can come up with is during the Eset installation process, Windows Security Center was not properly modified for some unknown reason to disable WD's real-time protection. With WD's real-time protection still enabled, its Protected Folder option would also still be enabled.

[riverofwind 0]

I'm guessing it's probably AOK since I didn't get any Eset error messages and everything appears hunky dory, sound right? Thanks for the help.