HWINFO64 and Controlled Folder Access in Windows 2004

P

plat

Member
Hello. I'm running Windows 10 v. 2004, or build 19041.388. HWINFO64 version is 6.26-4160. I enabled Defender's Controlled Folder Access, which I set to monitor Documents, Videos and Pictures, basically.

When I launch HWINFO64 .exe from taskbar and choose Sensors, CFA pops up about 3-4 seconds afterwards and claims to have blocked HWINFO from "making changes to memory." HWINFO64 however, seems unscathed and is opening and displaying everything properly. CFA is even more delayed when opening System Information, about 5 sec but again, everything is displayed properly.

--Does Controlled Folders Access' "block" actually do anything to inhibit any function of HWINFO64 whatsoever?

I sincerely appreciate any insight. On the surface, it seems HWINFO's functions appear unaffected.

hwinfocfa.png
 
Please check in Windows Security - Protection history for details about this alert. It should show which exact Protected folder was accessed.
 
Hello and thank you for reply.

The exact protected folder is this:

hwinfoprotfldr.PNG

This is actually a little annoying as this specific folder isn't listed among the ones designated to be protected (Videos, Documents, etc.) I'll allow HWINFO64 as a Trusted App so this nonsense doesn't happen again.
 
Looks like Windows doesn't like that HWiNFO accesses that device (and perhaps also the fixed disks) at low level.
HWiNFO (being a hardware detection and monitoring tool) requires such access and it doesn't misuse it to steal any data. It's used only to read information like disk S.M.A.R.T. status.
So the only option to avoid those warnings is to allow HWiNFO as a Trusted App.
 
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