"Smart app control" in Windows 11

[flat]

When I install V-Ray (confirmed with V-Ray7, hotfix1) in an environment where “smart app control” is enabled in Windows 11, some files are blocked and cannot be used properly.

If “smart app control” is disabled, there is no problem, but in some cases, the company's security policy does not allow disabling it. What should I do in this case?

[hermit.crab]

After some serious troubleshooting, we managed to reproduce the issue on a virtual machine with Windows 11. Since it is the Smart App Control, that does the blocking, we cannot do anything about it on our end. For a smooth V-Ray experience, we recommend disabling the Smart App Control.

[hermit.crab]

What kind of files?

[flat]

vrmesh_viewer.exe etc.
My client had other files blocked as well and the plugin had an initialization error.

I haven't tested it in my environment. (Please check on Chaos side as it is necessary to perform a clean install of Windows.)

[hermit.crab]

Had a discussion with our ITs, who claim this issue is not related to false positives, but to an issue with the Smart Control itself. Some of our colleagues have experienced it, too. The way for the user to solve it is to contact their security team, which should probably disable or adjust the Smart Control settings so that they ignore V-Ray files.

[flat]

"smart app control” cannot be configured to ignore specific files.
The only option is to disable “smart app control” for the entire system.
Moreover, once “smart app control” is disabled, it cannot be reverted. (Users have no choice but to do a Win 11 clean install.)

This means that V-Ray cannot be used in environments where “smart app control” is enabled.
I recommend that CHAOS clearly state this in the system requirements for V-Ray operation before your customers complain.

[hermit.crab]

Thanks for the feedback. We'll consider it.

[hermit.crab]

After some serious troubleshooting, we managed to reproduce the issue on a virtual machine with Windows 11. Since it is the Smart App Control, that does the blocking, we cannot do anything about it on our end. For a smooth V-Ray experience, we recommend disabling the Smart App Control.

[flat]

Thanks for the verification. Thank you for your efforts.
I am aware that “smart app control” is a dumb feature, and most Windows 11 users don't use it.

However, there are some companies that are very strict about security, so it would be better to have “smart app control disabled” in the official system requirements for Chaos products, so that we, as resellers, can explain it to our customers.