Error During Activate Installation: Access is Denied
3 min
Example Error Message
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception (5): An error occurred trying to start process
'C:\Program Files\Activate\Instances\V8 Dev\ActivateStudio.exe'
with working directory 'C:\Program Files\Activate\Instances\V8 Dev'.
Access is denied.
at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithShellExecuteEx(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
at ActivateInstaller.Installer.Install(String instanceName, String installFile,
String destDir, InstallComponents components, String serverUrl)
in C:\Projects\ActivateV8\ActivateInstaller\Installer.cs:line 308
at ActivateInstaller.UpgradeInstance.Button1_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
in C:\Projects\ActivateV8\ActivateInstaller\UpgradeInstance.cs:line 120
Cause
This issue is typically caused by Windows Defender blocking the process. Unfortunately, no visible logs or alerts appear in Windows to indicate this.
Solution
To resolve this, add an exclusion for the Activate installation path in Windows Defender:
- Open Windows Settings.
- Navigate to: Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
- Scroll down and select Manage settings under Virus & threat protection settings.
- Under Exclusions, click Add or remove exclusions.
- Select Add an exclusion, then choose Folder.
- Add the following path:
For Windows Server 2016, the steps are similar: Settings > Update & Security > Windows Defender, then scroll down to Add an Exclusion and select Exclude a Folder.
After adding the exclusion, retry the installation.