On this page, you'll find typical problems with antiviruses and ways to solve them.
The add-in cannot load one of its dlls
After installation, on Excel startup, you may receive the following disturbing message:
Most often, our users get this message because their antivirus software is blocking one of the Ultimate Suite components. Be sure it is a false-positive detection. Simply add the Ultimate Suite folder to your antivirus exclusions.
Besides, check if you are using the freshest version of Ultimate Suite for Excel, which you can find on our Downloads page. Here is the guide on how to find the version number installed on your machine. If you've got an older version, install the latest one.
If after this the dll error persists, see below the reasons it may happen and several ways to solve it.
Add the Ultimate Suite installation folder to Windows Security exclusions
If you have only Windows Security, try to whitelist the Ultimate Suite installation folder by adding it to exclusions in Settings → Update & Security → Windows Security → Virus & threat protection. For more details, please consult the Microsoft Support website.
If added successfully, the exclusion will be shown like in the screenshot below:
In case of Windows 11 on ARM users including Parallels on Apple Silicon
If you use Windows 11 on ARM, please follow these steps:
- Close Excel and check if the Excel process is absent in Task Manager.
- Go to the Ultimate Suite installation folder:
C:\Users\[USER_NAME]\AppData\Local\Ablebits\Ultimate Suite for Microsoft Excel\XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
- Find the AblebitsLoader.exe file there, right-click on it, and choose Properties.
- Switch to the Compatibility tab and click Change emulation settings at the bottom of the window.
- Check off the Use advanced settings box and enable the Disable hybrid execution mode (x86 apps only) and Strict self-modifying code support options in the ARM emulation settings for AblebitsLoader.exe dialog window:
- Click OK to close the ARM emulation settings for AblebitsLoader.exe dialog window.
- Click Apply and OK to close the AblebitsLoader Properties window.
- Start Excel and check whether the problem is resolved.
Turn off the Mandatory ASLR option
The cause of the problem may be in the enabled Mandatory ASLR option, as Ultimate Suite binaries are not compatible with Mandatory ASLR.
Click the Start button and type in Windows Security:
Click App & browser control:
Find Exploit protection and click Exploit protection settings:
In System settings, find the Force randomization for images (Mandatory ASLR):
Open the drop-down list and select Off by default:
Allow Excel creating child processes
Click the Start button and type in Windows Security:
Click App & browser control:
Find Exploit protection and click Exploit protection settings:
In Program Settings, click on excel.exe:
Click Edit:
Find the Do not allow child processes option and make sure to turn it Off. Do not forget to click the Apply button:
Add a folder to Attack Surface Reduction exclusions
Try the following steps to resolve the problem: Add the Ultimate Suite installation folder to Attack Surface Reduction exclusions.
Turn off Potentially unwanted app blocking
Click the Start button and type in Windows Security:
Click App & browser control:
Find Reputation-based protection and click on Reputation-based protection settings:
Find the Potentially unwanted app blocking option and make sure to turn it Off:
Protection Error 253 with Trend Micro Antivirus
If you use the Trend Micro Antivirus, you may get the following error:
If you see this, add the Ultimate Suite installation folder to the antivirus exceptions:
Check your antivirus Quarantine
Despite the fact that our certificates are trusted, sometimes due to some reasons some antiviruses may block Ablebits. In such cases, you may get this message. Please go to Quarantine in your antivirus and restore all the Ablebits files you find there.
Disable the Preview pane in File Explorer
Besides, the cause of the problem may be the enabled Preview pane, so please disable it and try to install the add-in again.
Check your permissions
Also, you may not have the necessary permissions to run executable files from the installation folder. Consult your system administrator. If this doesn't help, please contact us at support@ablebits.com. We will do our best to help you solve the problem.
Check the AppLocker settings (if you use it)
If you use Windows 10 Enterprise or Education, the problem may occur because of AppLocker blocking the Ablebits installer. You can find it out if you go to Computer Management -> Event Viewer -> Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft -> Windows -> AppLocker. If in the Number of Events column, you can see any number other then 0, this means that AppLocker is set to block some types of files (.exe, .msi, .dll, etc.). In this case, please consult your system administrator.
Here is a short guide on How to configure AppLocker to let the add-in work correctly.
Windows protected your PC
This is the message you may get after you have downloaded our product and are trying to install it:
Please don't be scared, everything is Okay. Simply click the More Info link, and you will see this:
And then, hit Run Anyway.
How to check that the certificate is valid
We publish our distributables in zip files. Please do not open a zip file directly in Windows Explorer. Instead, right-click it, and select Extract All... from the context menu. Then, switch to the Digital Signature tab of setup.exe Properties, select either signature, and click Details:
Now, click the View Certificate button:
And you will see the general information about the certificate:
On the Certification Path tab, select 4Bits Ltd. certificate:
And make sure that the cert is valid.
The certificate and antiviruses
Also, some antivirus software may not allow running our setup.exe (or msi) because our certificate is not familiar to them. If your antivirus has blocked our product, please contact our support service at support@ablebits.com and we will promptly help you.
Unable to start the 'AblebitsMakeDiffs.exe' application
If while using Compare Two Sheets, you get the Unable to start the 'AblebitsMakeDiffs.exe' application error message, please follow this guide: Add the Ultimate Suite installation folder to Attack Surface Reduction exclusions.