Memory Integrity switched off because of driver

Anonymous
2022-09-04T02:40:57+00:00

MS Windows Home 10.0.2200 Build 2200

Windows Security showed ‘memory integrity is off’ because of ‘incompatible drivers.’ The driver is wdcsam64.sys (Driver version 1.0.7.2, WD External Storage. No other info given).

There were other incompatible drivers but I successfully uninstalled them using Powershell. Unfortunately wdcsam64.sys does not show up after the Powershell command of pnputil /enum-drivers. So I’m unable to find the oem*inf attribution. So I can’t remove it using Powershell.

I have uninstalled the WD driver in Device manager. The problem persists.

A search reveals the file in ``C:\Windows``\System32\drivers. However I’m not in the habit of just deleting drivers here for obvious reasons. Please advise if it is in fact safe to do so.

Have updated Windows. Fully up to date.

So at the moment I’m unable to remove or update this driver, and therefore cannot turn memory integrity on in Windows Security. You can see that this is a non-trivial security issue that is way disproportional to the everyday action of plugging in an external drive.

In summary:- Windows memory integrity is off.

- unable to turn it on

- cannot update driver

- cannot remove it because it doesn’t show up with the pnputil /enum-drivers command on Powershell.

- reluctant just to delete it from %system32\drivers

Any advice or suggestions appreciated. Thank you.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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Ramesh 181.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2022-09-04T02:59:22+00:00

Hi Stephen,

Download Autoruns from the Microsoft Sysinternals site, and run it as administrator.

In the search box in Autoruns, type the driver file name "wdcsam64".

If wdcsam64.sys appears in the list, right-click and choose Delete. Image

See also:

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DaveM121 935.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2022-09-04T06:07:55+00:00

Hi Stephen,

I am Dave, I will help you with this.

Open Command Prompt as administrator and run this command

dism /online /get-drivers /format:table

Does that list that driver to find the oem*inf attribution

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-04-21T00:08:13+00:00

    Update : (with external drive disconnected and PC rebooted)

    1. Deleted Apps related to WD driver (2)
    2. Removed wdcsam reference in autorun.
    3. Deleted wdcsam64 from windows\system32\drivers directory
    4. Uninstalled sdcsam64 references in device manager.
    5. rebooted PC

    Result is NO wdcsam files anywhere on disk. However, memory integrity scan still shows incompatible drivers WITH no driver reference.

    1. Re-attached external hard drive.
    2. Updated WD SES drive from Windows Update manually (WDC_SAM 4.55.25.661).
    3. rebooted PC

    Everthing looks 'normal' in device manager settings. Active driver is in windows\system32\drivers (file version 1.1.0.0). There are 'other' associated files in windows\system32\DriverStore\File repository. HOWEVER, this did not help with memory integrity scan issue. It still indicates incompatible drivers with NO driver references.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-04-20T18:26:04+00:00

    Ramesh,

    Thanks for your reply and excellent reference. However, I am still having issues. Here is what I did.

    1. Disconnected WD external hard drive and rebooted system.
    2. Used pnputil to delete oem43.inf. Showed success.
    3. Used Autoruns to delete WDCSAM reference. Success.
    4. Rebooted system.
    5. Memory integrity scan still showed there were incompatible drivers but with no listing of what thoses drivers were.
    6. Reconnected WD external hard drive.
    7. Device manager saw the new device as 'other' rather than WD drive management devices category.
    8. In Device Manager could not update driver.
    9. Went to external WD_SES_Driver_Setup file and chose repair driver option.
    10. This returned Devcie Manager listing as WD driver management devices category BUT also put system back to where it started with all files and references intact. It was like we didn't do anything.

    Two comments. Steps 2 and 3 appeared to be successful. The only wdcsam64.sys file was in the Program files/sdcsam directory

    and all references to driverstore directory were removed. This all changed when I tried to repair driver. The second comment is

    related to a strange directory file in Apps listing. It is : Windows driver package - Western Digital Technologies (WDC_SAM) WDC_SAM (1/19/2011 1.0.0009.0). This is in addition to SES Driver app.

    I am not sure how to proceed. Suggestions ?

    Rick

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  3. Ramesh 181.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-04-20T02:30:47+00:00

    Rick,

    You should be able to delete the driver by using Autoruns. See note about WDC_SAM driver in the article Fix: Cannot Enable Core Isolation Due to Incompatible Drivers

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