F-secure installed but won't open UI
F-secure worked just fine at first. However, since my pc was upgraded with a new GPU and Windows11, I can't open the app anymore. I have uninstalled with the special tool, and re-installed like 12 times by now. Tried the Webview2 solution, but all to no avail. As I got my F-secure along with my internet provider, I have no less than 20 licenses, so that's no problem either.
I did manage to run the diagnostic tool by going into the installation files folder directly.
On that note; clicking the .exe files in there in hopes of starting the app had no effect either.
Edit: PII removed
Accepted Answers
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Hello,
Note: it would be better to delete the attached file, as this is a public forum (community) and diagnostic files may contain some private information (if fsdiag is required, official representatives will contact again or provide a secure and reliable channel or way of sharing the file).
Sidenote: also, you can try contacting their support team or your ISP Support (if obtained F-Secure version is branded by them) and sharing fsdiag with them during conversation. Official F-Secure support direct channels are phone-call or web-chat (f-secure.com/support).
As an attempt to help from the Community: It would be useful to know some things.
- Is the installation completed to the end? Do you see a welcome screen or something after running installer (with its progress bar) - or there is nothing after reaching 100% of installer's work.
- Do you see F-Secure tray logo?
Then I will try some random suggestions. Such as: I would start by uninstalling F-Secure the normal way (via Settings or Windows Control Panel), then reboot the system, then use the F-Secure Uninstallation Tool, reboot the system again. After that I would think about starting a clean installation again. However, there were some cases or situations mentioned on the community pages that would be worth checking out as well. Which I could start with (or, on the other hand, I could try before starting a clean installation of F-Secure).
You mentioned that you tried to play with Webview2. This comment suggested that sometimes it may be useful to uninstall WebView2 and then to proceeded with installation of F-Secure (because ""WebView2 is stuck to too old version but the installer will not update it."").
Another thing is .NET Framework (currently 8), which is required to run application on Windows environments. Perhaps, it could be listed as Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime 8.0.18 - so, maybe it worth to check that installation is not corrupted or whatever wrong it could be with this.
And since you mentioned recent(?) upgrade to Windows 11 - doublecheck that all Windows updates have been installed successfully and there are no pending 'something'. As such, this would also include drivers (system and even ones like graphics). Maybe, some of them 'automatically' transferred but now is kind of broken without being properly (re)installed.
If you see the logo in the tray, you can try to enable Software rendering for the application (hold down the SHIFT key while right-clicking the tray icon to open the menu, choose 'software rendering' option in the menu). Although I think it only matters in situations where you can open the UI (and it has some rendering troubles) and so cannot help here.
Thanks!
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// tried to fix this reply's view.
Tried your tip to install the free trial version: same result
:( Yes, some kind of unclear situation. I apologize once again for some of my already intrusive recommendations and discussing.
In particular, it is not clear what to attribute the problem to. Potentially, uninstalling F-Secure (and then further using the F-Secure Uninstallation Tool) could be enough to clean it up in case of some tricky remains. Uninstalling webview2 should get rid of the "outdated" version, if that was a thing. All installed updates for both the system (for Windows 11 after the upgrade), and device and component drivers (also after an upgrade or configuration changes) discard some dependencies that might not have been present without installing updates. As well as double checking that .NET (Windows Desktop Runtime) is also without any breakages.
With this approach, a clean installation should have succeeded when run with Administrator rights. Or something goes wrong during the attempts, or some obstacle occurs again at the wrong time of the attempt.
Another thing could be that some kind of crash occurs. Such as, everything is fine, but for some reason your system crashes the application when trying to open the UI. So, not that it is impossible to open UI in theory, but because some error occurs. But it is not clear why this suddenly appeared after the described changes in the computer.Since you were able to reproduce the problem with a stable version, I would still try to write to the web-chat of the official support channel (this options is available nearly in the middle of the page). So that they would immediately say whether there is any known problem on this topic, or they could analyze the diagnostic file (logs) and already relatively accurately see when or why there is a problem with opening the UI.
So what is the deal with Webview2, should it be installed or not?
It should be installed. If this component is not present in the system, F-Secure would try to install it automatically. If it could not, it would notify about it. However, it was once mentioned that this component could be "outdated" (old version or such sort of things) in the system and the installer was not able to update it. Then it was recommended to remove webview2 and, for example, install it manually or run the installation (and F-Secure would do it automatically).
This knowledge base article describes manual approaching: Installing Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime manually (by F-Secure support team).
F-Secure also uses .NET 8 technology. In the system, the required component would be listed as installed Windows Desktop Runtime 8*. If it is not there, F-Secure adds it automatically.
This knowledge base article describes manual approaching of previous version of used .NET technology: Installing Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime manually (now, it should be 8* version instead).
Thus, these are the two things that are required to run and use current F-Secure solutions. Since after 100% of the installer - you do not see the welcome screen, where I think webview2 is used directly (because it is the step of obtaining license, showing user's related stuff and approving what kind of profile it would be like log into) - it may be either a problem with it, or something more general (but may be less likely).
When F-Secure used a different technology for the UI, there was once a problem with F-Secure Freedome (VPN), which required DirectX 10+ and Pixel Shaders 3.0 features (F-Secure VPN shows an error message about OpenGL 2.0 driver), if there may be something similar at the moment, then in any case it is better to contact support for their technical analysis of logs.
I had indeed manually installed the supposedly fixed Webview2, which is when the F installation also mentioned it was installing Webview2.
Did you mean something like: you manually installed webview2, and then while installing F-Secure it also states that they are installing webview2?
Thanks!
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and one small comment to my previous one.
to try to somehow exclude the problem's connection to the new GPU - is F-Secure the only application that can't be opened? or have problems with other applications also occurred. Just if it is related to the GPU replacement / upgrade, then I don't think that only one application should have received such an impact.
Answers
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I think so, you may see (…) logo in the right corner near topic's title or comment. When you click it - are there any "Edit" options? I never tried to attach files - so - I am not sure if you can post-edit this bit. // saw your edited version of comment - so, yeah…
otherwise - well, with a bit of delay moderators will handle it (anyway, by default - fsdiag is not running in high level logging - so there should not be something too much to worry).
situation is sorted now.
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Back after more fiddling (with no result :( )
So the installation always looks to be going fine, but there is nothing popping up after 100% mark.
There is a tray logo and desktop-icon.
Software rendering did nothing either.
Updates and drivers look to be up-to-date.
Before I attempt AGAIN: I have now uninstalled both F-secure AND Webview2 and rebooted. What do you suppose I do next?
(thanks for your patience, sorry my pc seems to be cursed :'D) -
so,
So the installation always looks to be going fine, but there is nothing popping up after 100% mark. There is a tray logo and desktop-icon.
what looks like: at the moment when webview2 should most likely be 'used' - it does not happen. In particular, it would be a welcome screen with the ability to select a profile to install (adult or child type). And finalizing installation further.
there was a discussion with a 'similar' view, but suggestions were not very different from the current discussion.
What do you suppose I do next?
see if any component like Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime is installed. It could be with different versions (and they are all needed if at least one application installed in the system uses it). F-Secure uses either 6 (if you have a branded version and haven't received the latest updates yet) or 8.
So, it is something like Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime 8.0.18. Which you can try to 'repair' (there could be that option when clicking it in the installed apps list) or also 'uninstall/reinstall'. F-Secure should do this automatically if will not detect it in the system. However, there is a guide how to do it manually (but still about maybe 'old' .NET 6' version and .NET 8 is available there).
I am not sure if it is necessary to play with .NET 8 component (Windows Desktop Runtime 8.0.18 or .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.36) - I mean if it is installed now, let's assume that it is not broken. And, so, you can just try to install F-Secure again. Or, if you are comfortable ,to 'uninstall' this one as well - so F-Secure then will try to install everything it needs automatically.
// in case of webview2 should be installed manually (just as last hope try after potentially many others tries) - just as a reference to a knowledge base article.
// I don't know if it would be possible - but since it was once mentioned somehow with a similar problem(?) - if there is something like NVIDIA drivers, then try to reinstall them. For example, on my laptop I noticed that after upgrading to new versions of Windows - sometimes - the driver seemed to be listed in the system and was updated, but if I manually run the installation of the "necessary" NVIDIA drivers for model/videocard (like downloaded them from their website and run executable) - the installer thought that they were not installed yet (and, by the way, I tried to install them because I suspected some kind of problem in this area). But I find it hard to imagine how this would help damage or affect the F-Secure UI (but I remember one of the comments was in some obscure context on this matter).
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The similar discussion you linked seems to be exactly what I'm experiencing. I can't quite tell how that user solved it with the Webview2 issue though…
Looks like I have Windows Desktop Runtime, both 6 and 8. Should I get rid of one of these? In case they conflict.
I already re-installed Nvidia drivers yesterday due to a different problem (which solved THAT issue) -
Hello,
Looks like I have Windows Desktop Runtime, both 6 and 8. Should I get rid of one of these? In case they conflict.
It's doubtful that they will conflict. If F-Secure is the only application why there is .net6 in the system, then it would be possible and safe to remove it, leaving only .net8. But I will suggest do not get rid of one of these even if the latest version of F-Secure is installed and only using .net8.
However, I take into account the possibility that perhaps their installation also "broke" in some way. And then I would delete them, and accordingly if some applications depend on them - they should show some kind of request for installation (rather than just break), so you can delete both, reboot the system and try to install F-Secure, which will automatically install .net8
The similar discussion you linked seems to be exactly what I'm experiencing. I can't quite tell how that user solved it with the Webview2 issue though…
Unfortunately, it's not entirely clear what exactly and how it helped there. Maybe it was not really webview2-related. But if so, then perhaps in your case - webview2 removal is not complete. Such as, I saw on the web some recommendation to use Command line with administrator rights for forcing uninstallation in a kind of 'manual' way. I am not sure that this is really that's much required.
But maybe - if you already tried to install F-Secure back after uninstalling it and removing webview2 as well - the step with manual installing webview2 is a way to try before installing F-Secure (with getting the latest available as noted there: Evergreen Bootstrapper).
// one thing to note: it is good to try F-Secure Uninstallation Tool (which I think you mentioned as 'special tool') after normal uninstallation; like in between restarts (uninstalling - restart - cleaning with special tool - restart); just in case if uninstalling webview2 was enough to fix trouble; but now it was some remains of F-Secure installation itself somewhere.
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Back again after more hassling. Last attempt at installing F-secure it mentioned it was installing Webview2 too, so I thought "This is promising!", and after hitting the 100% mark … nothing 8)
SO guess I give up and simply won't be using this anti-virus (luckily it was a freeby with my internet provider, but ughhh).Thanks anyway for all the advice and tricks :'(
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SO guess I give up and simply won't be using this anti-virus (luckily it was a freeby with my internet provider, but ughhh).
@Treenz, did you try to install Webview2 manually (in case, if it is not 'autoinstalled' with F-Secure installing process after you uninstalled it)?
Anyway, still there is another option - to contact Support directly (your ISP service or F-Secure company), so that they can analyze the diagnostic files and, basically, they can also provide remote help (so, they will try to fix things without bothering with text suggestions).
There is definitely something here that needs to be fixed or understood somehow.
Whether something with webview2 or other components in use, some remnants from previous installations or something else.. It could also be that if you encounter a bug (for which, for your version from the ISP, there is no fix yet). then they could try to find a way to provide the latest version.
By the way, if you do remove the solution and are ready to check the situation again, can you try installing the standard F-Secure solution (from f-secure.com) as a trial version? That's something like 30 days (or less, depends on package) of trial version with no obligation to buy later. And with the ability to delete any created account later. For example, just to see if the stable version has this trouble in your system.
Thanks!
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Tried your tip to install the free trial version: same result -pulls hair out-
So what is the deal with Webview2, should it be installed or not?
If I remember correctly: the 2nd to last time I tried installing F-secure (not the trial), I had indeed manually installed the supposedly fixed Webview2, which is when the F installation also mentioned it was installing Webview2. But still, no UI -*flips desk*-