GPU-Z Download Blocked by Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge Browsers

[Chris4877]

Hi all,
The subject line says it all.
Also, CPU-Z downloads are being blocked as well.
Both of the above-named browsers are saying that these programs are viruses, (which I know isn't true), but neither browser offers any option to "download anyway."
Does anybody know of a workaround?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[P4-630]

Be sure to download

GPU-Z from https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-gpu-z/
CPU-Z from https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

No issues downloading here.

If that doesn't work for you , you might want to scan your system for virusses.

 

[Voluman]

On Edge version: 102.0.1245.44 is fine for me.
Check for update/antivirus/firewall settings?

 

[Chris4877]

I've tried everything I could think of with Edge and Chrome, and a lot of Googling revealed that it's some kind of problem with Microsoft's SmartScreen Filter.
BTW, my Edge version is 102.0.1245.44. I tried the Chrome download a few days ago, but I've just re-installed Windows 10 and I haven't yet re-installed Chrome, so I can't remember the exact version, but that really shouldn't matter all that much, because Edge and Chrome are built on the same code base.
I've turned off SmartScreen in Windows Security settings, but it's making no difference at all.
From what I can gather, Chrome can be affected by it, but I still think it's pretty strange, because not only were GPU-Z and CPU-Z being blocked: Edge also blocked the Notepad++ x64 installer, and GIMP 2.0, also labelling them as viruses, with no workaround.
However, there is a bit of good news: Firefox is not affected by SmartScreen, and I can use Firefox to download just about anything I want.
Firefox is now my default browser.

 

[P4-630]

I've tried everything I could think of with Edge and Chrome, and a lot of Googling revealed that it's some kind of problem with Microsoft's SmartScreen Filter.
BTW, my Edge version is 102.0.1245.44.
I've turned off SmartScreen in Windows Security settings, but it's making no difference at all.
From what I can gather, Chrome can be affected by it, but I still think it's pretty strange, because not only were GPU-Z and CPU-Z being blocked: Edge also blocked Notepad++ installer, and GIMP 2.0, also labelling them as viruses, with no workaround.
However, there is a bit of good news: Firefox is not affected by SmartScreen, and I can use Firefox to download just about anything I want.
Firefox is now my default browser.

As I mentioned before, you might want to scan your system for virusses.
GL.

 

[Chris4877]

As I mentioned before, you might want to scan your system for virusses.
GL.

I do daily scans, plus I have Real-Time Protection switched on, and my AV never finds anything.
Anyway, this is a fresh Windows 10 install, on a long-formatted HDD, (completely cleaned), it's a genuine Windows download from Microsoft. I won't install Windows 11 yet, I've already had one serious problem with it, and if I hadn't been doing daily disk image backups, I wouldn't have been able to get my Windows 10 installation back.
I'm just using Windows Security, I won't have a bar of Norton, because Norton has bought out almost every other well-known AV company, (AVG, Avast, to name just 2), and it's nearly impossible to get a paid AV program that isn't Norton.
Anyway, AFAIK, this machine is completely virus-free.

 

[W1zzard]

Is your system date/time correct? This could cause issues with certificate verification

https://imgur.com/68t2TfJ

Works for me

 

[ThrashZone]

^^^This^^^

You could also try in-private browsing if the system date/ clock is correct.

 

[Chris4877]

System date & time are correct within ±1 msec.
I have no problem reaching the TechPowerUp website.
The problem is the actual file download.
Anyway, why does Firefox allow me to download and save the files?
According to Google Help, it's something to do with SmartScreen, but I'm not too sure about that, because Edge and Chrome are also blocking the download of other well-known executable installers, such as Notepad++, Media Player Codec Pack, and GIMP 2.0 (not from TechPowerUp, but from their respective official sites), and this is all occurring with SmartScreen disabled.

 

[looniam]

i don't use edge but chrome has some safe browsing settings that caused me to walk on the wild side. refusing sites/download where i know its safe from previous visits. update chrome, which it does on its own, and next thing i knew, the site/download would be "blocked"

i'll rely on my own habits since 1994 so no thanks

 

[Naki]

Can you give us a winver screenshot, please?
(You might want to edit out/erase any email address of yours, if listed there - should be near the end of the texts.)

I wonder how old or new your Windows 10 OS is.

Here is one from my PC -->

 

[ThrashZone]

System date & time are correct within ±1 msec.
I have no problem reaching the TechPowerUp website.
The problem is the actual file download.
Anyway, why does Firefox allow me to download and save the files?
According to Google Help, it's something to do with SmartScreen, but I'm not too sure about that, because Edge and Chrome are also blocking the download of other well-known executable installers, such as Notepad++, Media Player Codec Pack, and GIMP 2.0 (not from TechPowerUp, but from their respective official sites), and this is all occurring with SmartScreen disabled.

Hi,
Smart screen filter is anything but smart
Just disable it in windows security or as you say firefox works so go with it.

 

[Chris4877]

Hi,
Smart screen filter is anything but smart
Just disable it in windows security or as you say firefox works so go with it.

I've already disabled SmartScreen, but it didn't make any difference.

Can you give us a winver screenshot, please?
(You might want to edit out/erase any email address of yours, if listed there - should be near the end of the texts.)

I wonder how old or new your Windows 10 OS is.

Here is one from my PC -->

View attachment 251895

I think my winver screenshot is the same as yours, except for the user name.

 

[R-T-B]

This sounds more like malware than SmartScreen.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
You didn't say how in-private browsing went.

 

[Chris4877]

This sounds more like malware than SmartScreen.

This copy of Windows 10 is a clean install I did less than 24 hours ago.
I cleaned the HDD, [DISKPART>CLEAN ALL], recreated the EFI System Partition, created the Windows Partition, long-formatted both partitions, restarted the machine. booted into UEFI from the USB stick which has the latest available genuine Windows 10 21H2 image, which was downloaded from the official Microsoft source and written to the USB stick by the official Windows image creator/writer, and installed Windows 10 on the Windows partition.
I did not install any other browser, because I wanted to see how Windows would behave with only the recommended browser.
The first thing I tried with the browser was to download and install CPU-Z and GPU-Z from the official TechPowerUp website, downloading from the SG server, as it's the closest to Sydney, Australia, and both downloads were blocked, because the programs were determined to be viruses.
Look at the screenshot below.

 

[lexluthermiester]

No problems downloading with Iron(Chromium fork).

 

[Chris4877]

I can't see how there could possibly be any malware on my system.
It's a completely clean install, less than 24 hours old.
I've tried disabling SmartScreen, in both Windows Security and in Group Policy, but it has made no difference.
I have run a full scan of all drives on my system, including all attached removable drives.
Nothing has been found.
I just can't see how it's possible for there to be malware on my system after only 24 hours of use, and all Windows Security options set to maximum protection.
I don't visit dodgy websites, and I never click on ads, links in emails, not even in emails purporting to come from contacts.
And anyway, why does Mozilla Firefox download these programs with no problems?

No problems downloading with Iron(Chromium fork).

I don't even know what that is.
Anyway, in the present discussion, it's irrelevant, because I don't even have Chrome installed in any form.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I can't see how there could possibly be any malware on my system.
It's a completely clean install, less than 24 hours old.
I've tried disabling SmartScreen, in both Windows Security and in Group Policy, but it has made no difference.
I have run a full scan of all drives on my system, including all attached removable drives.
Nothing has been found.
I just can't see how it's possible for there to be malware on my system after only 24 hours of use, and all Windows Security options set to maximum protection.
I don't visit dodgy websites, and I never click on ads, links in emails, not even in emails purporting to come from contacts.
And anyway, why does Mozilla Firefox download these programs with no problems?

Have you checked you system clock? You need to make sure it's not set to a future time for you time zone or HTTPS certs will fail.

I don't even know what that is.

As described, it's a fork of the Chromium browser, which it what you mentioned in the title of the thread. Edge is a Chromium fork as well.

Anyway, in the present discussion, it's irrelevant, because I don't even have Chrome installed in any form.

Ok, then why ask about it?

 

[Chris4877]

Have you checked you system clock? You need to make sure it's not set to a future time for you time zone or HTTPS certs will fail.


As described, it's a fork of the Chromium browser, which it what you mentioned in the title of the thread. Edge is a Chromium fork as well.

Ok, then why ask about it?

I keep my system clock updated hourly, using the NetTime service. It is accurate to within ± 1 msec. Will HTTPS certificate fail if the System Clock is as little a 1 msec in the future?

I originally asked the question because it was occurring with my previous Windows installation, (the one I removed before I totally cleaned the HDD and downloaded and installed my current one).
I had tried both Chrome and Edge in the previous installation, and in fact, I posted this thread at that time.
Now that I have only Edge, I'm still experiencing the same problem.

 

[Candor]

Both Chrome and Edge (latest versions) have no issues downloading those files here.

Smartscreen settings are also at default for both browsers.

I can't imagine what's going on there.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I originally asked the question because it was occurring with my previous Windows installation, (the one I removed before I totally cleaned the HDD and downloaded and installed my current one).
I had tried both Chrome and Edge in the previous installation, and in fact, I posted this thread at that time.
Now that I have only Edge, I'm still experiencing the same problem.

Ah ok. Have you tried Firefox?

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Which of the following most describes the blocked files?

1. Specific executable files including CPU-Z
2. All executable files
3. All files from specific sites
4. All files

 

[Chris4877]

Which of the following most describes the blocked files?

1. Specific executable files including CPU-Z
2. All executable files
3. All files from specific sites
4. All files

2

Ah ok. Have you tried Firefox?

Yes, and that's why I've made Firefox my default browser, in spite of Edge's constant complaining that it's no longer my default browser.
Also, I've re-installed Chrome, and it's still doing the same thing as before, (blocking all executable files), saying that a virus was detected.
I've also (AFAIK), disabled SmartScreen through Group Policy, run gpupdate as Administrator, run lusrmgr as Administrator, added myself to the Device Owners Group, (Device Owners Group have even higher privileges than Administrators), rebooted, and nothing has changed: Edge and Chrome are still blocking the download of all executable files regardless of the download source, giving the error message, "Download blocked - virus detected."
Firefox downloads the files with no errors, and it's now my default browser.

 

[P4-630]

Also, I've re-installed Chrome, and it's still doing the same thing as before, (blocking all executable files), saying that a virus was detected.
I've also (AFAIK), disabled SmartScreen through Group Policy, run gpupdate as Administrator, run lusrmgr as Administrator, added myself to the Device Owners Group, (Device Owners Group have even higher privileges than Administrators), rebooted, and nothing has changed: Edge and Chrome are still blocking the download of all executable files regardless of the download source, giving the error message, "Download blocked - virus detected."

Scan your system for virusses.