"Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection" and Sandra's Kernel Driver

hen running Sandra on recent Windows 11 versions and hardware you may receive a pop-up stating that "Sandra.sys (aka the kernel driver) cannot be loaded on this device due to a security feature called 'Hardware-enforced Stack Protection' ".

Microsoft has started to ask Windows users to enable this new security features that may not be compatible with Sandra's kernel driver (Sandra.sys). As this driver must run in kernel space and directly interacts with hardware - as with most other hardware utilities of this type, game anti-cheats, anti-virus/malware and similar kernel-level software - it cannot be compatible with all features.

While we are working on finding a solution, unfortunately there is no easy or immediate fix for it.

While most of the features will still work without the kernel device driver - its hardware detection functionality is greatly reduced, e.g. CPU/Chipset/Memory data will not be available (e.g. CPU multipliers, memory controller timings, memory modules detection, etc.). You can still run the benchmarks.

For full Sandra functionality, you will need to disable this feature and perhaps re-enable it later if all your other software is compatible with it. While we are working on a solution, unfortunately there is no immediate/easy work-around or fix.

How to disable "Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection"

• Click "Windows Security" notification icon on the taskbar.
• Click "Device Security" icon and then click "Core Isolation Details".
• Un-set "Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection" to disable it. Reboot is required