Why am I receiving an error message about a Computer Resource Problem?

The following error message can be seen when there is an issue with our Emsisoft Protection Platform (EPP) driver:

A computer resource problem prevents Emsisoft Anti-Malware from loading essential protection components.

There can be a number of different causes for issues with the EPP driver, however in many cases simply deleting the driver’s service is enough to solve the error message. The easiest way to do this is by using the Command Prompt to run a simple command to unregister the driver. Below are some instructions on how to do that on different versions of Windows. If you need more information, then please see the Frequently Asked Questions at the bottom of the article, or contact our support department.

After following the instructions below, the EPP driver should be re-registered with Windows, and the problem should be resolved. If it is not, then please submit a support ticket on our online helpdesk, and one of our support personnel will assist you.

Windows 7

1. Click on the Start button.
2. Go to All Programs.
3. Go to Accessories.
4. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
5. Type in sc delete epp and then press Enter on your keyboard.
6. Restart the computer.

Windows 8

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. Select Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu.
3. Type in sc delete epp and then press Enter on your keyboard.
4. To restart the computer, type shutdown /r /t 0 into the Command Prompt and then press Enter again.*

* This step is very important, as restarting Windows 8 normally may not cause the EPP driver to be re-registered properly when the computer restarts.

Windows 8.1

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. Select Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu.
3. Type in sc delete epp and then press Enter on your keyboard.
4. Restart the computer by right-clicking on the Start button, going to Shut down or sign out, and selecting Restart.*

* This step is very important, as restarting Windows 8.1 normally may not cause the EPP driver to be re-registered properly when the computer restarts.

Windows 10

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. Select PowerShell (Admin) from the menu.
3. Type in cmd and then press Enter on your keyboard to switch to the Command Prompt.
4. Type in sc delete epp and then press Enter on your keyboard.
5. Restart the computer by right-clicking on the Start button, going to Shut down or sign out, and selecting Restart.*

* This step is very important, as restarting Windows 10 normally may not cause the EPP driver to be re-registered properly when the computer restarts.

Also note that while you can run the “sc delete epp” command in PowerShell, it will not return the status of the command, so you won’t know if the driver existed or if it was deleted successfully, which is why we recommending switching to the Command Prompt from PowerShell before running “sc delete epp”.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. If this does not fix the problem, then what should I do?

It may be necessary to run the following commands in addition to sc delete epp if an old version of Emsisoft Emergency Kit had been used on the computer in question:

• sc delete epp32
• sc delete epp64

If nothing documented here works, then simply click here to go to our support contact form, submit a new support ticket, and our support team will assist you. You may also contact our support team via our official support forums if you prefer.

2. What if I need someone to do this for me?

Our support team has the capability of remotely connecting to your computer if needed. If you can’t perform these steps yourself, or if you don’t want to, then please click here to go to our support contact form, submit a new support ticket, and our support team will contact you to set up a time for a remote session.

Please note that remote sessions can take some time, and we may not always be able to schedule them right away. If you believe you will be able to perform the steps in the above instructions on your own, then we recommend going ahead and trying it so that the issue can be resolved as quickly as possible.

3. Isn’t deleting a driver a bad thing?

Normally deleting a driver is bad, however in this case you are not deleting any files. You are simply deleting the service that loads the driver.

4. What happens after running “sc delete epp” and restarting the computer?

When the computer restarts, our main service (a2service.exe, or the “Emsisoft Protection Service”) will start like normal, and if it detects that the EPP driver is not registered then it will simply re-register it. This recreates the service that loads the EPP driver, and thus it should fix the problem and the error message should be gone.

5. Why do newer versions of Windows need to be restarted in special ways?

When newer versions of Windows shut down or restart, they don’t stop all running services. After logging the user out and partially shutting down, they save an image of running services that are in memory (similar to the way “Hibernate” works), and then when the computer starts back up they restore that image and then resume in order to speed up the startup process. This means that, when the computer starts up, to many of the services on the computer it is as if the computer was never actually shut down. This has the unfortunate effect of preventing the Emsisoft Protection Service (a2service.exe) from re-registering the EPP driver, since a2service.exe never stopped running (at least from its perspective) and thus it never went through it’s normal start process.