Description

Does Ansys crash or hang up?  Does Ansys not open at all when you launch it?  Are you getting unexpected error messages?  These symptoms can be caused by your endpoint security / antivirus software actively silently blocking Ansys while it's running or having silently blocked files from being installed which are now preventing the software from running properly (corrupt installation).

Problematic Endpoint Security / Antivirus Software - Software we have seen interfere with Ansys.

• Norton
• McAfee
• SentinalOne
• ESET
• Cylance
• AppMoat
• Webroot
• Trend Micro (Endpoint Basecamp 2019)
• Sophos
• BitDefender
• Trellix

Solution

Rule out AV as the Cause

1. Identify What Security Software is Installed
   1. If your computer is managed by your IT Department, please contact them to determine what endpoint security software is in use. 
      Note:  It's very common that, in addition to Window Defender, additional 3rd party endpoint security software is silently running in the background without appearing in the system tray or start menu.
   2. Optionally you can attempt to open Task manager and review the process list to try to identify what AV software is running.
2. Is your AV Software on Problematic List Above?
   1. If so, continue to Step #4
3. Review Your AV logs If Possible
   1. If possible, review your AV software logs to see if it blocked Ansys.  Unfortunately, it's very common for centrally managed AV software to block but not log or alert the user to any errors, so this is not a definitive way to rule out the software.
4. Temporarily uninstall AV software and attempt to reproduce the problem
   1. We've found that disabling the AV software rarely disables all features and you will need to completely uninstall the software temporarily so you can be confident either way.
      Note: attempting to disable the software by killing the process in task manager rarely works because AV products restart themselves to prevent malicious threats from shutting down the process.
   2. Even if the problem repeats itself after your security software is uninstalled, the software may have blocked files during the installation process, and you must continue to the next step before definitively ruling out AV as the cause.
5. Uninstall & Reinstall Ansys
   1. With your AV still uninstalled, perform a comprehensive uninstall and reinstall of the software.
6. Can you Reproduce the Problem?
   • NO
     • AV was the cause.  Continue to Step #2 and work with your IT Department to add the necessary exclusions to your AV software and reinstall it on your computer.
   • YES
     • We recommend continuing to troubleshoot the problem to resolution with AV uninstalled to ensure it isn't a contributing factor of multiple problems.
7. Whitelist / Exclude Ansys Folders from Endpoint Security Software
   • HOW TO - Whitelist Ansys in Endpoint Security / Antivirus Software 
8. Reinstall your AV software if you uninstalled it in the steps above
9. Attempt to reproduce the problem