Microsoft Defender Antivirus exclusion list

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How do I add SIW to the Microsoft Defender Antivirus exclusion list?

If Microsoft Defender Antivirus slows down SIW while it scans hardware, system files, or the CPUID Software driver components, you can add SIW to the Defender exclusion list. This allows SIW to operate without unnecessary real-time scanning while maintaining protection for the rest of your system.

Important: Add exclusions only if you downloaded SIW from the official website and trust the software.

1: Exclude the SIW and CPUID Software folders

Open Windows PowerShell as Administrator and run: 

Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "$env:ProgramData\CPUID Software"
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Program Files\SIW Home"

Replace C:\Program Files\SIW Home with the actual SIW installation folder on your computer.

For example, if siw64.exe is installed in: 

D:\Applications\SIW\siw64.exe

then use: 

Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "D:\Applications\SIW"

This excludes the following folders from Microsoft Defender scans:

  • %ProgramData%\CPUID Software – Temporary driver files used by the CPUID SDK.
  • SIW installation folder – The folder containing siw64.exe.

2: Exclude the SIW process

To exclude all files opened by siw64.exe, run: 

Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess "C:\Program Files\SIW Home\siw64.exe"

Replace the path with the actual location of siw64.exe.

For example: 

Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess "D:\Applications\SIW\siw64.exe"

A process exclusion instructs Microsoft Defender not to scan files opened by siw64.exe. This can improve performance while SIW performs hardware detection, system analysis, and inventory operations.

Verify the exclusions

To display the configured exclusions, run: 

Get-MpPreference | Select-Object ExclusionPath, ExclusionProcess

Remove the exclusions

If you no longer need the exclusions, remove them by running: 

Remove-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "$env:ProgramData\CPUID Software"
Remove-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\Program Files\SIW Home"
Remove-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess "C:\Program Files\SIW Home\siw64.exe"

Replace the example paths above with the actual paths used on your computer.

Note: Administrator privileges are required to add or remove Microsoft Defender exclusions. If your computer is managed by your organization, Group Policy or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint may prevent local changes to the exclusion list.