An antivirus software may erroneously identify a Drake Tax file as a threat. This is often referred to as a “false positive.” An antivirus (AV) program installed on your computer usually loads at startup and runs in the background. The AV program examines files and registry entries to identify malicious software. AV programs will occasionally identify a Drake Software file as a threat.

Troubleshooting

Sometimes an antivirus program will simply disable a Drake Tax file without notice, so diagnosis can be difficult.

• Identifying the targeted file is an important step in resolving an antivirus problem.

• If you are able to reboot your computer in Safe Mode or Safe Mode with network, and the problem disappears, then:

  • a firewall is a prime suspect, but

  • an existing problem caused by an antivirus will probably persist. If an AV has already disabled a Drake Tax file, the problem caused by the missing file will continue even if the AV isn’t running.

• If you can identify and open the antivirus and view event logs, you may be able to identify the file that the antivirus is targeting.

• If it is an executable file, follow the program's steps for adding an exclusion or allowing the file to function.

Resolution

Resolving this problem requires configuration of your antivirus program. Contact an IT professional for assistance with this process.

If a file has been removed by the antivirus, you must then restore or replace the file. Contact Drake Support with questions at (828) 524-8020.

Deleting vs. Quarantining

Often, the AV software will display a dialog box identifying the file. If the dialog box offers a choice between “quarantining” a Drake file and deleting it, select quarantine, which allows you to restore the file later. If you delete the file, it will have to be replaced with the assistance of Drake Support.

.DLL Files

When a Drake Tax file is quarantined or disabled, you may not see the effect until you try to do something in Drake Tax that requires that file. The most common AV targets are .DLL files. The missing file could affect almost any Drake Tax function, from logging in to calculating a return.

Executable Files

You may receive a message that the file cannot be found. Sometimes an executable file can become quarantined. You may be able to add an exclusion for the file (listed below) on your antivirus program, or restore it from quarantine.

One of the most common errors you may see is "Drake Tax Software is open (Possibly another computer). Please close the program on all machines before updating." This is especially common if you are running Drake Tax on a network. See Drake Tax - Drake Tax Software is Open (Possibly Another Computer) for additional details on resolving that message.

When YY is used below, substitute the program year for the YY (for example, use 23 where it says YY if using Drake Tax 2023).

Drake23

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\DRAKEDM.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\DRAKESCHEDULER.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\GRUNTWORX.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\SFP.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\BACKUPRESTOREGUI.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\BACKUPRESTOREWATCHER.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKEYY.EXE

• C:\DrakeYY\FT\DRAKETELEMETRYEXPORTER.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\PRICINGEDITOR.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKETAX20YY.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKECM.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKESCU.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRKCHAT.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DSTART.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DSTART20YY.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\TAXSEARCH.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\UPMANUAL.EXE

Drake22

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\DRAKEDM.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\DRAKESCHEDULER.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\GRUNTWORX.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\SFP.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\BACKUPRESTOREGUI.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\BACKUPRESTOREWATCHER.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKEYY.EXE

• C:\DrakeYY\FT\DRAKETAX20YY.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKECM.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKESCU.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRKCHAT.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DSTART.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DSTART20YY.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\TAXSEARCH.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\UPMANUAL.EXE

Drake18 – Drake21

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\DRAKEDM.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\DRAKESCHEDULER.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\GRUNTWORX.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\SFP.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\BACKUPRESTOREGUI.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\DDM\BACKUPRESTOREWATCHER.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKEYY.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKECM.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRAKESCU.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DRKCHAT.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\DSTART.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\TAXSEARCH.EXE

• C:\DRAKEYY\FT\UPMANUAL.EXE