Several scenarios trigger this failure:
If administrator privileges didn't help, Windows might be rejecting the driver's signature.
Steps (Windows 10/11):
Warning: This disables a critical security feature. Use only for testing. If FTK Imager works, you have identified signature enforcement as the root cause. See Solution 6 for a permanent fix.
Your security software may be deleting or quarantining the driver. ftk imager could not start driver new
For Windows Defender (Microsoft Defender Antivirus):
For third-party AV: Consult your vendor’s documentation for adding application or folder exclusions. Warning: This disables a critical security feature
A: No. The driver is mandatory for physical disk access. However, you can still create logical image files (e.g., image a folder or a mounted volume like C:) without the driver? Actually, even logical images often require the driver for raw volume reads. Without it, FTK Imager will have severely limited functionality.
