Windows 11 SAC blocks Roon Control app after update (ref#2TEODL)

Support
1

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· Roon is slow, freezing or won’t start

Roon is slow, freezing or won’t start

· Roon won’t start up at all

Tell us what's going on

· Following a ROON update today I can no longer run the ROON (Control) app on my Windows 11 PC. It appears to be being blocked by the Windows 11 Smart App Control. ROON still works on all of my other control devices (Windows 10, iPad or Android phone).

I was able to run ROON on my Windows 11 PC up until today. What has caused ROON to be classed as an unsafe application by Windows 11 SAC following the latest ROON update?

This is very annoying, because as discussed elsewhere in this forum, turning ‘off’ Smart App Control is not something to be done lightly on a Windows 11 PC.

My ROON core is running on an Intel NUC.

Tell us about your home network

· Problem occurs only on my Windows 11 PC. All other control devices continue to work as normal.

2

Hey @hmack,

Thanks for writing in and for sharing your report! I certainly empathize with your frustration here. Let’s see if we can get you back up and running normally.

Since turning SAC off is a “point of no return” that requires a full Windows reinstall to re-enable, try these steps first:

  1. Check the "Unblock" Toggle: Right-click the Roon executable (usually in Users\[YourName]\AppData\Local\Roon\Application\Roon.exe), select Properties, and look for an Unblock checkbox at the bottom of the General tab. If it's there, check it and hit Apply. (SAC often ignores this, but it’s a necessary first step).
If that doesn’t help-
  1. Instead of relying on the in-app update that likely triggered the block, go to the [url=https://roonlabs.com/downloads]Roon Downloads page[/url] and download the full Windows installer. Run it directly. Sometimes, the reputation of the full installer package is established faster than the specific delta-patch files used in an auto-update.
  • Note: This will not delete your library, playlists, or settings. Those are stored in your %LocalAppData% folder, which the installer does not wipe.

Let us know if either help, thank you! :folded_hands:

3

Hi @benjamin,

Thanks for the reply and advice. However, I am actually able to access ROON using my Windows 11 control app today. I haven’t changed anything, so have no idea why.

Since my problem seems to have resolved itself I’ll just leave things as they are for the time being.

If the problem recurs then I’ll try following your advice.

Many thanks,

hmack

4

Hello @hmack,

That is great news! Thank you for the update.

What you experienced is actually quite common with Windows Smart App Control. SAC relies heavily on a cloud-based reputation service; when we release a fresh update, it can sometimes take a day or two for the new version to establish enough “global reputation” for Windows to automatically whitelist it. It sounds like the service has now recognized the new Roon update as safe on your machine.

Since everything is back to normal, I will go ahead and close this thread. However, if you run into this again after a future update, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Happy listening!

5

Hi @hmack,

We wanted to check in since there’s been another Roon release this week. Are you encountering any connectivity issues after updating, or any other problems? What about any improvements?

As a side note, it’s best practice to double-check that the Roon executables are still on the Microsoft Defender firewall safelist after a Roon update. This would include RoonServer.exe, RAATServer.exe, RoonGoer.exe, RoonAppliance.exe, and Roon.exe itself.