SOLVED: Core Isolation Memory Integrity Incompatible Drivers WDCSAM64_PREWIN8.SYS

If you are trying to tighten up your security by adding Virtualization-Based Security (aka VBS) to your Windows 11 you might find this error:

Core Isolation Memory Integrity
Incompatible Drivers WDCSAM64_PREWIN8.SYS

Driver date: 11/29/2017

Driver version: 1.2.0.0

Published name: oem26.inf

This is an old driver that ships with both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and very few people need it. In fact we have never run into a situation of any machine using WDCSAM64_PREWIN8.SYS .

Fortunately, it is very easy to remove:

RIGHT click on the START button and select WINDOWS TERMINAL (ADMIN)
- If you are on Windows 10, select POWERSHELL (ADMIN)
You can then list all of the drivers on your computer using pnputil /enum-drivers and find the one with WDCSAM64_PREWIN8.SYS or you can just look at the error message. In my case the driver that needs to go is OEM26.INF
Uninstall the driver using pnputil /delete-driver oem<XX>.inf

You do NOT need a reboot so you can immediately retry to enable CORE ISOLATION and you should see a prompt to reboot once Core Isolation > Memory Integrity is turned ON.

Categories: Windows 11 & Windows 10Windows Server

129 Comments

Bob · September 28, 2024 at 12:13 am

Thank you for this post. This is still a fairly common problem, but your post is the only solution that actually works – even the Microsoft knowledge base was useless on this issue.

Ian Matthews · October 2, 2024 at 6:10 pm

Thanks for the kind words Bob… we try 🙂

Adam · October 21, 2024 at 10:01 am

JFYI, here’s the complete driver info:

Published Name: oem0.inf
Original Name: wdcsam.inf
Provider Name: Western Digital Technologies
Class Name: WDC_SAM
Class GUID: {8496e87e-c0a1-4102-9d8d-bd9a9b8b07a9}
Driver Version: 01/19/2011 1.0.9.0
Signer Name: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

Published Name: oem6.inf
Original Name: wdcsam.inf
Provider Name: Western Digital Technologies
Class Name: WDC_SAM
Class GUID: {8496e87e-c0a1-4102-9d8d-bd9a9b8b07a9}
Driver Version: 07/06/2020 4.55.25.661
Signer Name: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

adam · October 21, 2024 at 10:02 am

So…which driver should I delete?

adam · October 21, 2024 at 10:03 am

Which driver do you suggest deleting (one is for my C:\ drive, one is for an external USB drive that I still use)? Will I still be able to use the external drive?

adam · October 23, 2024 at 5:25 pm

This problem cleared up after installing the wd discovery app

Adam · October 19, 2024 at 12:55 pm

I have two wdsam.inf drivers, oem0.inf and oem6.inf. I have an internal Western Digital drive and and external one. Any hints about which driver needs to be deleted?

gerard loyez · August 22, 2024 at 12:00 am

bonjour, soucis idem resolu parfaitement… merci

hello, problems ditto solved perfectly… Thank you

Rupesh · October 17, 2023 at 1:14 am

Thanks, the above step worked. I had the issue with oem65.inf for Sennheiser Communications.

Harvey Ray Fields · October 13, 2023 at 4:39 am

I used this method and it worked to get rid of the file. My issue is, I still can’t turn on the Memory integrity, due driver incompatibilities. I have restarted my computer and still same issue. When I look to resolve any incompatibilities there are no drivers listed.

Jon · January 14, 2024 at 12:24 pm

I have the same issue, where you able to resolve it?

Ólafur Gíslason · September 5, 2023 at 8:33 am

same result – “one or more devices using the same specified INF”. Without oem-number : “the specified file is not installed oem inf.”

Rando · August 24, 2023 at 1:36 am

I also had the same issue where it was telling me that I could not delete the driver. But if you put a space, then type /force it will delete the driver without issue. Just copy this command and replace the with your specific INF number. pnputil /delete-driver oem.inf

Guillaume · July 22, 2023 at 9:06 am

I had the same message as Don when trying to remove driver oem47.inf in Windows 11 (Western Digital MyBook)

Craig · August 21, 2023 at 2:32 pm

Did you run “As administrator”?

Don · July 18, 2023 at 12:23 pm

I tried the above solution but got the following message: Failed to delete driver package: One or more devices are presently installed using the specified INF. Suggestions?

Published by Ian Matthews on November 8, 2021