Stuck in HP 3D drive guard paradox, trying to reinstall it but it won't allow it

[SiberianKhatru]

Hello. 

Here's the problem:
I upgraded my computer and replaced 2 parts - a new GPU (switched from GT740 TO GTX1050TI) and a new PSU (from 380w to 500w)

ever since that upgrade, a recurring error shows up everytime I start the pc. It says "accelerometerdll.dll was not found", and suggests reinstalling it. It's important to notice that at the same time, I noticed that my hard drive was unaccesible. 

The hard drive has 3 partitions, displayed as drives (D:), (G:) and (F:). When I try to access them, a message shows up saying that the drive must be formatted before it can be used.

Combining between the two events, it seems likely that the problem with the acceleromoter is related to the drives being unaccesible, because the accelerometer is related to HP 3D Drive Guard, which locks the drives from being used as a method of protecting them. 

The solution seems simple, uninstall the HP 3D Driveguard, and then reinstall the newest version. 

This is where things get complicated - when trying to uninstall HP 3D Driveguard, by the end of the process, a message shows up saying that "The HP DriveGuard driver cannot install, the accelerometer hardware is not present or supported on this unit. " that sounds reasonable, as we are talking about a desktop here. But that doesn't matter - I can't seem to uninstall HP 3D Driveguard. When I do try to install the latest version, nothing happens after the installation. It stays the same.  Another thing to know is that in the device manager, HP 3D Driveguard cannot be found anywhere, and also not the HP Mobile Data Protection Sensor. 

So, to wrap it up, HP 3D Driveguard is having issues, which deny me from accessing my hard drive. Trying to reinstall it resuslts in it denying itself from uninstalling itself. This kind of question did get asked once before but no one was able to answer it. I am in deep need of assistance guys, your help would be much apprecieated. Thanks a lot. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I have never heard of any HP business desktop PC coming with the 3D driveguard hardware.

What that does is to protect the hard drive by parking the heads in case a laptop is bumped or dropped.

So, I am not the least bit surprised that the HP Mobile Data Protection Sensor hardware is not present, and that the 3D driveguard software reports that the accelerometer hardware is not present or supported on this unit.

The W10 image installed on your PC must have had some notebook software included.

I suggest that you go to the windows control panel>programs>uninstall a program, find the 3D driveguard software and uninstall it.

You will notice that there is no 3D driveguard software even listed on your PC's support page.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-280-g1-microtower-pc/7357746

[SiberianKhatru]

Hi Paul, thanks for the quick reply. Actually, I have stated in my first message that I have already tried uninstalling the Driveguard. this is what the whole problem is about. I can't get rid of it, because when I try to uninstall it, it says it cannot complete the process due to the device (my computer) being incompatible with the Driveguard software, hence I used the word "paradox" in the title. I am completely stuck. Would love to hear your answer. Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Sorry that I overlooked the part where you stated that you already tried to uninstall the software.

I guess you will have to find what part of the program is trying to load the accelerometer device and triggering that notice,  and just delete the file. 

I downloaded the 3D driveguard driver file, used 7-Zip to explore the file contents and finding the file that is triggering the error may be easier said than done.

There is an accelerometer setup information file (the driver itself), and there is an accelerometer.sys file...stuff like that.

I suggest you do the same...explore the driver folder and then do a search and delete of any file names that show up.

Use 7-zip to extract the exe file into its component folder, or go to your C:\SWSetup folder and find the 3D driveguard sp##### folder and explore it from there.

Personally, I wouldn't put up with it, and it would be easier for me to do a clean install of W10, if spending a few minutes trying to locate the offending file proved fruitless.