[HOW TO] Closing Prohibited Applications

- Test taker that are using a company-owned device, they might encounter restrictions made by the IT personnel such as Task Manager is not available and/or the application that is being recognized as prohibited application is one of the processes that the IT personnel installed.

An ADMIN Password may be required to completely access the device.

- Make sure that no applications are running on "Other users”, or the other user is signed out. Applications will not be closed if it is running on other users.

- If an application continues to open during an exam, it may be possible to change the settings for that application to disallow opening without permission. Refer to this KB link for reference: [HOW TO] Disable start-up applications

When starting the PSI Secure Browser, you will be directed to a screen that shows you any prohibited applications that are running in the background that may cause issues with your exam, you need to click the "TERMINATE ALL THESE APPLICATIONS" to close all these prohibited applications. 

However, there are times that this does not work. You may follow the general steps below on how to avoid such issues:

For Windows: 

• If the test taker is using a Windows device, there are 2 ways how to get rid of the running applications.

1. Run the PSI Secure Browser as an administrator.
   1.1 Close the PSI Secure Browser
   1.2 Right-click on the PSI Secure Browser icon and choose "Run as Administrator".
   1.3 After getting to the Security Check, click "TERMINATE ALL THESE APPLICATIONS".

2. If there is a need to manually close the running applications, they may check the prohibited applications under the Details/Services tab.
   2.1a Right-click on the taskbar or Windows icon and choose "Task Manager".
   2.2a Click "Details".
   2.3a Look for the process(es) that needs to be closed.
   2.4a After you find the process(es), right-click the process and choose "end process tree". This will " End the process, and all the processes created by the process".
   2.5a Click "Recheck". If there is/are still applications being detected as prohibited applications, look it up again on the taskbar.

   OR

   2.1b Open the device “Task Manager”.

   2.2b Click “Services”

   2.3b Look for any plug-ins that run the prohibited applications on the “Description” tab.

   2.4b Right-click on the plug-in then click “Stop”.

   Reopen the PSI Secure Browser, if there are still prohibited applications running you may look it up again in the Task Manager.

How to open the Task Manager

For macOS:

1. Close the PSI Secure Browser.
2. Click the "Finder" on your dock to open a Finder window.
3. Click "Applications" on the sidebar of the Finder window to see your macOS applications. In this folder, double-click the "Utilities" folder.
4. Double-click the "Activity Monitor" icon to access the application.
5. Find the process that needs to be closed.
6. After you find the process(es), make sure the process is highlighted, click the X(Quit) button and choose "Force Quit" which quits the process immediately.
7. Relaunch the PSI Secure Browser.

For Linux OS:

1. Close the PSI Secure Browser.
2. Click on the "Menu" icon.
3. Search for System Monitor.
4. Choose "Processes" tab.
5. Find the process that needs to be closed.

After you find the process(es), right-click the process and choose "Kill" option. Alternatively, select the process and press the "End Process" button at the bottom of the System Monitor window.

• Try to restart the device first before launching the PSI Secure Browser and make sure you are the only user that is signed in to that device. If you are still having problems terminating the prohibited app, kindly follow the instructions below.

Here is a list of some of the most common Prohibited Applications and how to Manually Deactivate them:

[HOW TO] Deactivating Dell Data Vault - Prohibited Applications

[HOW TO] Deactivating Connect Wise

[HOW TO] Deactivating ZOOM

[HOW TO] Deactivating APPVSHNOTIFY

[HOW TO] Deactivating ANYCONNECT VPN

[HOW TO] Deactivating SOCKETHECISERVER

[HOW TO] Deactivating MAIL.RU

[HOW TO] Turn off Screen Sharing for macOS Sequoia (15.x)

[HOW TO] Close Sidecar Relay

Another alternative to close the prohibited programs easily is by following the steps on [PSI BRIDGE] Prohibited Application Issues. However, if this will not fix the issue, kindly follow the steps above to manually terminate the programs.