Core Isolation - No Video

I was installing my Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 on my new Windows 11 desktop. Said I needed to turn off Core Isolation in order to install a driver, so I did. I Intended to turn it back on when installation finished. Installation finished and required a reboot. Rebooted and no video. Monitor was working but said "No HDMI." Tried other HDMI ports and several attempts to reboot... no joy. So I booted up my Windows 10 computer to the same monitor with no issues. I did not get to turn the Core Isolation back on...

Good lordy, have I bricked my new Windows 11 desktop?

Disable Secure Boot mode in BIOS. Without Secure Boot, Core Isolation cannot be enforced. So your (probably banned) driver is allowed again. Then you have a working system to figure what to do next.

Thank you, Garlin. I'm just hoping the BIOS even comes up!

Assuming only the driver changed, and there wasn't a pending BIOS update (which was scheduled for the next reboot cycle), then you should be able to get into the BIOS menu. If you got no video from the BIOS screen, an unrelated firmware update may have taken place at the same time.

Looking at your motherboard, a new BIOS was released on May 8, 2026.

@Draclvr

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Disabling the "driver block list" may solve your problem... you can always re-enable it if it doesn't help.



There... the right tutorial might help.

Core isolation is a section in Device security, probably you mean the Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist. If this setting is Off, you may load potentially dangerous drivers, even if a working exploit is not created yet. Like, for example, the driver in Macrium Reflect 8.x.

It would be better to disable it only temporarily until solution of the problem, then return back to On. As for Adobe Photoshop Elements, the advice to turn off this setting (in fact, not only for installation, but always) is irresponsible and potentially harmful. Look for the updated or more modern version.

No, it was Core isolation in Device security. I would like to disable/enable something - but I get zero feed to my monitor. Message is No HDMI when booting, then it just goes blank and the monitor returns to standby mode. Using the same monitor right now on my Windows 10 desktop. Going to reconnect everything and try to get into the BIOS later. If it won't go to the BIOS, I might have to take in it. HATE to do that. I build all my own computers, but I just had a company build this one for me.

Thanks for all the ideas!

I guess I was lucky. I didn't have any problems installing Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 in 2022 on my desktop with Windows 11. I also have it on my older 2018 laptop with Windows 10.

Later I had to replace the motherboard with a totally different one so I decided to reinstall Windows 11. Before did that I uninstalled Adobe Photoshop Elements 11. After the first boot I reinstalled Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 again. It wouldn't reactivate. I called Adobe support. They told me that I needed to deactivate Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 before I uninstalled it. I asked if they could reset the activation so I could reinstall and activate it again. They said there was nothing they could since they no longer supported such an old version.

Not all was lost. I had already installed Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024 on my laptop. They said I could use that license since like other releases of it supported installations on a desktop and a laptop at the same time. That activated OK.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024 was the last release to offer perpetual licenses. Newer releases only offer 3-year licenses. A new license has to be purchased when that period ends. I am glad I bought that version instead of a newer one. I plan to keep using it longer than 3 years before I buy a new version.

Release dates for versions with perpetual licenses:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 - September 21, 2010
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 - September 24, 2012
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024 - October 19, 2023

Release dates for versions with only 3-year licenses:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2025 - October 1, 2024
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2026 - October 1, 2025

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024 is no longer offered for sale on Amazon. All they have for sale is Adobe Photoshop Elements 2026. However, I see that Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024 can still be purchased at Office Depot for $104.99.

Yeah, I should have know better than to try to install ancient software on Windows 11. It's not nearly as forgiving as earlier operating systems. Lesson learned...

So, I am typing this on my newly reset Windows 11 desktop. Thank you, Garlin, for your advice to disable Secure Boot in the BIOS. The reset is not a big deal as I've only had the computer for about a month. I need to check for that BIOS update that was just issued too. Again, thank you!