Failed execution on Windows

Description

This problem may occur in many different variants.

It may be the culprit if you experience:

• failure to launch the Miniforge Prompt.

• failure to import some packages resulting in DLL load failure

  ImportError: DLL load failed while importing missing ...
  

• failure to use some extensions in VS Code

The problem is not specific to a single event or problem.

Windows has an applicaton called Smart Apps which by default monitors your usage pattern and based on common patterns decide which applications are safe to run/execute. Since Python is a programming language that can be used maliciously, it may prevent you from executing Python code.

Therefore, some users may see one problem, other may experience other problems.

Solution

The current solution is to disable Smart Apps.

Go to Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Windows Security -> App & Browsing Control -> Smart App Control Settings -> Turn Off.

This will permanently disable the application, and will thus remove the protection it may provide.

Use at your own responsibility.