Aftermarket firewall/antivirus. I got the same error when I tried installing X8 last year. Got ticked off and stayed with X7. Got same problem when I tried X9 when it came out. CNC Software kept telling my re-seller it was because I had some type of emulator. I did have a prg on my pc at one point that was an emulator. They being CNC Software said only solution is to re-format pc and re-install everything. That didn't sit right with me as they didn't offer any other solutions and wouldn't tell me or my reseller what MC looks for when it starts. I deleted any hint of the emulator in my registry (or anything I though could be an emulator. Still no go.