Karmel0x · AnonAmit · Apr 9, 2026
diff --git a/AsusFanControl/AsusFanControl.csproj b/AsusFanControl/AsusFanControl.csproj
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@
     <Compile Include="AsusControl.cs" />
     <Compile Include="AsusWinIO64.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Program.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="SystemRelaunch.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
@@ -77,4 +78,4 @@
     </Content>
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
-</Project>
+</Project>
diff --git a/AsusFanControl/Program.cs b/AsusFanControl/Program.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 using System;
 
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.IO;
+
 namespace AsusFanControl
 {
     internal static class Program
@@ -10,7 +14,29 @@ internal static class Program
         [STAThread]
         static int Main(string[] args)
         {
-            if (args.Length < 1)
+            args = args ?? new string[0];
+
+            var filteredArgs = new List<string>();
+            bool isPsExecRelaunch = false;
+            bool autoRelaunch = false;
+
+            foreach (var a in args)
+            {
+                if (string.Equals(a, SystemRelaunch.PsExecRelaunchFlag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                {
+                    isPsExecRelaunch = true;
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if (string.Equals(a, SystemRelaunch.AutoRelaunchFlag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                {
+                    autoRelaunch = true;
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                filteredArgs.Add(a);
+            }
+
+            if (filteredArgs.Count < 1)
             {
                 Console.WriteLine("Usage: AsusFanControl <args>");
                 Console.WriteLine("\t--get-fan-speeds");
@@ -19,12 +45,35 @@ static int Main(string[] args)
                 Console.WriteLine("\t--get-fan-speed=fanId (comma separated)");
                 Console.WriteLine("\t--set-fan-speed=fanId:0-100 (comma separated, percent value, 0 for turning off test mode)");
                 Console.WriteLine("\t--get-cpu-temp");
+                Console.WriteLine("\t--relaunch-system (optional, auto-relaunch via PsExec if needed)");
                 return 1;
             }
 
+            if (!isPsExecRelaunch && !SystemRelaunch.IsRunningAsSystem() && !SystemRelaunch.CanAccessFanDriver())
+            {
+                if (autoRelaunch && SystemRelaunch.TryRelaunchAsSystem(filteredArgs.ToArray()))
+                    return 0;
+
+                Console.WriteLine("Fan driver access requires running as SYSTEM (LocalSystem) on some newer ASUS drivers.");
+
+                var psExecPath = SystemRelaunch.FindPsExecPath();
+                if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(psExecPath))
+                {
+                    var sessionId = Process.GetCurrentProcess().SessionId;
+                    Console.WriteLine("Relaunch example:");
+                    Console.WriteLine(string.Format("  {0} -accepteula -d -s -i {1} AsusFanControl.exe {2}", Path.GetFileName(psExecPath), sessionId, string.Join(" ", filteredArgs.ToArray())));
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    Console.WriteLine("Place PsExec64.exe / PsExec.exe next to AsusFanControl.exe, or use AsusFanControlGUI (it can self-relaunch).");
+                }
+
+                return 2;
+            }
+
             var asusControl = new AsusControl();
 
-            foreach (var arg in args)
+            foreach (var arg in filteredArgs)
             {
                 if (arg.StartsWith("--get-fan-speeds"))
                 {

diff --git a/AsusFanControl/SystemRelaunch.cs b/AsusFanControl/SystemRelaunch.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Security.Principal;
+using AsusSystemAnalysis;
+
+namespace AsusFanControl
+{
+    public static class SystemRelaunch
+    {
+        public const string PsExecRelaunchFlag = "--psexec-relaunch";
+        public const string AutoRelaunchFlag = "--relaunch-system";
+
+        public static bool IsRunningAsSystem()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                using (var identity = WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent())
+                {
+                    return identity != null && identity.IsSystem;
+                }
+            }
+            catch
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        public static bool CanAccessFanDriver()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                var dllPath = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, "AsusWinIO64.dll");
+                if (!File.Exists(dllPath))
+                    return false;
+
+                AsusWinIO64.InitializeWinIo();
+                var fanCount = AsusWinIO64.HealthyTable_FanCounts();
+                AsusWinIO64.ShutdownWinIo();
+
+                return fanCount > 0;
+            }
+            catch
+            {
+                try { AsusWinIO64.ShutdownWinIo(); } catch { }
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        public static string FindPsExecPath()
+        {
+            var baseDir = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
+            var candidates = new[]
+            {
+                "PsExec64.exe",
+                "PsExec.exe",
+                "psexec64.exe",
+                "psexec.exe",
+                "PsExec64",
+                "PsExec",
+                "psexec64",
+                "psexec"
+            };
+
+            foreach (var candidate in candidates)
+            {
+                var path = Path.Combine(baseDir, candidate);
+                if (File.Exists(path)) return path;
+            }
+
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        public static bool TryRelaunchAsSystem(string[] args)
+        {
+            if (!Environment.UserInteractive) return false;
+            if (IsRunningAsSystem()) return false;
+
+            if (args != null && args.Any(a => string.Equals(a, PsExecRelaunchFlag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
+                return false;
+
+            var psExecPath = FindPsExecPath();
+            if (psExecPath == null) return false;
+
+            string exePath;
+            try { exePath = Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName; }
+            catch { return false; }
+
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(exePath) || !File.Exists(exePath))
+                return false;
+
+            try
+            {
+                var forwardArgs = (args ?? new string[0])
+                    .Where(a => !string.Equals(a, PsExecRelaunchFlag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                    .Concat(new[] { PsExecRelaunchFlag })
+                    .ToArray();
+
+                var forwarded = string.Join(" ", forwardArgs.Select(QuoteArg));
+                var sessionId = Process.GetCurrentProcess().SessionId;
+
+                var psi = new ProcessStartInfo
+                {
+                    FileName = psExecPath,
+                    Arguments = string.Format("-accepteula -d -s -i {0} \"{1}\" {2}", sessionId, exePath, forwarded),
+                    UseShellExecute = true,
+                    Verb = "runas",
+                    WorkingDirectory = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory
+                };
+
+                Process.Start(psi);
+                return true;
+            }
+            catch
+            {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static string QuoteArg(string arg)
+        {
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(arg)) return "\"\"";
+            if (!arg.Contains(" ") && !arg.Contains("\"")) return arg;
+            return "\"" + arg.Replace("\"", "\\\"") + "\"";
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/AsusFanControlGUI/AsusFanControlGUI.csproj b/AsusFanControlGUI/AsusFanControlGUI.csproj
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
     <RootNamespace>AsusFanControlGUI</RootNamespace>
     <AssemblyName>AsusFanControlGUI</AssemblyName>
     <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.7.2</TargetFrameworkVersion>
+    <GenerateResourceUsePreserializedResources>true</GenerateResourceUsePreserializedResources>
     <FileAlignment>512</FileAlignment>
     <AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>true</AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>
     <Deterministic>true</Deterministic>
@@ -65,6 +66,10 @@
     <Reference Include="System.Deployment" />
     <Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
     <Reference Include="System.Net.Http" />
+    <Reference Include="System.Resources.Extensions">
+      <HintPath>$(NuGetPackageRoot)system.resources.extensions\8.0.0\lib\net462\System.Resources.Extensions.dll</HintPath>
+      <Private>True</Private>
+    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System.Windows.Forms" />
     <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
   </ItemGroup>
@@ -112,5 +117,8 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <Content Include="propeller.ico" />
   </ItemGroup>
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="System.Resources.Extensions" Version="8.0.0" />
+  </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
-</Project>
+</Project>
diff --git a/AsusFanControlGUI/Form1.cs b/AsusFanControlGUI/Form1.cs
@@ -6,14 +6,15 @@ namespace AsusFanControlGUI
 {
     public partial class Form1 : Form
     {
-        AsusControl asusControl = new AsusControl();
+        AsusControl asusControl;
         int fanSpeed = 0;
         Timer timer;
         NotifyIcon trayIcon;
 
         public Form1()
         {
             InitializeComponent();
+            asusControl = new AsusControl();
             AppDomain.CurrentDomain.ProcessExit += new EventHandler(OnProcessExit);
 
             toolStripMenuItemTurnOffControlOnExit.Checked = Properties.Settings.Default.turnOffControlOnExit;
@@ -31,6 +32,19 @@ private void OnProcessExit(object sender, EventArgs e)
 
         private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
         {
+            var fanCount = asusControl.HealthyTable_FanCounts();
+            if (fanCount <= 0)
+            {
+                MessageBox.Show(
+                    "Unable to access ASUS fan driver.\n\n" +
+                    "If you are on a newer ASUS System Control Interface driver, run this app as SYSTEM (LocalSystem).\n" +
+                    "Place PsExec64.exe / PsExec.exe next to AsusFanControlGUI.exe and start again.",
+                    "Asus Fan Control",
+                    MessageBoxButtons.OK,
+                    MessageBoxIcon.Warning
+                );
+            }
+
             timerRefreshStats();
         }
 

diff --git a/AsusFanControlGUI/Program.cs b/AsusFanControlGUI/Program.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System;
 using System.Windows.Forms;
+using AsusFanControl;
 
 namespace AsusFanControlGUI
 {
@@ -9,8 +10,29 @@ internal static class Program
         /// The main entry point for the application.
         /// </summary>
         [STAThread]
-        static void Main()
+        static void Main(string[] args)
         {
+            args = args ?? new string[0];
+
+            bool isPsExecRelaunch = false;
+            foreach (var a in args)
+                if (string.Equals(a, SystemRelaunch.PsExecRelaunchFlag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                    isPsExecRelaunch = true;
+
+            if (!isPsExecRelaunch && Environment.UserInteractive && !SystemRelaunch.IsRunningAsSystem() && !SystemRelaunch.CanAccessFanDriver())
+            {
+                if (SystemRelaunch.TryRelaunchAsSystem(args))
+                    return;
+
+                MessageBox.Show(
+                    "Fan driver access requires running as SYSTEM (LocalSystem) on some newer ASUS drivers.\n\n" +
+                    "Place PsExec64.exe / PsExec.exe next to AsusFanControlGUI.exe to enable auto-relaunch.",
+                    "Asus Fan Control",
+                    MessageBoxButtons.OK,
+                    MessageBoxIcon.Warning
+                );
+            }
+
             Application.EnableVisualStyles();
             Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
             Application.Run(new Form1());

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -15,10 +15,15 @@ Go to [releases](../../releases)
         --get-fan-speed=fanId (comma separated)
         --set-fan-speed=fanId:0-100 (comma separated, percent value, 0 for turning off test mode)
         --get-cpu-temp
+        --relaunch-system (optional, auto-relaunch via PsExec if needed)
 </details>
 
 GUI: `AsusFanControlGUI.exe`  
 
+> [!NOTE]
+> **SYSTEM requirement (newer ASUS drivers):** On some ASUS System Control Interface driver versions (3.1.41.0+), low-level fan access is restricted to **LocalSystem**.  
+> If fan control doesn't work, place `PsExec64.exe` or `PsExec.exe` next to `AsusFanControlGUI.exe` and start the GUI again — it will relaunch itself as SYSTEM automatically.
+
 ![AsusFanControlGUI](https://github.com/Karmel0x/AsusFanControl/assets/25367564/fe197ad0-7079-4d51-ae78-177cb6369e96)
 
 ### Why need it?