Security :: Windows Defender Not Working - No Other AV Installed?
Dec 15, 2015
I have not installed any AV SW (that I know of) but my windows defender stopped working and says there is another AV running. How can I find out what is causing this and get defender back online? I have the windows home edition.
I was performing a File Cleanup operation and it included something call Windows Defender. I always click to delete everything it displays. So I did and it deleted Windows Defender. I have since learned what it is and want to reinstall. I do not understand why Microsoft would allow you to delete a part of the system from the file cleanup screen? But it did. How can I reinstall?
I have selected certain file types / folders and locations in Windows Defender on Windows 10 that were added to the exclusions lists...
Previously I could go to Windows Defender and see what files, folders or extensions I had excluded but now they have disappeared....
All I see is the add buttons which work as intended when I want to add a folder etc etc.... But then they are not listed anywhere so that I can remember what I have excluded or not....
How to get that visible again, is there a setting in the registry that needs to be fixed?
This is what I should see where, below the red arrows I should see the excluded files/folders including their path etc etc [see image below]
but I see nothing..
Yet if i go to the registry as indicated below...
File and file location exclusions are stored in the registry key below.
I have to say that windows defender is excluding folders/files and etc etc, that I have selected during its scans, but I cant see the excluded items in the Windows Defender as per image of my Exclusions section below...
Have been getting incorrect security notifications (Webroot & Defender not enabled) several times daily on two different Win10/64 PCs. How to suppress these annoying items?
After win10 install, I finally found list of installed programs, and shows ad aware anti virus and private firewall both installed, but not finding them on task bar (or whatever its now called in lower right) tho ad aware Web Companion shows. how to see if they are actually working & maybe show an icon somewhere?
I have a new Dell Computer with Windows 10. I have deleted McAfee with its on Uninstaller and also with another uninstaller. I have no other antimalware programs running. I have tried a number of ways to start Windows Defender, which is the only antimalware program listed in my Security area. I have tried to start it with Services. I get an error message as shown below. I get this error message: "The Windows Defender Service service on Local Computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs." I have removed all other antimalware programs and no longer get McAfee popups.
As I use a proprietary antirvirus, and on a whim, I just thought to check my Windows Defender setting, only to find to find that it was turned on*. (I could swear I turned it off, sometime in the past. I was further surprised to find that the On/Off button is disabled--so I CAN'T turn it off!
I'm further surprised to find the notice, under Settings/Windows Defender, which says "You can turn this off temporarily, but if we find that it is turned off for a while we'll turn it back on again, automatically." (One mystery solved*)
As I understand it, Windows Defender is merely Microsoft's own notion of free antivirus software--so when Windows turns Defender on again, this means I not only have two antivirus packages running (and possibly interfering with each other--involuntarily) but also that I now seem to have no choice in the matter--unless, of course, I permanently uninstall the antivirus software that I paid good money for.
Questions: How do I re-enable the Windows Defender On/Off button; and How do I DISable Windows ability to turn it on again?
I'm logged on, it's my computer, I'm the administrator, there are no AV running. However I get the system error " Windows Defender is being managed by your system administrator" controlled by group policy. All I want to do is turn it on. Local Group Policy shows nothing is configured...??
There does not seem to be a way to schedule an automatic daily scan with Windows Defender. I got a action center notification to run a Defender scan. Is that something I can expect regularly? Having to do a regular manual scan will be difficult.
I believe it's called adding it to the context menu.. I saw a registry hack for Windows 8 but i'm not sure how to do it in Windows 10.. I got used to using MSE in Windows 7 so now i'm lost not being able to right click a file to scan it immediately.. how to enable this in W10 Defender?
or should I just dump Defender totally for another Free antivirus? I was using Avast for awhile but MSE was less heavy on the resources so I went with that..
but I did a manual update just now and did not get any error message and windows update says it is up to date nevertheless, WD reports it is out of date. but it shows green bar at top.
and after a restart, when I go to WD settings it says that cloud and sample submission is off. This is despite the fact that I turned it on.
I run a scan but as soon as I have rebooted and within an hour or so it asks me again? I receive the notification in the taskbar and Windows Defender turns orange and states I am unprotected. So far I have completed 3 clean scans today but after a reboot it is as if it does not remember that I have run a scan. I am running the latest Windows 10 pro.
I'm on build 10074 of Windows 10 and cannot find a way to permanently disable Windows Defender. When I go to Control Panel > Windows Defender > Settings, it brings up the new Windows 10 System Settings app which gives an option to turn "Real-time protection" off. However, the description on that states:
Real-tim protection find and stop malware form installing or running on your PC. You can turn it off temporarily, but if it's off for a while, we'll turn it back on automatically.
After about 15 minutes, it turns itself back on. How can I disable this permanently?
So, earlier today (after having been gone for the last week on a trip) I installed a update for my Windows 10 computer. After the update (and it seemed like a doosy) the system worked fine for about 5-10 minutes and so I set about doing the usual disk cleanup. During this though Windows Defender turned itself off. Attempts to open the program either result in a window that just reads that the app is 'turned off' and isn't monitoring the computer.
Following the tabs on the 'action center' pull out seem to open up the Defender tab properly and allows me to turn it on...but then it turns itself off again after a couple of seconds.
I'm not currently running any other kind of virus scan/spyware protection software on the machine atm. Aside from just installing new anti-virus software.
I'm presently using (running) Avast Pro and Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit-Free, with weekly running of CCleaner, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and AdwCleaner. I do a lot of browsing and haven't had any problems with this approach. However, I got the hankering to also keep Windows Defender up-to-date and to occasionally run its scan just to see see if anything comes up.
So, I go to WD with the expectation that it is turned off and find that it may not be. I would go to update&security>windows defender and find, to my surprise, that real-time protection and cloud based protection are turned on, but grayed out. Furthermore, when scrolling to the bottom of the screen and clicking Open Windows Defender, I get the message that "WD is turned off and not monitoring the computer." I then went to Brink's WD tutorial (Windows Defender - Turn On or Off in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums)
I am currently using Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit. Is Windows Defender enough for my PC protection, or would I have to install any other one? I regularly take all the upgrades Microsoft provide me for the PC.