Windows Defender fixes

[abctech]

Windows operating system has its own built in security software, Microsoft Windows Defender and SmartScreen. These cannot be removed and the virus definitions are automatically updated at least once a day unless you change your settings. If you install your own Security Software (eg. AVG, MacAfee, Norton) this should turn off the Windows Defender scans (because you do not want two competing products working on your computer). Sometimes this does not happen. There is also a setting to allow Windows Defender to also periodically scan your system.

Although Windows Defender is probably the most widely used security application, it can make mistakes and treat genuine files as a threat. So after a virus definition update, Windows Defender might suddenly remove a file and cause a trusted application (like ABC) to stop working. What many find really annoying is that this happens without warning or notification. Recently this seems to be occurring more often and to more software.

When Windows Defender detects a possible threat it remove the file and quarantines it. Here are instructions on how to view the quarantined files and recover any genuine files (eg. ABC). Also, how to tell Windows Defender to treat certain files as safe for the future. These instructions are for Windows 10.

HOW TO RESTORE FILES QUARANTINED BY WINDOWS DEFENDER

1. click START button and type Windows Security
2. click on Virus & threat protection > Threat History.
3. click See full History
4. click the file you want and click RESTORE


HOW TO TELL WINDOWS DEFENDER NOT TO SCAN CERTAIN FILES

1. click START button and type Windows Security
2. click virus & threat protection
3. select virus & threat protection settings > click manage settings
4. in the exclusions section click Add or remove exclusions
5. click Add an exclusion > Folder
6. select the Folder(s) to exclude from Windows Defender scan.
For ABC this would normally be C:\ABC6