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CAN'T ACTIVATE WINDOWS DEFENDER....."SECURITY AT A GLANCE" IS BLANK.... "VIRUS & THREAT PROTECTION" WON'T START

Anonymous
2020-03-26T18:52:23+00:00

Hello to all,

These are all symptoms, that the Windows Defender Antivirus Service is missing from your PC.

Display the "Services" screen and scroll down to the Windows Defender services. W10 Pro should

have 4 services described, and W10 Home should have 3 services described. You will probably find

the service named above is not there.    This problem is becoming more prevalent! 

Apparently, some form of malware, that Windows Defender does not identify, is removing this Service.

If in your process of repairing this problem, you run MalwareBytes to clean your PC, please report back

what it finds, from its Detection History. Since this malware is not identified by Windows Defender.

It may be nothing more than a PUP with a punch. Probably a good idea to set your WD for PUP detection.

If you find that Windows Defender Antivirus Service is missing, there are probably only two ways to

restore it. Please see my response in this thread.  https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/all/windows-defender-deacticated-and-cant-activate/c64676e9-8982-4405-bc47-13ed4799a353

Any questions regarding the link? Please respond.

Glen

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-03-28T18:03:58+00:00

    I did find out that the virus protection is set to start manually, not automatically.  This is a problem in and of itself.  Your reply did not speak to why I was unable to update the definitions either automatically, or manually.  The windows defender say action needed, but then I am prevented from taking the necessary action!

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  2. JuliaMarvin 18,805 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2020-04-16T12:56:27+00:00

    I am not clear. What "services" screen are you talking about that I should be on?

    Press Windows logo key + R . In the box which opens type services.msc and hit enter.

    30+ people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2020-03-28T20:55:53+00:00

    JJhonsonPC,

    Thanks for your response.

    There are two Windows Defender services that present themselves as

    "Windows Defender Antiviru..."

    Windows Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service is set for Manual.

    This is followed by

    Windows Defender Antivirus Service, which is set for Automatic.

    The latter is the one referenced in this discussion. It is the one that has been found

    to be missing. I suspect that some unknown form of malware is causing this.

    If your service is missing, and you can identify that malware, please post it here. 

    I don't know if this missing service would have any effect on "Updating" or not.

    There are numerous threads in the Community that address that problem, however.

    Regards,  Glen

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-16T13:16:54+00:00

    I found this thread while searching for a fix to Windows Defender's Virus & Threat Protection being constantly disabled mid-scan or a few minutes after activating it. I've done a scan with MalwareBytes and all it found were pre-installed programmes from ASUS (my motherboard's maker.) 

    There's a lot of us experiencing this issue, as seen on the Youtube comments on this video:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBeBjoHKlOk

    I noticed that I do have the Windows Defender Antivirus Service, but somethingkeeps stopping the service.

    20+ people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2020-04-16T14:36:04+00:00

    But is it safe to use computer or is it at risk?

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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