Share via

My virus protection - Defender - on Windows 10 is out of date.

Anonymous
2020-12-17T15:09:51+00:00

I'm getting notifications that my virus protection is out of date.  "Security intelligence" says I can "manually check for updates."  When I do that a graphic starts to spin and says "Checking for updates . . . *  but it never updates.  I've tried it several times.

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.

0 comments

3 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2020-12-17T15:49:44+00:00

    Hi! EmmettHannifin

    I'm James, An Independent Advisor, and I will help you with this issue

    Do you have any third-party antivirus / cleaning / security programs?

    Check if your Windows is up to date

    Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and then select Check for updates. If updates are available, install them.

    Check the registry editor to see if any virus affected your Windows Defender Security, follow the steps below:

    1. Press Windows key + R and type regedit on the run dialog box.
    2. Navigate to:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services

    1. Click Services and scroll down to find the following Keys.

    SecurityHealthService and WinDefend

    Are these keys missing?

    Note: If these keys are missing, please tell me.

    If you have these keys in Services click them.

    1. In the right pane of SecurityHealthService, find the key labeled "Start".
    2. The value for this key should be 3. If it is any other value, right-click and select Modify.
    3. Type 3, and click OK.
    4. Do the same for the WinDefend key except that the "Start" key value should be 2.

    Now check if the service for the Windows Defender it's disabled on the services window, follow the steps below:

    1. Press Windows key + R and type services.msc on the run dialog box.
    2. Search for the SecurityCenter service.
    3. Right-click on the service and select Properties.
    4. In startup type select Automatic.
    5. Search for the Windows Defender Antivirus Service.
    6. Right-click on the service and select Properties.
    7. In startup type select Automatic.
    8. Restart and check if the problem persists.

    In case that didn't work, I suggest you to perform a Repair Install of Windows using the Media Creation Tool

    1. Grab the media creation tool here:

    http://microsoft.com/software-download/windows10

    1. Found the MediaCreationTool.exe and double-click it
    2. Select Create installation media for another PC.
    3. Select ISO file and click Next.
    4. Click Finish.
    5. Open the Windows ISO file you downloaded.
    6. Open Setup.
    7. Click Next.
    8. Click Accept, this next part may take a while.
    9. Click Install. Again, this will take a moment while your system restarts.

    Note: You can select "Keep personal files, apps, and Windows settings" or "Keep personal files only".

    1. Wait for your system to restart and install Windows 10.
    2. When it finishes, check if the issue persist.

    If you need more help with this issue, just let me know, and I will help you.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2020-12-20T02:16:20+00:00

    Hi James -

    You can ignore my previous message.   I restarted the computer after it was seemingly stuck on "Checking for Updates 14%" for over 12 hours.  It took a long time for it to restart but it eventually did restart.  I could then update the virus files and everything checks out. 

    Thanks for all your help!

    Emmett Hannifin

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2020-12-19T15:09:49+00:00

    Hi James -

    Thanks for your help!  

    I was able to determine the value for the Keys was correct. 

    I was unable to check if the service for the Windows Defender was disabled on the services window.  When I typed in services.msc I get an error box "This app has been blocked for you protection."  

    I tried to do a Repair Install of Windows but after it took 8 hours to get to Step 10 and now the box says "Windows 10 Setup"  "Getting updates"  It has stayed on "Checking for updates 14%" for 12 hours and does not seem to be proceeding. 

    Questions or mistakes I may have made. 

    I had installed Malwarebytes to see if it could determine a problem. It found one suspicious file and isolated it.  I did not realize it was also acting as a virus protection program and had disabled Defender until I got stuck updating Windows 10.  I have uninstalled it but still no Defender.  I'm going to restart after typing this message.  Hopefully Defender will re-engage. 

    Should I have loaded the Repair Install on to a thumb drive and ran it from there? It loaded to my hard drive and was running until it stopped at 14%.

    Thanks again for your help. 

    Emmett Hannifin

    0 comments