Windows Security automatically disabling Automatic Sample Submission and Reputation Based Protection

Question

Hello! I'm currently running Windows 11 on my computer and recently my Windows Security has been acting strange. Originally it began to automatically disable Automatic Sample Submission for no reason. Every time I turn it on, and go do my usual things I get notified that it's been turned off without me doing anything. This has been going on for some time now and it's started doing this to Reputation Based Protection. Is there anything I should be worried about?

-JC

Answer 1

Hello CoachableEw034

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Glad to be here assist you.

According to the category of/Windows 11/Security and privacy/published by you, we know that your problem is "Automatic Sample Submission of Windows Security will automatically close and Reputation Based Protection is being enabled". Right? If my understanding is wrong, please correct me at any time.

Before finding the cause of the problem, we may need some details from you:

1. Press and hold Windows+R and enter winver.exe. Please try to get the detailed version number information of the system and share a screenshot with us.
2. Whether this pc has joined a specific work or school domain.
3. Is there any third-party anti-virus software running in your computer?

The above three scenarios will help us better investigate this problem, and the clues you provide are the key to our solution.

After a round of testing and inquiry, this problem seems to appear in the earlier version Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22000.65. Please see the following picture for the specific problem description:

If the automatic sample submission in Windows Defender is turned off, you should first update your system to the latest version. If the update is invalid, please try the following solution.

• Activate automatic sample submission from Windows security

Your automatic sample submission is disabled, let's first try to activate it in the normal way. All you have to do is search for "Windows Security" application from the start menu. Now, go to Virus and Threat Protection > Manage Settings. Then, activate Automatic Sample Submission through. This is a simple method, but for most users, even activating this feature will automatically disable it. We have two other methods.

• Use group policy editor

1 - There may be a problem with the policy of not submitting samples. Try the following steps to configure the policy and see if it works.

2 - Press Win+R to open the run box, enter gpedit.msc, and then click OK. Navigate computer configuration > administrative templates > Windows components > Microsoft Defender antivirus > MAPS. In the right section, look for "send sample files when further analysis is required". Double-click it and select Activate. Click Apply > OK. Save and restart your computer. 3 - Now, turn on your system and see if the problem still exists.

Note*: Group policy editor is not available for Windows Home Edition*

• Use registry editor

1- If you don't have a group policy editor on your computer, you can make adjustments in the registry. We will configure some of them to solve this problem. But first open the registry editor (Win+R > Type regedit.exe) and search it out from the Start menu. Now, navigate to the following location.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Spynet

2- Once you reach this location, right-click the folder of Windows Defender and select the New > key. Name the newly created key "Spy Network". Click SpyNet to enter the folder.

3- Now, right-click the blank area, click New > DWORD(32-bit) value, and name it "DisableBlockAtFirstSeen".

4- Double-click DisableBlockAtFirstSeen, set Base to hexadecimal, and value data to 0. 5- In addition, create names "SpynetReporting" and "SubmitSamplesConsent" and set their value data to 1. Restart the computer and check if the problem still exists. As shown in this screenshot:

Disclaimer: Generally, modifying registry subkeys or work group is intended for advanced users, administrators, and IT Professionals. It can help fix some problems, however, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For further protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click here to view the article.

Hope it helps! If any update, welcome to share with us.

Best regards,

Chandy|Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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* Beware of scammers posting fake support numbers here.