Windows 10: Can't activate Windows Defender Firewall and can't run Windows Security

Hello!I believe my laptop has got some sort of virus and I am not sure what to do.Microsoft Photos wasn't working and I tried to update it but got an error with Code: 0x80073D0A. After looking it up, I found that this might be related to security so I tried opening Windows Security to run some checks. However, the app wouldn't open. I then found that Windows Defender Firewall's settings needed to get updated but when I tried to do so, I would get an error with Code: 0x800706d9. I tried some troubleshooting that I found on older threads such as Automatically diagnose and fix problems with Wind

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Windows Defender Firewall is it active or inactive?

Running Windows 10 Home on a Dell desktop and I currently use Norton Security Online which has an active firewall. I am concerned that Windows Defender Firewall is possibly also active. When I look into Windows Firewall it tells me that firewall protection is provided by Norton, however if I run services I see that Windows Defender Firewall is running in local services and set to automatic? The settings are grayed out and unresponsive. Attachments show what I am seeing.
Any insights or explanations for this apparent conflict?

 

Windows Defender Firewall showing On and Off at the same time

Hi Jerry,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



I understand that the Windows Firewall shows as switched off even after turning it on. For better understanding of the issue, please answer the questions below.

1. Which build version of Windows are you using currently?
   
2. Are you aware of any changes being made to the PC?
   
3. Do you have any security software/firewall installed?
   

Meanwhile, I would suggest you to follow the steps mentioned below and check if that helps.



Method 1:



I would suggest you to run the troubleshooter for Windows Firewall and check if that helps. Refer the article

Automatically diagnose and fix problems with Windows Firewall



If the above method doesn’t t work, please follow the next method.



Method 2:



I would suggest you to try enabling the services responsible for Windows Firewall and check if that helps.

1. Press Windows key + R. This will open
   Run. Alternatively, you can go to Start and search for ‘Run’.
   
2. In Run dialog box, type services.msc and hit enter.
   
3. Now look for the services: Security Center,
   Windows Defender Antivirus Service, Windows Defender Firewall Service,
   Windows Defender Advanced Thread Protection Service,
   and Windows Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service.
   
4. Right click on each service and click on Start.
   

If the above method doesn’t work, please try the next method.



Method 3:



I would suggest you to check if any conflicting registry entries are present which are blocking Windows Defender Firewall to turn on.



Note: Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow
these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.



Refer the article on
How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

1. Press Windows key + R. This will open
   Run. Alternatively, you can go to Start and search for ‘Run’.
   
2. In Run dialog box, type regedit and hit enter.
   
3. Now navigate to the location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
   
4. Look if there are any registry keys named: MSASCui.exe, MpCmdRun.exe or MsMpEng.exe.
   
5. If there are any such entries, then delete them by right clicking and selecting Delete.
   
6. Click on Yes.
   
7. Restart the PC.
   

If the issue persists, please get back to us with the results of troubleshooting steps to assist you further.



Regards,

Prakhar Khare

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

Windows Defender Released

Microsoft has released the final version of its Windows Defender anti-spyware utility. Windows Defender is a product of the Microsoft acquisition of GIANT Software. Previously known as Windows AntiSpyware, after a two years beta period it's now available for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 under the name Windows Defender. Windows Defender incorporates Real-Time Protection to monitor systems for spyware activity, automated spyware removal with scheduled scans, full integration with Internet Explorer 7.0 and automatic spyware definition updates from Microsoft. Windows Defender is available freely to all customers running a genuine copy of Windows. Microsoft has also announced that customers will each be allowed to report two support incidents for free with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Source: DailyTech