Windows 10: Enable Windows Defender Scan Mapped Network Drives in Windows 10

How to: Enable Windows Defender Scan Mapped Network Drives in Windows 10


Information Windows Defender helps protect your PC against malware (malicious software) like viruses, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software. Malware can infect your PC without your knowledge: it might install itself from an email message, when you connect to the Internet, or when you install certain apps using a USB flash drive, CD, DVD, or other removable media. Some malware can also be programmed to run at unexpected times, not only when it's installed.

You can set a group policy that allows you to manage whether or not Windows Defender scans for malicious software and unwanted software in the contents of mapped network drives when running a full scan.

Mapped network drives can always be scanned during a quick scan and custom scan.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Windows Defender to include mapped network drives during a full scan in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable scan mapped network drives during a full scan.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Enable or Disable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan in PowerShell
• Option Two: To Enable or Disable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan in Group Policy
• Option Three: To Enable or Disable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan using a REG file

EXAMPLE: Windows Defender








OPTION ONE [/i] To Enable or Disable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan in PowerShell
1. Open an elevated PowerShell.

2. Enter the command below you want to use into PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)
(Enable)
*Arrow Set-MpPreference -DisableScanningMappedNetworkDrivesForFullScan 0

OR

(Disable)
*Arrow Set-MpPreference -DisableScanningMappedNetworkDrivesForFullScan 1
3. When finished, you can close PowerShell if you like.











OPTION TWO [/i] To Enable or Disable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan in Group Policy


Note The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option One or Option Three.

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Defender Antivirus/Scan




3. In the right pane of Scan in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Run full scan on mapped network drives policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


5. To Enable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)
6. To Disable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan
A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

NOTE: Not Configured is the default setting.




7. When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.




OPTION THREE [/i] To Enable or Disable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan using a REG file


Note The .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan

DisableScanningMappedNetworkDrivesForFullScan DWORD

0 or (delete) = enable scan
1 = disable scan

1. Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Enable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Enable_scan_mapped_network_drives_in_WD_full_scan.reg

Download

3. To Disable Scan Mapped Network Drives during Full Scan
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Disable_scan_mapped_network_drives_in_WD_full_scan.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. Restart the computer to apply.

8. If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Map Network Drive or Disconnect Network Drive in Windows 10
• How to Create a Windows Defender Antivirus Shortcut in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Windows 10 Limited Periodic Scanning with Windows Defender
• How to Enable or Disable Windows Defender Block at First Sight in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Exclusions for Windows Defender in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove 'Scan with Windows Defender' Context Menu in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Windows Defender context menu in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Scan Archive Files by Windows Defender in Windows 10
• Enable or Disable Scan Removable Drives during Windows Defender Full Scan in Windows 10
• How to Manually Scan Files, Folders, and Drives with Windows Defender in Windows 10
• How to Schedule a Scan in Windows Defender Antivirus in Windows 10
• How to Specify Scheduled Scan Type for Windows Defender Antivirus in Windows 10
• How to Change Windows Defender Antivirus Maximum CPU Usage for a Scan in Windows 10

:)

 

Windows defender custom scan does not scan external drives

I have Defender Windows 10. I tried using custom scan to select and scan external drives. The screen listing the drives comes up, but the "OK" button remains grayed out so unable to scan any of the drives listed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Windows defender custom scan does not scan external drives

Hi Joe,

to scan external drives using Windows Defender, follow the steps provided below.

• Open Windows Defender.
• Go to Settings tab.
• Select the Advanced option.
• tick the checkbox for Scan removable drives.

Regards.

 

Windows defender custom scan does not scan external drives

I tried the custom scan in Defender Windows 10. It brings up the list of drives but the "OK" button remains grayed out when I select any drive in the list, so still unable to scan external drives... Any suggestion would be appreciated.

 

Windows 10 Anniversary Update Issues

Problems with W10 Anniv auto update:

Mom's: (x58 Xeon 5677) Windows Defender was not turned back on automatically (it was "on" in the 1511 edition) and she had a Trojan. Full system scan to eradicate.
Her Epson printer was knocked off, had to uninstall by Device Manager pull USB cable and reconnect cable. W10 did the rest.

Step-mom's: (HP pre built) Windows Defender not turned back on by default. Her USB Seagate Expansion Drive 2Tb was offline so all backup routines were halted. Had to rerun backup plan. Had her do a full virus scan.

Step-dad's: (Dell Optiplex tweaked upgrades) Windows Defender not turned back on by default. Full Scan.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.