Windows 10: If Windows Defender is built-in to Windows 10, how come I can't turn it on?

My windows 10 says that I am providing my own Virus protection, but I no longer have anything installed. How do I turn Windows Defender on, or is one required now to purchase Microsoft 365 to activate it?

:)

 

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.

 

"Attestation" A new feature coming to Windows Defender in Windows 10

Tech Republic - Upcoming Windows Defender feature will tell you when security fails

This seems very promising. Microsoft is in the unique position to know what Windows should look like, even before Windows Update pushes out new changes. As long as MS can properly sync WD with WU changes AND this new features does not make any "noticeable" hit on system performance/resources, all without any false positives, this should be a big step forward for consumer security, and a blow to the bad guys - always a good thing.

Of course, there will likely be some hiccups the Windows/Microsoft/Windows Defender bashers will surely pounce on - regardless how extensive the Beta process is. But hopefully open and unbiased minds will prevail. After all, the goal is to stop the bad guys and if this gets us closer to that, that's a very good thing.

For more detailed information, see Introducing Windows Defender System Guard runtime attestation)

 

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.