Windows 10: Windows Defender is blocking various programs that seem safe

Hello,

I updated to Windows 10 version 1903 and Windows Defender started blocking programs that seem safe. They are either from Microsoft itself or from VAIO Care (I have a Sony laptop). Here is a list of the programs that were blocked.

- ioloTools.exe (this is something of VAIO Care)

- wscript.exe (this is Microsoft's)

- DiskTrace.exe (this one was from Intel, I read that it was safe to uninstall so I did it)

- powershell.exe (this is Microsoft's too)


The notification says something like "Controlled folder access blocked *folder path* from making changes to memory/disk". I read in another post that it is something of Windows Defender to protect against the ransomware virus, but why is it blocking programs from Windows itself? How do I stop it from making me crazy with all the notifications (it hasn't been 24hs since I updated and I've received almost 10 of them)? I want it to protect me from real danger and not from this programs that I believe should work without any inconvenience, if not its going to be like the "Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf" (I won't pay attention when needed because of the amount of unreal danger notifications it gives me).


Thank you,

Regards,


Mercedes

:)

 

windows defender blocking updates and changes to programs

Hi,

You can add the file in the file exclusion list to stop Windows Defender Antivirus
from alerting you or blocking the program. We suggest that you visit this
link on how to add an exclusion to Windows Defender Antivirus.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

 

windows defender blocks programs

You shouldn't disable Defender completely, it's protecting you against viruses and malware.

The bit of Defender that's causing you grief is its Ransomware protection, or Controlled Folder Access as it is also known. This blocks access to certain protected folders (mainly your user folders) for any unknown or untrusted apps.

While Defender has a whitelist of many apps it trusts by default, there will inevitably be some perfectly safe apps that are not on that list (yet). Your Open Office and my Libre Office are both 'unknown quantities' as far as Ransomware protection is concerned.

You could turn off just the Ransomware protection, but that is leaving your files and documents less protected.. It is better to allow access for each app that's currently being being blocked. The easiest way to do that is Option One in this tutorial.

Add or Remove Allowed Apps for Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10

 

Unable to Remove Exclusions from Windows Defender

Thank you for posting back. If you trust a file, file type, folder, or a process that Windows Defender Antivirus has detected as malicious, you can stop Windows Defender Antivirus from alerting you or blocking the program by adding the file to
the exclusion list. It seems that it was added automatically. We suggest that you follow these steps:

• Go to Settings and select Update & security.
• Click Windows Defender.
• Look for Exclusions and select Add an exclusion.
• Navigate to the file, folder, or process, and select Exclude this file.

If the steps provided did not work, we recommend that you boot your device to
Safe Mode and redo the process.

Let us know if you need further assistance.