Windows 10: Windows defender is not running on my computer

Windows defender is not running on my computer

:)

 

windows defender runs slow

Hi Thomas,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand the inconvenience you are facing currently. Let me help you in resolving the issue.

I would appreciate if you can provide us the following information to help us understand the issue better.

• Have you installed any third party security application in your system, apart from Windows 10?
  
• What is the make and model of your computer?

I would like to inform you that this issue might occur, if the Windows defender is scanning too many junk or malware effected files in the system. As of now,
I suggest you to run System maintenance task and check if it helps.

The Run maintenance task checks issues that might slow down your computer's, such as how many users are currently logged on to the computer and whether multiple programs are running at the same time.

Follow the below steps.

• 
  Press Windows + X on the keyboard.
  
• 
  Select Control Panel.
  
• 
  Select Troubleshooting.
  
• 
  Click on Run maintenance task under
  System and Security.
  

For more information, refer to the below link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/windows-defender-offline-faq

Hope the information helps. Keep us posted on Windows related queries and we will be happy to assist you further.

 

Windows defender's process running despite it being disabled.

Windows Defender is integrated within Windows 10. So you have it and it is running (as it should be) unless you installed a 3rd party "real-time" anti-malware solution. If you are using an alternative security solution, it should have registered itself with Windows Action Center which would then disable the real-time component of Windows Defender - unless you specifically told the 3rd party solution not to register itself.

For example, if you purchased Malwarebytes "Premium", it has a real-time scanner (the free version does not). When you install Malwarebytes Premium, it registers itself in Windows Action Center. But because Malwarebytes and Windows Defender play very well together without hogging resources or causing conflicts, it is often recommended to allow each to run at the same time. So to allow that, the user has to manually go into the Malwarebytes control panel Settings menu and select the option to "Never register Malwarebytes in the Windows Action Center".

I suspect other 3rd party solutions provide similar options so you might check that out if you did indeed, install a 3rd party security solution.

Both Windows Update and Windows Defender are supposed to step way back in to the background so they do not interfere with system performance when you are actively using your computer. But this is not always possible, especially if you regularly shut down your computer when you step away from it (instead of just letting it go to sleep), as too much time may have passed and your system is too far behind in Windows and security updates.

Without you noting which program was actually consuming the lion's share of that 80%, there's no way to tell what, at this point, was causing the problem. However, I would not put it past a browser. Chrome, for example, is very good (or bad, I should say) at eating up a lot of RAM and failing to let it go when exited.

 

Windows Defender automatically disabled

Hi Ahmad,

Thank you for responding.

I suggest you to place the computer in safe mode and check if the Windows Defender works.

Method 1:

Step 1: Start computer in safe mode.

• 
  Type Settings in the search box on the desktop, select
  Settings.
  
• 
  Here select Change pc settings and then
  General.
  
• 
  Scroll down to Advanced startup, click
  Restart now.
  
• 
  Click on Troubleshoot, Advanced options, and Startup Settings.
  
• 
  Click Restart, select
  Safe mode and then press Enter.
  

Step 2: Try to
run the Windows Defender in safe mode.

Steps:

• Press Windows key and type Windows Defender.
• Right click on it and select Run as Administrator.
• It may prompts you to enter the password.

Method 2: If the issue still persists, place the computer in normal mode and check for the Windows Defender services.

Step 1: Place the computer in normal mode.

• Press Windows + R keys to open
  Run command.
• Type msconfig and press
  Enter.
• In the System Configuration
  window, click on General tab.
• Select Start-up selection as Normal startup, click on Apply and Ok.
• Follow onscreen instructions.

Step 2: Once you are in normal mode, I suggest you to check for the
Windows Defender services.

• Press Windows + R keys to open
  Run command.
• Type services.msc and press
  Enter.
• Search for Windows Defender, right click on it and
  start the service.
• Also, set the Startup type to
  Automatic.
• Do the same for Windows Defender Network Inspection Service.
• Now check if you are able to access Windows Defender.

Hope it helps. Kindly update the status of this issue, we will be happy to help you.