Windows 10: windows defender & security center services keep turning off

Hello, my problem is that windows defender is turned off, and I cant get it to restart.

I had a malware issue, after clicking a faulty setup file.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware deleted around 900 infected files.
After reboot I realised that Windows Defender was turned off.

I went into the "services" program and the "Windows Defender Service" entry was missing from it and
the "Security Center" entry is turned off. I try to switch it back on, but it keeps turning itself off again.
I tried scanning for rootkits, but there was none. I also tried sfc /scannow, it does find corrupted files but it couldn't fix all of them.

I managed to find a download to implement the windows defender service again, but... it wasn't recognised because there was no registry entry ? Then I copied the registry entry from my laptop who also has windows 10 installed. But I don't know why but the register keeps deleting any entry when I import it in the registry.

I also had no other anti-virus programs ever installed except for Malwarebytes.

I hope someone can help me here, I really don't want to do a system reset or any sort of fresh install, please help.

:)

 

Defender is turning it's self off daily. How can I turn it on and have it stay on?

See if this helps:
http://www.tenforums.com/antivirus-firewalls-system-security/18034-windows-defender-security-center-services-keep-turning-off.html



Regards…

 

Temporarily disabling Windows Defender after the April 2017 new Windows 10 update?

How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows 10

You might also want to read:

https://www.winhelp.us/configure-windows-defender-security-center.html

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us...-center-antivirus?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

 

It's possible the malware may have corrupted the files of Defender as well as the OS files.

Start by running an SFC to see if that fixes the problem.

SFC Command - Run in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Another option is a repair install.

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

 

Have a look at Tweaking.com Windows Repair. The latest version supports Windows 10. Go through the sequence and when you reach the repairs section check the ones that undue changes caused by malware.

Tweaking.com - Windows Repair

 

Thank you for your response.

I tried the

"Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums"

but after downloading the .iso it asks for a product key in the menu ?

I will try that now, thank you

 

Tweaking.com Windows Repair may take care of it for you, but if not you could try a "refresh" or "reset" in the Windows 10 advanced troubleshooting area.

Refresh Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

 

Ok I did this option, my windows 10 is now re-installed with all my files still there.
The windows defender services and security center services are back too.

But those services are turned off and when I turn it on, it still stays turned off.

When I go to the Windows Defender settings from the windows 10 settings page, everything is grey and I cant switch it back to on.

 

Try running the SFC, it's a good idea to run it 3X because it doesn't always get everything on the 1st or 2nd pass.

Also, run this tool to check if you might have picked up a rootkit.

TDSSKiller Download



Note When running TDSSKiller, launch the program, click on the blue text "Change Parameters" & check the box marked "Detect TDLFS File system." Click OK & then run the scan.

This tutorial lists several options for enabling Defender:

Windows Defender - Turn On or Off in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

 

Hey all. I partly fixed the problem.
I used "Tweaking.com - Windows Repair v3.4.2 (Free Version)"
Had to use it 3 times before it got partly fixed. I ran it while I was using a administrator account on safe mode boot.

(I already used the above fixes without success I think, but the SFC fix is part of the tweaking.com fix)

Now the buttons are no longer greyed out and it seems Windows Defender is running in the background.

However when i want to open the interface of Windows Defender, it only appears for 0,1 milliseconds and
then it dissapears again.

The Windows Security Center is still disabled (wscui.cpl) and when I want to activate its service, (Security Center), it stops again after a few seconds.

Also as before, the "Windows Defender Network Inspection Service" is missing from the services.msc list

Any idea what I am doing wrong ?

 

With the severity of your issues, I would recommend to back up files and do a System Reset. Or at least a System Restore to a point before the issues began.

 

Are you running any other AV or did you have one running in the past? If you didn't use an uninstaller for the AV, then the remnants of it could be causing the problem. Normally any time you install an AV it disables Defender by default.

If you are getting any error codes please list those, that will be helpful in helping you.

As torre suggested, might be a good idea to do a reset or even a reinstall.

Reset Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Windows 10 - Clean Install - Windows 10 Forums

There are also some suggestions listed here:

Unable to turn on Windows Defender in Windows 7 / 8 / 10

 

I have not install any other AV. Anyway it seems that the Photo app from microsoft also stopped working: it opens and closes within 0,1 milliseconds when I try to open a image file.

Guess I have no choice but to do a clean install.

 

I would suggest at this point to do a clean install if this problem is now bleeding over to your other apps.

You could make one final try at running SFC 3X & see if that fixes it if you want to try to avoid a clean install.

Not that it helps now, but down the road consider making a system image. Put it on a external HD/FD that is not connected to your OS all the time to keep it safe from corruption. Make images on a regular basis & this way if the worst should happen, you can revert the entire system back to how it was at the time you made the image file.

System Image - Create in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

 

I will do that. It's about time I would do a clean install anyway since it's been updated from windows xp to vista, 7 and now 10 through the many years.