- Apr 25, 2013
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If Windows Defender in your copy of Windows 8/Windows 8.1 is not working, one of the most likely reason can be that you have installed any third-party antivirus program on your computer, which has automatically disabled the Windows Defender in the OS.
Microsoft itself claims that Windows Defender is just a basic anti-malware program that protects your computer from the virus attacks in case your system has no other third-party antivirus program installed in it. This further means that even Microsoft suggests that users should go for any other, comparatively more effective and efficient antivirus programs in order to enjoy the complete protection from the external threats and intrusions.
Another reason why Windows Defender might stop working (in case you have not installed any third-party antivirus program) can be that the Windows Defender service has been stopped because of any reason. You can check this, and if the service has been stopped, you can restart it by going to the Services snap-in which you can initialize by typing the SERVICES.MSC command in the Run command box or in the Search pane.
Assuming that none of the above conditions are true, and the Windows Defender in your copy of Windows 8/Windows 8.1 is still not working, you must follow the steps given below to rectify the issue:
[listNum]
■regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
■regsvr32 wucltui.dll
■regsvr32 softpub.dll
■regsvr32 wintrust.dll
■regsvr32 initpki.dll
■regsvr32 wups.dll
■regsvr32 wuweb.dll
■regsvr32 atl.dll
■regsvr32 mssip32.dll
[/listNum]
7. Once this is done, you can close the command prompt, and if needed, restart the computer in order to allow the changes to take effect.
Microsoft itself claims that Windows Defender is just a basic anti-malware program that protects your computer from the virus attacks in case your system has no other third-party antivirus program installed in it. This further means that even Microsoft suggests that users should go for any other, comparatively more effective and efficient antivirus programs in order to enjoy the complete protection from the external threats and intrusions.
Another reason why Windows Defender might stop working (in case you have not installed any third-party antivirus program) can be that the Windows Defender service has been stopped because of any reason. You can check this, and if the service has been stopped, you can restart it by going to the Services snap-in which you can initialize by typing the SERVICES.MSC command in the Run command box or in the Search pane.
Assuming that none of the above conditions are true, and the Windows Defender in your copy of Windows 8/Windows 8.1 is still not working, you must follow the steps given below to rectify the issue:
- ■Log on to the Windows 8/Windows 8.1 computer using the administrator account.
■Once you are on the Start screen, click the Desktop tile.
■On the desktop window, hover mouse to the bottom-left corner, and right-click the Windows icon.
■From the context menu that appears, click Command Prompt (Admin).
■On the displayed User Account Control confirmation box, click Yes to provide your consent to continue.
■In the opened Administrator: Command Prompt command window a.k.a. elevated command prompt, type the following commands one by one and press the Enter key after typing each command:
[listNum]
■regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
■regsvr32 wucltui.dll
■regsvr32 softpub.dll
■regsvr32 wintrust.dll
■regsvr32 initpki.dll
■regsvr32 wups.dll
■regsvr32 wuweb.dll
■regsvr32 atl.dll
■regsvr32 mssip32.dll
[/listNum]
7. Once this is done, you can close the command prompt, and if needed, restart the computer in order to allow the changes to take effect.
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