Windows Defender VERY quiet on my PC

[Alan D]

That option [the notification of changes] is enabled by default,
isn't it?

Ah! Now I can't be sure, but I think not. I know I consciously chose to tick
those boxes after due experiment, but it was so long ago that I can't
remember for sure what the original default setting was. [Help, someone?]

If you didn't have those boxes ticked, then of course you wouldn't be
notified.

It sounds as though the basic design brief for Defender - intentionally to
be as unobtrusive as possible except when actually necessary - doesn't
actually suit you (leaving aside the eicar issue, which clearly needs
explaining). Certainly it's true that a correctly working version of
Defender, with those notify options unticked, won't have much to say for
itself if your computer isn't infected.

 

[Robinb]

the original setting ticks both boxes
I just put WD on a clients computer and after the install both boxes were
checked
robin

That option [the notification of changes] is enabled by default,
isn't it?

Ah! Now I can't be sure, but I think not. I know I consciously chose to
tick those boxes after due experiment, but it was so long ago that I can't
remember for sure what the original default setting was. [Help, someone?]

If you didn't have those boxes ticked, then of course you wouldn't be
notified.

It sounds as though the basic design brief for Defender - intentionally to
be as unobtrusive as possible except when actually necessary - doesn't
actually suit you (leaving aside the eicar issue, which clearly needs
explaining). Certainly it's true that a correctly working version of
Defender, with those notify options unticked, won't have much to say for
itself if your computer isn't infected.

 

[Alan D]

the original setting ticks both boxes
I just put WD on a clients computer and after the install both boxes were
checked

Thanks Robin.

Well, that makes History Fan's experiences even more mystifying!

 

[Dave M]

I won a free copy of WinPatrol / PLUS, so I'm using it alongside Defender,
and mostly I get duplicate reporting which can drive you nuts with the
popups, but on occasion there's a catch that's of interest, and with the
PLUS there's a database of installed programs to search by filename so
that's a little more icing on the cake. I'm not sure I need it, but heck
the price was right you know ;o)

 

[someone]

Mine were not checked and I have always used the default. I just now
checked them. I have clicked on the Event Viewer to see what Defender found,
and it usually gives me two yellow warning signs concerning processes I know
about. I don't use Spybot because I already have AVG plus,
Superantispyware, WinPatrol, Spyblaster, SpywareGuard, and Defender.

the original setting ticks both boxes
I just put WD on a clients computer and after the install both boxes were
checked
robin

That option [the notification of changes] is enabled by default,
isn't it?

Ah! Now I can't be sure, but I think not. I know I consciously chose to
tick those boxes after due experiment, but it was so long ago that I
can't remember for sure what the original default setting was. [Help,
someone?]

If you didn't have those boxes ticked, then of course you wouldn't be
notified.

It sounds as though the basic design brief for Defender - intentionally
to be as unobtrusive as possible except when actually necessary - doesn't
actually suit you (leaving aside the eicar issue, which clearly needs
explaining). Certainly it's true that a correctly working version of
Defender, with those notify options unticked, won't have much to say for
itself if your computer isn't infected.

 

[Alan D]

"someone" wrote

Mine were not checked and I have always used the default. I just now
checked them.

Well that's interesting, and thank you for telling us. Is there any
possibility that the default settings for Defender have changed? Perhaps
those options are now ticked by default (as Robin is finding), but at some
time in the past, were not? Anyone know?

 

[Alan D]

heck the price was right you know ;o)

At that price, I wouldn't have been able to resist it either, Dave.

 

[History Fan]

If you want to test to see if Windows Defender is protecting your system
from spyware in real-time, try EICAR the harmless test file...

This is from Joe Faulhaber [MSFT]:
"We've had EICAR in our definitions for about two months now, which also
means we're not communicating the content of the definitions very well,
but
that's another issue.
For those of you who want to know what we're talking about, the EICAR
group
came up with a harmless file detected by antivirus products so you can
safely verify the product's working. If you haven't seen Windows Defender
detect something, visit http://eicar.org , download the 68 byte file
eicar.com.txt, and copy it to your startup folder.

I reinstalled Windows Defender this evening, and followed the steps
above more carefully this time. To my amazement, WD actually alerted me to
a possible threat. I couldn't believe it. The first time I've ever seen a
WD alert window. I'll explain tomorrow in more detail what happened. I've
been typing at home and at work today for almost 12 hours; my hands are
aching.

 

[History Fan]

If you haven't seen Windows Defender

detect something, visit http://eicar.org , download the 68 byte file
eicar.com.txt, and copy it to your startup folder.

The mistake I made earlier with this test is that I copied the eicar
code, opened Notepad, and pasted it there. Then I saved the file to my
desktop, and later my Startup folder. This saved the eicar test as a MS-DOS
file. Defender could not detect that. However, when I followed the above
steps correctly, downloaded and saved the eicar test as a .txt file in the
Startup folder, Defender did alert me a few seconds later.

Even more important. I finally know why Defender never alerted me to
any changes to my system. I had the Defender icon configured to always be
hidden. In that setting, you never see any pop-up messages from the
program. I now have the icon set to always show, and have enabled the 2
Notify options. Now, when I check for updates, change the IE home page, or
add a new program to the startup list, Defender alerts me to this with a
message bubble from the systray. I never figured this out before, because I
have the AVG and WinPatrol icons always hidden too, yet they alert me to
system changes. Oh well. You live and learn.

 

[Dave M]

I didn't know that either about the hidden icon. Good to hear you got it
resolved, and welcome back to Defender. Maybe everyone actually should do
that test to make sure there is an open path to a critical alert getting
through to you, although I suspect that even with that icon hidden, the red
popup would have made it.
I think you got notified by WinPatrol by the behavioral alert of adding it
to the startup folder, not for a detection of malicious code itself.

 

[History Fan]

I didn't know that either about the hidden icon. Good to hear you got it
resolved, and welcome back to Defender. Maybe everyone actually should do
that test to make sure there is an open path to a critical alert getting
through to you, although I suspect that even with that icon hidden, the red
popup would have made it.

I just configured the Defender icon to always be hidden, then I ran
the eicar.txt file by placing it in my Startup folder. The Defender alert
window popped up about 5 seconds later. So apparently hiding the icon
doesn't have any effect with seeing critical alerts. Just systray
announcements from Defender.

 

[Dave M]

TY for the confirmation, Fan.