Windows Defender is a malware protection tool that was first introduced in windows XP back in 2003. It offered minimal protection during earlier versions of Windows, but has since evolved into a much more sophisticated antivirus application. Unfortunately, despite the versatility of more recent versions, many Windows users still encounter a number of technical issues.
One of the most common problems they run into is being unable to launch Windows Defender. There are a variety of troubleshooting steps that you can take to resolve these problems. The exact steps that need to be administered will depend on the version of windows that you are using.
Dealing with Startup Problems with Windows Defender
Here are some things that you will need to do if you’re using windows XP.
Windows Defender should launch when you first start Windows XP. If there are any issues, you will get a warning message that is going to say “unable to start Windows Defender service.”
You should be able to solve the problem by simply uninstalling and reinstalling Windows Defender. This is a simple three step process:
- You will need to navigate to your control panel. You can get there by simply clicking the “Start” icon from your windows toolbar.
- You will see a message prompting you to add or remove programs. You will need to click this button and browse through the list of currently installed applications. Scan through the list until you see Windows Defender. Right click this button and then click the icon that says “uninstall.”
- You will need to find the most recent version of Windows Defender and download it. Return to the part of the control panel to add or remove programs and reinstall it from there.
You can learn more about the process on this document with Microsoft.
You might want to try the same approach in windows 8.0 windows 10. However, there are other issues that could prevent Windows Defender from working in later versions of windows as well. You might need to try take a few other is yours if that doesn’t work.
The first thing that you should try is removing other anti-malware applications. Malware protection tools often interfere with each other, so you should make sure that they are uninstalled to prevent these issues.
However, before you disable any of your malware protection applications, you might want to run a malware scan. Certain types of malware have been known to attack the files for Windows Defender in the root directory. The same viruses might not be able to disable other malware protection tools the same way. Running in antivirus scan could solve the problem. Microsoft has more information about this here.
You might also need to consider running a scan with SFC. This tool will help you uncover any possible corrupted files in your Windows Defender application. These corrupted files need to be resolved as soon as possible.
Resolve Windows Defender Problems to Prevent it From Stalling During Startup
If you want Windows Defender to launch successfully when Windows starts, you need to make sure that all files are functioning properly. There are a number of problems that could keep this from happening. These include:
- Corrupted files, which can be due to improper installations or failed operating system upgrades
- Malware that has infected the Windows Defender files in the root directory
- Accidentally deleted files due to human error if someone tried altering any files in the Control Panel
You need to do some troubleshooting to get Windows Defender operating properly again. Once you test all of the precautions listed above, you should be able to make sure it launches during startup.