Turning on Windows Firewall and Defender in Windows 8

Anonymous
2012-10-30T04:10:31+00:00

My firewall and Windows Defender seem to be off. I just got Windows 8 last Friday and I cannot get it to turn on. When I go to the Windows Defender App, it says "Windows Defender has been turned off and is not protecting your computer." How do I turn it on then?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy

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Anonymous
2012-10-30T16:47:45+00:00

Hi Matkor,

Welcome to Microsoft community!!!

Based on the case details I understand that you are unable to turn on Windows Firewall and Windows Defender, it would be grateful if you can reply to these question in order to assist you further.

  1. Have you made any changes to the computer prior to this issue?
  2. Do you have any other security software installed on your computer?

I would suggest you to try the following methods and check if it helps.

Method 1:

I would suggest you to check the Service status of Windows Firewall and Windows Defender

a) Press Windows key + R and type services.msc in the search field and press ENTER.

b) Scroll down to find " Windows Defender Service ".

c) Right-click " Windows Defender service “, and then click Start.

d) Follow the same steps to start "Windows Firewall" service.

e) Check if the issue persists.

Method 2:

Try the following method to enable Windows Firewall and Windows Defender:

Windows Firewall

a. On the Windows 8 User Interface Start screen select control panel or right click on the bottom left corner on the desktop to select control panel.

b. Click Windows Firewall, In the left pane, click Turn Windows Firewall on or off.

c. Click Turn on Windows Firewall under each network location that you want to help protect, and then click OK.

Windows Defender

a. Press the ‘Windows + Q key on the keyboard.

b. Type “Windows Defender” in the search box and then press enter.

c. Click Settings and make sure there is a check mark on Turn on real time protection recommend.

Please post the results and let us know if you need further assistance to fix the issue and we will be happy to help you further.

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Anonymous
2015-04-02T19:29:27+00:00

Hi P. MichaelVan Sant,

Sorry for the delay in replying.

As you have an expired trial version of MacAfee, you may remove or uninstall this and restart the computer to check if this helps. It is not good to have multiple security software installed on the computer as there might be software conflict which will affect the overall performance of the computer.

Keep us informed to help you further.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-04-07T02:52:48+00:00

    Im having trouble turning windows firewall and defender on, and nothing has helped me here.. :\

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-03-30T21:30:42+00:00

    I have tried the above instructions to turn on defender. It starts to scan and then stops

     

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-03-21T16:58:06+00:00

    Removing the installed antivirus package is a necessary, but not always sufficient, condition for enabling Windows Defender – you often have to run the vendor’s clean-up tool before the Action Center will recognize that  the prior security program has been removed and thus give you the option to enable Windows Defender. Please review the introduction and first 2 sections of this FAQ:

    http://experts.windows.com/w/experts\_wiki/163.aspx

     

     

    GreginMich

     

     I uninstalled everything but still whenever I click the action centre to turn on the defender  it points me to system 32 root directory . If I go to defender through charms it says that it is turned off . If i go to services the defender is set to manual and the option are grayed out . If  I start the service it says that the service started and stopped. I had Norton Antivirus and bullguard last year, I run the total removal tools for both with no luck.

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