Not sure that matters at this point, the messages appear to be pointing to 2 unrelated failure points.
I have an update.
We have identified the problem and are working on a new Windows Defender Offline release.
Paul...
Windows Defender Offline definitions out of date
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Anonymous
Windows 7 64 Bit. I have been using Windows Defender Offline on a USB thumb drive (4 GB, uses less than 1 GB) for years without problem. Last week updating Windows Defender Offline definitions to an already working USB thumb drive seemed to install correctly. When I boot to the USB thumb drive the program boots and runs but I get the message the "definitions out of date", and it will not scan the computer. I tried formatting USB thumb drive and then installing the whole Windows Defender Offline with definitions instead of just updating the definitions to the already working USB thumb drive. Everything went correctly, the size of the download appeared to be correct. I booted to the USB thumb drive and still got the message "definitions out of date". Since the Windows Defender Offline program started offline, and was installed onto a completely formatted USB thumb drive, it must have downloaded and installed correctly but the definitions are still "out of date". Are the definitions being updated by Microsoft or has the program been discontinued?
Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
2016-05-21T14:35:47+00:00 Has there been any further progress diagnosing and repairing this problem?
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Anonymous
2016-05-21T20:07:59+00:00 I have the same problem. I downloaded the Windows Defender Offline to a USB flash drive from my computer running windows 10 to boot my computer running windows 8.1 via USB device because I have the locky ransomware encryption virus on my pc running 8.1. I finally got it to boot after several tries after changing the BIOS settings. But then I get the same error as the screenshot above. Once I boot though, the program does not automatically run, I have to sign into the computer with my password, go to settings and tell it to run from the USB device then it restarts and loads, starts scanning, however it stops and the screenshot error pops up. What have I done wrong or what other step do I need to take to accomplish this. I am not really tech savvy but I can follow directions and do more on the computer than the average bear.
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Anonymous
2016-05-22T00:14:34+00:00 Well at this point WDO is dead in the water until Microsoft fixes the date thing.
You might try using System Restore to roll your settings back to a date and time before you got the ransomware virus.(If you don't know what that means you can find a description of the procedure and the step by step instructions elsewhere.)
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Anonymous
2016-05-22T18:03:37+00:00 Thank you for your response. System restore is the first thing I tried and it didn't change anything. Maybe I can try a different program other than Windows Defender Offline. Any suggestions?