Windows Defender Identifies The SAME PUP As A Threat Repeatedly

Anonymous
2020-06-16T21:00:07+00:00

Since the implementation of W10 V2004, Windows Defender has now been defaulted to identify

PUPS as a threat.  As a result, many are now made aware of their presence.  And they are "remediated",

on the spot, to prevent them from causing any mischief.

The problem occurs on the subsequent scans with Windows Defender. It identifies the same PUP again,

and again. It has been determined that this is caused by the presence of the PUP in Protection History.

It appears that the default remediation that Windows Defender applies to PUPs is to Block them,

then leave them in Protection History .

EDIT:  It has been found that malware other than PUPS, can require this same procedure.

           Some have discovered, that even Trojans exhibit this same characteristic, when remediated by

          Windows Defender in W10 v2004.

If you have any malware, remediated by Windows Defender, that alerts repeatedly, this procedure applies to

it as well. In order to cleanup the malware completely, find the file in the "container file" in the Protection

History record, and delete the file that is described. If you can't find or access the file, run the Microsoft

Safety Scanner. It uses the same definitions as Windows Defender, and should remediate  the file.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/intelligence/safety-scanner-download 

Then proceed to delete the Protection History info.

END EDIT.

Windows Defender is defaulted to scan its own "Scans/History". Resulting in the discovery of the malware over

and over again.  Even though, other scanners see no evidence of the malware on the PC.       It doesn't exist!

Until Microsoft sees fit to fix this problem,  you can prevent the repeating error indication, by deleting the

items that are described in Windows Defender Protection History. You can delete them by accessing their files,

that are located in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History\Service.

In the "Service" folder, find and delete "Detection History". 

Note:  ProgramData is a hidden file. In order to access it, the "Hidden Items" option in "File Explorer" must be

checked.  Find the "Hidden Items" check box under the "View Tab".

And, the first time that you access "Scans", you must select "continue", to obtain the permission.

Restart and try another scan.    Notifications for the current malware should stop.  

However, this program miscue will probably reoccur, when the next PUP / Malware is encountered.  

Glen

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

188 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-01T09:13:12+00:00

    Since the implementation of W10 V2004, Windows Defender has now been defaulted to identify

    PUPS as a threat.  As a result, many are now made aware of their presence.  And they are "remediated",

    on the spot, to prevent them from causing any mischief.

    The problem occurs on the subsequent scans with Windows Defender. It identifies the same PUP again, and again.

    It has been determined that this is caused by the presence of the PUP in Protection History.

    It appears that the default remediation that Windows Defender applies to PUPs is to Block them, then leave

    them in Protection History .

    Windows Defender is defaulted to scan its own "Scans/History". Resulting in the discovery of the PUP over and

    over again.  Even though, other scanners see no evidence of the PUP on the PC.

    Until Microsoft sees fit to Quarantine the PUPs, you can prevent the repeating error indication, by deleting them.

    They are described in Windows Defender Protection History. You can delete them by accessing their files, that

    are located in C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History\Service.

    Note:  Program Data is a hidden file. In order to access it, the "Hidden Files" option in "File Explorer" must be

    chrcked.  Find the "Hidden Files" check box under the "View Tab".

    In the "Service" folder, delete any file that references the PUPs (PUA).  They should be in "Detection History".

    If you can not see your PUP (PUA), just delete "Detection History".

    Restart and try another scan.    Notifications for the current PUPs should stop.  

    However, this program miscue will probably reoccur, when the next PUP is encountered.  

    Glen 

    Thank you, THANK YOU, for real

    I've deleted a pup exe file from downloads ( I haven't opened it at all) and it kept saying it was still there, even in the details. I looked for it in the task manager and even in the extra apps and uninstalls but it didn't exist, strangely it said that it was currently running and active but since I did what was above, it resolved the issue with a full system scan.

    I think its a bug for removing certain pups since it said it was a win32 install core pua. I haven't opened it like I said again. Perhaps its a problem with the file running from the security history, because once I've deleted the folders inside the detection history, it was resolved.

    Like I've said, thank you

    It was a hassle to deal with using malware bytes as I was all like "Strange, it doesn't exist, I've even made sure in the settings to check everywhere" but Windows security kept duplicating it and showing me that file extension to downloads file.

    I hope that bug can get fixed in later updates, even an "override" function would help so that it can sweep through the system for that file.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2020-07-16T08:54:36+00:00

    and when i delete the gta 5 i get like notif,  when i see protection history his app or folder has been blocked and the info is  app folder block un_a.exe  protected folder %userprofile%\Documents\Rockstar Games\Launcher\Profilesr,  but it say 0 current threat is my computer safe ?

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2020-07-16T08:19:39+00:00

    qweasds,

    No new threats means that Windows Defender Quick Scan did not find anything.

    Windows Defender is the one that was giving repeating notifications re; PUP.

    Please see my post to you on July 13.  If those scanners and Windows Defender Full

    scan run clean, you have nothing to worry about.

    Glen

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2020-07-16T07:50:34+00:00

    i did it and there no pua found  but when i quick scan it say no new threat found ( does it mean like there threat ? )  but window defender say 0 current threath how to fix it ? when i see the history it epic game launcher/rockstar launcher but you know its ( i delete the gta 5 and still same )

    how to fix it

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2020-07-16T07:06:03+00:00

    Hello again, qweasds

    What do you mean by "no match". **>**OS (C:) **>**Program Data **>**Microsoft **>**Windows Defender

    **>**Scans **>**History **>**Service is a legitimate location in W10. Try to "navigate" that branch again.

    You do not type that location. You open File Explorer and click the > that is just left of each

    of the items, to navigate to "Service". Then click "Service" to reveal its contents. Your PUP

    (PUA), should be in "Detection History".

    If You don't see "Program Data" after you click on the > that is left of OS (C:), you must click

    on the VIEW tab at the top of the screen. Then click the block for "Hidden Items" to "check" it.

    Close File Explorer, then open it again. You should now be able to see "Program Data".

    Good luck,  Glen

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments