SOLVED Windows Defender Antivirus Security Update...may be unwanted to some

[JDZ710A]

Most of you may have Windows Defender as your antivirus system, and you may like or not like it. I for one seem to think it may be a problem child.
All was well as it seems until I let the computer do an update on Sept. 6th. Security Update (KB2267602) version 1.301.895.0. Here's what happen when the update downloaded. The Windows Defender Shield Icon on the taskbar got a "red X" showing, and when I went into setting and clicked on Security and updates, it shows my Virus Protection needed actions. Nothing I could do to change this red X and get it out of the system. That is until I uninstalled the Update KB2267602 just now. So, it appears this update causes an error or something in the Windows Defender antivirus program.

 

[davehc]

No problem here, when it came.

 

[Regedit32]

The particular update you are referring to did not add any new threat detections, however it did update some threat detections that would have been installed on previous updates.

There have been several updates since the one you mentioned.

As I type this message the latest version is Version 1.301.949.0


There can be numerous reasons why you'd see the alert to Action being needed, ranging from a de-activated firewall, through to a threat that cannot be safely removed in real time [ because its active ], and thus requiring a restart of the computer to allow Windows Defender to perform and offline scan and clean.

I'm assuming you checked throughout the Windows Security options and failed to find anything obvious that needed addressing.

In that scenario, uninstalling the update is one feasible action, but you could also have chosen to clear the Icons Streams and Past Icons Stream by opening your Registry Editor, and navigating to the TrayNotify hive located here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify

• If you then click on TrayNotify in the left pane so as to view its content inside the right pane, you can right-click on the IconsStream and PastIconsStream data values and select delete, then press F5 to refresh the registry.
• Once refreshed, you can close the Registry Editor.
• Restart your computer to allow the deleted data values to be restored, and the apparent false notification in Windows Security ought to disappear.

In the meanwhile, I'd recommend you check for updates to bring your Virus protection up to date assuming you have not all ready done so.

Regedit32

 

[JDZ710A]

The particular update you are referring to did not add any new threat detections, however it did update some threat detections that would have been installed on previous updates.

There have been several updates since the one you mentioned.

As I type this message the latest version is Version 1.301.949.0


There can be numerous reasons why you'd see the alert to Action being needed, ranging from a de-activated firewall, through to a threat that cannot be safely removed in real time [ because its active ], and thus requiring a restart of the computer to allow Windows Defender to perform and offline scan and clean.

I'm assuming you checked throughout the Windows Security options and failed to find anything obvious that needed addressing.

In that scenario, uninstalling the update is one feasible action, but you could also have chosen to clear the Icons Streams and Past Icons Stream by opening your Registry Editor, and navigating to the TrayNotify hive located here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify

• If you then click on TrayNotify in the left pane so as to view its content inside the right pane, you can right-click on the IconsStream and PastIconsStream data values and select delete, then press F5 to refresh the registry.
• Once refreshed, you can close the Registry Editor.
• Restart your computer to allow the deleted data values to be restored, and the apparent false notification in Windows Security ought to disappear.

In the meanwhile, I'd recommend you check for updates to bring your Virus protection up to date assuming you have not all ready done so.

Regedit32

Thanks for the comments, but, I must disagree with you on this matter. My wife's Dell laptop had the same "red X" on the Virus Protection shield icon on the taskbar. So, I did the same by deleting the KB2267602 version 1.301.895.0 update and the red X disappeared from the taskbar. So, with both computers having the same update removed proves the problem was within the download. Therefore, this problem has been solved ...for now.

 

[Grizzly]

My latest update version is this:
The latest security intelligence update is:

• Version: 1.301.1071.0
• Released: 9/11/2019 11:27:44 PM

The version 1.301.895.0 I never got on any day on any of my computers.....

So far I can say Windows defender does what it is designed to do and never has given me any problems besides false positives (a while back with RUFUS).