Windows 10 OS September 2019 Update Causing Windows Defender Failure In Scanning And Protecting As Well?
Windows 10 users have been facing a string of weird issues after applying the latest September 2019 update to Windows 10 1903 version. The latest bug appears to be in Windows Defender, the most widely used and popular choice of free antivirus software suites for Windows Operating System. Several users have pointed out that after applying the latest update, Windows Defender cannot perform system scans for viruses and malware. There is a simple workaround or fix to Windows Defender not scanning completely. However, Microsoft appears to have acknowledged the issues, and reportedly promised to come up with a permanent solution soon.
A number of weird issues and bugs have cropped up in Windows 10 1903, the latest and stable release of the operating system. Not only did it cause weird sound muffling, and caused trouble with a few Intel and Broadcom Wi-Fi chipsets, but it has also now apparently broken scanning abilities of Windows Defender, the free antivirus solutions that is included in most Windows 10 installations.
Now Windows 10 September Update is breaking Windows Defender – https://t.co/U1PMGil5Ya pic.twitter.com/bYMiBCeOEK
— MSPoweruser (@mspoweruser) September 18, 2019
Interestingly, there were a few reports that claimed recent security updates to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 also caused Windows Defender to fail. However, the failure was much more severe as the particular virus definition update not only broke down Security Essentials and Windows Defender on Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs, it caused real-time protection to turn off automatically. Moreover, the update even reportedly messed with the security apps issue warnings that malware definitions are out of date. Only running a manual scan, which immediately failed to complete, revealed the failure. This failure was limited to Windows 7 and 8.1 machines and didn’t affect Windows 10. Incidentally, Microsoft quickly fixed the weird problem. However, the latest major cumulative update released this month specifically affects Windows Defender on Windows 10 machines, and a fix is yet to arrive.
Latest September 2019 Update To Windows 10 1903 Breaks Windows Defender’s Manual Scanning Capabilities:
According to several posts that have appeared on Reddit, Windows 10’s Feedback Hub, as well as platforms like Twitter, Windows Defender update breaks quick and full scanning feature. If users try to perform a quick or full scan, the process ends abruptly in less than a minute after scanning only a handful number of files.
Several users have rushed to identify and replicate the issue in Windows Defender. Reports indicate the manual scan only lasts for about 7 seconds. The scan breaks down after scanning anywhere between 5 and 50 files.
Statement from Microsoft. Only manual and scheduled scans impacted. Real-time protection works fine. Fix coming
cc @AskWoody @etguenni pic.twitter.com/zTMfnslr3r
— Catalin Cimpanu (@campuscodi) September 18, 2019
Incidentally, Microsoft has acknowledged that the latest update to Windows 10 does cause premature failure of manual scans conducted by Windows Defender. However, the company has issued a statement noting only manual scanning has been affected. The real-time scanning, and as an extension, live protection features of Windows Defender in Windows 10 remains unaffected. Simply put, Windows 10 1903 users who rely on Windows Defender to protect their PCs continue to remain protected from new threats.
According to Microsoft’s Update Catalog, Windows Defender Antivirus version 4.18.1908.7 is the latest version of the security program. The latest stable version of the free and default antivirus solution for Windows 10 was released to general users on September 16.
Microsoft released Windows Defender 4.18.1908.7 and it created a new bug that is causing Quick and Full antivirus scans to no longer., pic.twitter.com/XYUdp1OR4Y
— BleepingComputer (@BleepinComputer) September 18, 2019
The only workaround for the failed manual scans in Windows Defender is to run a ‘Custom Scan’. This option allows users to individually select each drive for scanning. Although the scan would be performed on one drive at a time, users do have option to conduct virus and malware scans on their Windows 10 PCs using Windows Defender.
