Page 696 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

Ransomware protection is another way to access the “Controlled

folder access” settings described already.

Now, Defender is certainly not the only antivirus program on the planet. It’s

not even the best one. Several rival antivirus programs are free for personal
use. These do have their downsides—some nag you to buy the Pro versions,
for example, and there’s nobody to call for tech support.

Note

If you do install another antivirus program (Norton, Symantec, Avast, or whatever), Defender
turns off automatically. You can still use it to run a malware scan, though.

In any case, the bottom line is this: If your PC doesn’t have antivirus

software working for you right now, then getting some should be at the top
of your to-do list.

What happens when Defender finds malware

When Defender finds malware, it takes control. It puts the offending

software into a quarantined area where it can’t do any more harm, and it lets
you know (with a notification) what it’s found.

In “Protection history,” you can look over the fruits of its labors like this:

Current threats. A list of malware that Windows hasn’t killed yet,
along with a recommendation for your next step.

Quarantined threats. Here’s a list of the nasties that Windows has
found and isolated. You see each program Defender has taken

action on, the alert level, and the date. You can use “Remove all” if
you don’t recognize any of it, or you can just wait; Windows
periodically empties out the quarantined area on its own.

You can also select an item to view its details, and to view the
buttons for Remove or Restore. (Restore means “It’s fine. Put it