Windows Defender is an antivirus program created by Microsoft to detect and protect against spyware, viruses, worms, and other malicious software threats to your computer. The program is included with Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista operating systems and can be used to scan your system for malicious programs and remove them. This article will provide instructions for using Microsoft Windows Defender to scan and remove threats on your computer.
Step 1: Click the Search button in the taskbar at the bottom of your screen and type “Windows Defender” into the search box that appears.
Step 2: Select the “Windows Defender” option from the search results.
Step 3: In the newly opened window, click “Scan Now” to start a quick scan of your system. This scan will check for commonly known threats such as viruses, Trojans, worms, rootkits, and other malware.
Step 4: If any threats are found, the results of the scan will be displayed in the scan results window. You can review the threats found and choose to quarantine or delete them as needed.
Step 5: To take further action against threats, you can also schedule a full scan of your system by clicking “Advanced Scan” at the top of the window. This scan takes longer, but is more thorough and will check for malicious programs that may not be caught by the quick scan.
Step 6: Once the scan has finished, review the list of threats and choose to quarantine or delete them as desired.
Tips:
• Make sure to keep Windows Defender up to date by regularly checking for new definitions and virus signatures.
• If you are running out of disk space, you can use the cleanup feature to remove outdated or unnecessary files.
• For advanced users, you can configure Windows Defender to perform periodic scans or enable real-time protection to guard against malicious activity as it happens.
• If you think Windows Defender is not catching all threats, you can install a third-party security program for additional protection.