Windows Defender is an antimalware and antispyware software developed by Microsoft for Windows operating systems. It provides real-time protection against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, and can be used to detect and remove existing threats. The program regularly downloads and updates its virus definitions, which are the files it uses to identify malicious software. Keeping your virus definitions up to date is important as it ensures that Windows Defender is able to detect the latest malicious software.
To update the virus definitions in Windows Defender, follow the steps below:
1. Open the “Start” menu and click on the “Settings” icon.
2. Select “Update & Security”
3. Select “Windows Defender” from the left-hand pane
4. Click “Check for Updates”
The Windows Defender program will then begin to download any available virus definition updates. Depending on your internet connection speed, this process may take some time to complete.
Once the update is complete, you will see a notification informing you that the virus definitions have been successfully updated. You can confirm this by manually checking the version number of the virus definitions. To do this, go back to the “Windows Defender” settings page, select “Antivirus Definitions” from the left-hand panel, then view the “Version” field to see the most recent version number.
It is also possible to update your virus definitions manually by downloading them from the Microsoft website. To do this, open your web browser and navigate to the Microsoft Download Center. From there, search for “Windows Defender” and look for the “Virus and Threat Protection Definition Updates” file. Download the appropriate version of the file for your operating system and save it to a folder on your computer.
Once the file has finished downloading, open Windows Defender and select “Settings” from the left-hand pane. Then, click the “Advanced” tab at the top of the page, followed by the “Manual Update” button. This will launch the Windows Defender manual update wizard, which will guide you through the process of installing the virus definitions from the file you downloaded.
You should repeat this process regularly to ensure that your virus definitions remain up to date, as newer threats appear all the time. If you have Windows set to update automatically, then this process should happen automatically. However, if it does not, you can manually check for updates using the steps outlined above.
If you suspect that your computer has been infected with a virus, or if you want to scan a certain file or folder for threats, use the “Scan Now” option in Windows Defender to do so. This will search your computer for potentially dangerous software and alert you to any threats it finds.