Introduction
Windows Defender is a free antivirus program that provides real-time and proactive protection against potential threats. It helps protect your computer from malicious software such as viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, spyware, and other potentially unwanted programs. Windows Defender was first introduced in Windows XP and has been included in every version of Windows since then. It is a built-in security feature that cannot be uninstalled, but it can be turned off if needed. This article will explain how to enable Windows Defender on your computer.
Step 1: Check If Windows Defender Is Enabled
Before enabling Windows Defender, you should verify if it is already enabled on your computer. To do this, open the Control Panel and select “Security”. If Windows Defender is enabled, you will see a “Secure Today” button. If you don’t see this button, it means that Windows Defender is not enabled.
Step 2: Open Windows Defender
If Windows Defender is not enabled on your computer, then you will need to open it. To do this, open the Control Panel and click on “Security”, then select “Windows Defender”.
Step 3: Turn On Windows Defender
Once you’ve opened the Windows Defender window, you will see a toggle switch at the top right of the window. It should be in the off position. Click on the switch to turn on Windows Defender. Once you have done this, Windows Defender will start protecting your computer.
Step 4: Configure Windows Defender
In order to fully take advantage of the protection provided by Windows Defender, you should configure it to best fit your needs. To do this, click on the “Options” button in the Windows Defender window. This will open up a new window where you can make various settings for the program. Here you can choose what type of scans to run, when to run them, and which files to exclude from being scanned.
Conclusion
Enabling Windows Defender on your computer is an easy and important first step in protecting yourself from malicious software. Once you have enabled Windows Defender, you can further customize it by using the options available in the Windows Defender window. This thorough guide should help you set up and configure Windows Defender so that you can benefit from its full range of protection features.