ConfigureDefender utility for Windows 10/11

[Trooper]

I was actually trying that and you are correct, it worked. Thanks.

You are welcome. Cheers.

 

[Stelica]

Hi,
I started using ConfigureDefender 3.0.1.1 high setting. I have two questions
1. How to proceed in case of an update? Is it updating itself or the new installer should be downloaded?
2. Tamper protection can be enabled or must be disabled as in the case of DefenderUI?
I did not find any answer to these questions in help files.
Thank you!

 

[Andy Ful]

Hi,
I started using ConfigureDefender 3.0.1.1 high settings. I have two questions
1. How to proceed in case of an update? Is it updating itself or the new installer should be downloaded?
2. Tamper protection can be enabled or must be disabled as in the case of DefenderUI?
I did not find any answers to these questions in help file.
Thank you!

ConfigureDefender is a portable application. So, it does not need conventional updates. The changes related to available features will be included in the <INFO> on the Protection Level section.
It works with enabled Tamper Protection.

 

[Stelica]

ConfigureDefender is a portable application. So, it does not need conventional updates. The changes related to available features will be included in the <INFO> on the Protection Level section.
It works with enabled Tamper Protection.

Thank you very much! It's clear.

 

[Andy Ful]

Hi Andy, weird glitch on W11. I downloaded the newest version from your link in the Firewall Hardening thread today. I deleted my older version of CD and moved new version to desktop, when I tried to open these 2 boxed popped up. Just to check I restored old version from Recycle Bin and same thing happened. This leads me to think that maybe its my computer although I've had no issues in the past.

View attachment 266754View attachment 266755

This error was related to the PowerShell problem - PowerShell is a part of .NET Framework. ConfigureDefender executes PowerShell to get information about Defender settings. I am not sure if installing the old version of .NET Framework 3.5 could solve the problem. It is also possible that the problem was solved via Windows Update (update of .NET Framework).
This error could also appear if another security blocked PowerShell or blocked the execution of PowerShell as a child process of ConfigureDefender.

 

[SeriousHoax]

This error was related to the PowerShell problem - PowerShell is a part of .NET Framework. ConfigureDefender executes PowerShell to get information about Defender settings. I am not sure if installing the old version of .NET Framework 3.5 could solve the problem. It is also possible that the problem was solved via Windows Update (update of .NET Framework).
This error could also appear if another security blocked PowerShell or blocked the execution of PowerShell as a child process of ConfigureDefender.

The error is due to a faulty Windows Update, and installing .NET 3.5 is the only solution available at the moment till MS fix it.

Security Alert - Microsoft May 2022 Patch Tuesday fixes 3 zero-days, 75 flaws

Today is Microsoft's May 2022 Patch Tuesday, and with it comes fixes for three zero-day vulnerabilities, with one actively exploited, and a total of 75 flaws. Of the 75 vulnerabilities fixed in today's update, eight are classified as 'Critical' as they allow remote code execution or elevation...

malwaretips.com

 

[Andy Ful]

The error is due to a faulty Windows Update, and installing .NET 3.5 is the only solution available at the moment till MS fix it.
https://malwaretips.com/threads/mic...fixes-3-zero-days-75-flaws.113718/post-988045

The flaw in this article is related to the applications that use .NET Framework 3.5. But, ConfigureDefender and PowerShell (on Windows 10/11) do not use .NET Framework 3.5 at all. Most computers with Windows 10/11 (including all my computers) do not have installed .NET Framework 3.5. So, why installing .NET Framework 3.5 could help?
I cannot exclude that some updates could spoil the .NET Framework. In such a case installing .NET Framework 3.5 could possibly solve the issue. This issue is absent on my computer Windows 11 21H2 updated 12.05.2022 (Cumulative Update for .NET Framework Kb5013628). If there was a problem with .NET Framework then it was probably solved by this update.

 

[SeriousHoax]

The flaw in this article is related to the applications that use .NET Framework 3.5. But, ConfigureDefender and PowerShell (on Windows 10/11) do not use .NET Framework 3.5 at all. Most computers with Windows 10/11 (including all my computers) do not have installed .NET Framework 3.5. So, why installing .NET Framework 3.5 could help?
I cannot exclude that some updates could spoil the .NET Framework. In such a case installing .NET Framework 3.5 could possibly solve the issue. This issue is absent on my computer Windows 11 21H2 updated 12.05.2022 (Cumulative Update for .NET Framework Kb5013628). If there was a problem with .NET Framework then it was probably solved by this update.

There was a cumulative preview update which is the root cause of this issue. I don't know why .NET Framework 3.5 fixes it for affected users but that's how it is at the moment. Not everyone is having the issue. Looks like there's no update from Microsoft yet fixing it. So the update that was installed on your system on May 12 is not the fix for this. This was also installed on mine along with Patch Tuesday.
There is something like KIKR fix or something, I forgot the term. MS sometimes pushes emergency fixes via that without releasing a dedicated update. They pushed this fix to users before patch Tuesday but looks like it didn't install in many people's device. So those who installed the preview update but don't have this mscore.dll issue probably received that emergency fix. Most if not all who didn't install the preview update don't have this issue.

 

[Digmor Crusher]

This error was related to the PowerShell problem - PowerShell is a part of .NET Framework. ConfigureDefender executes PowerShell to get information about Defender settings. I am not sure if installing the old version of .NET Framework 3.5 could solve the problem. It is also possible that the problem was solved via Windows Update (update of .NET Framework).
This error could also appear if another security blocked PowerShell or blocked the execution of PowerShell as a child process of ConfigureDefender.

Its the Windows update issue as only security on this computer is CD and SWH. Installing Framework 3.5 fixed it. Thanks.

 

[Andy Ful]

There was a cumulative preview update which is the root cause of this issue. I don't know why .NET Framework 3.5 fixes it for affected users but that's how it is at the moment.

The issue from the Bleepingcomputer article was limited to the .NET Framework 3.5 applications - the users had already installed .NET Framework 3.5 which was somewhat corrupted by the Windows Update. So, reinstalling the .NET Framework 3.5 was logical and could solve the issue. But, there was no issue with the current .NET Framework 4.0.30319.

In the case of @Digmor Crusher, the issue is related to PowerShell on Windows 11 which is a part of .NET Framework 4.0.30319. So, the source of this issue could be of another kind. Installing the .NET Framework 3.5 could help if the missing mscoree.dll was recovered. But, it would be hard to know this if there was also a new .NET Framework update like Kb5013628 (it could recover mscoree.dll too).

 

[Andy Ful]

Its the Windows update issue as only security on this computer is CD and SWH. Installing Framework 3.5 fixed it. Thanks.

You can wait until Microsoft will push a new cumulative update for the .NET Framework and then uninstall the legacy version .NET Framework 3.5 (except if you use applications that still use it). But you probably already know it.

 

[Digmor Crusher]

Yup, this computer is not used a lot. CD worked fine the last time I checked (before the Windows update last week). I did the updates last week but did not check CD. The next time I used it was yesterday when I tried the new version of CD. So I assumed bork city was caused by the updates.

 

[Kongo]

Hey,
I have a question regarding the High-mode of Configure Defender. Is there a reason that the Cloud Check Time Limit is at 20s while on Max it is 60s? I personally think, that even in High mode there would be no real issue for inexperienced users if the limit would be 60s too.

 

[Andy Ful]

Hey,
I have a question regarding the High-mode of Configure Defender. Is there a reason that the Cloud Check Time Limit is at 20s while on Max it is 60s? I personally think, that even in High mode there would be no real issue for inexperienced users if the limit would be 60s too.

In most cases, the execution is postponed for about 6 sec. when the file is uploaded to the cloud. I use 20 sec to include bigger files and possible slowdowns. It is possible to use 60 sec. - the difference will be seen mostly for large installers.

 

[Kongo]

In most cases, the execution is postponed for about 6 sec. I use 20 sec to include bigger files and possible slowdowns. It is possible to use 60 sec. - the difference will be seen mostly for large installers.

Alright, thanks for the fast reply

 

[SeriousHoax]

I keep forgetting to write this and that is, Microsoft Defender doesn't run in sandbox anymore. It got automatically disabled on my system like a month ago, and I also tested installing fresh stable windows, beta builds and also dev builds. In all these builds, it's off by default on Windows 11.
Either performance issue or bugs made Microsoft do this. I previously shared here a couple of bugs related to this. So I'm not surprised tbh. Maybe it'll return in the future. Of course, anyone can still manually enable it, but I don't think that's recommended.

 

[Andy Ful]

I keep forgetting to write this and that is, Microsoft Defender doesn't run in sandbox anymore. It got automatically disabled on my system like a month ago, and I also tested installing fresh stable windows, beta builds and also dev builds. In all these builds, it's off by default on Windows 11.
Either performance issue or bugs made Microsoft do this. I previously shared here a couple of bugs related to this. So I'm not surprised tbh. Maybe it'll return in the future. Of course, anyone can still manually enable it, but I don't think that's recommended.

Yes. It is not enabled by default and this probably means something. Anyway, I did not find any reported issues on the web. Sometimes I test it on my computer and it works without issues.
For now, it is not yet included in the ConfigureDefender settings.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Yes. It is not enabled by default and this probably means something. Anyway, I did not find any reported issues on the web. Sometimes I test it on my computer and it works without issues.
For now, it is not yet included in the ConfigureDefender settings.

What I mean is, it's used to come enabled by default on Windows 11, but not anymore.
Yeah, it's not needed in Configure Defender.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Has anyone received this email recently? I got it in the morning today

 

[Freki123]

I was trying to find out the price for the 365 family. I stumbled on this:

Microsoft Defender for Individuals | Microsoft 365

Use Microsoft Defender for individuals as your personal defense against online threats and easily manage your family’s online security.

www.microsoft.com

So they seem to look for guinep tester. No clue if the mail is spam but they got a nice faq on joining on the website.