ConfigureDefender utility for Windows 10/11

[South Park]

@Andy Ful GHacks reports that Nirsoft has released a new tool to view and manage threats discovered by Windows Defender: View Windows Defender threats on local and remote computer Do you know if this would be safe to use alongside Configure Defender or if there would be any conflict. Thanks in advance.

 

[Digmor Crusher]

South Park, I downloaded and gave this tool a quick whirl, did not see any issues with CD.

 

[South Park]

South Park, I downloaded and gave this tool a quick whirl, did not see any issues with CD.

Thanks. It looks like it would be handy to manage multiple detections.

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

@Andy Ful GHacks reports that Nirsoft has released a new tool to view and manage threats discovered by Windows Defender: View Windows Defender threats on local and remote computer Do you know if this would be safe to use alongside Configure Defender or if there would be any conflict. Thanks in advance.

Nirsoft always build safe tools which run portable so they shouldn't make any problems

 

[Andy Ful]

@Andy Ful GHacks reports that Nirsoft has released a new tool to view and manage threats discovered by Windows Defender: View Windows Defender threats on local and remote computer Do you know if this would be safe to use alongside Configure Defender or if there would be any conflict. Thanks in advance.

No conflicts.

 

[tsunami]

Has the "Controlled folder access" feature improved? or is it still a false positive machine?

 

[SeriousHoax]

Has the "Controlled folder access" feature improved? or is it still a false positive machine?

Control folder access is manually added whitelist based. Every program trusted/untrusted is blocked from making changes to the folders if not added to exclusion.

 

[Andy Ful]

As SeriousHoax has mentioned, it is based on whitelisting. Some applications are whitelisted by Microsoft and others have to be added manually.

 

[Ink]

Quick question for @Andy Ful , does 'ConfigureDefender' configure Windows Defender Firewall in Windows 10?

Do you have any plans to work with, if possible, making a tool for WD Firewall in the future?

 

[Back3]

Quick question for @Andy Ful , does 'ConfigureDefender' configure Windows Defender Firewall in Windows 10?

Do you have any plans to work with, if possible, making a tool for WD Firewall in the future?

A tool like Firewall App Blocker..very easy ..that integrates the firewall rules of Syshardener....or others in different profiles...

 

[SeriousHoax]

Quick question for @Andy Ful , does 'ConfigureDefender' configure Windows Defender Firewall in Windows 10?

Do you have any plans to work with, if possible, making a tool for WD Firewall in the future?

He already has a tool for this. If you install Hard_Configuarator then you can access Configure_Defender, FirewallHardening from the same UI but if you're planning to use the FirewallHardening tool separately then this is the link for the 64 bit version: FirewallHardening(x64)
Btw, a restart is required after adding or removing firewall rules for them to start working

 

[shmu26]

He already has a tool for this. If you install Hard_Configuarator then you can access Configure_Defender, FirewallHardening from the same UI but if you're planning to use the FirewallHardening tool separately then this is the link for the 64 bit version: FirewallHardening(x64)
Btw, a restart is required after adding or removing firewall rules for them to start working

Just wanted to add: if you use Andy's FirewallHardening tool, the rules will survive a major Windows feature update, unlike rules that you make yourself through the native Windows Firewall GUI.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Just wanted to add: if you use Andy's FirewallHardening tool, the rules will survive a major Windows feature update, unlike rules that you make yourself through the native Windows Firewall GUI.

I didn't know this. Thanks. Why is that though? The Firewall rules reset itself after major updates?

 

[shmu26]

I didn't know this. Thanks. Why is that though? The Firewall rules reset itself after major updates?

I simply repeated what I heard from Andy, so I will let him explain it...

 

[Back3]

At some point, I installed Syshardener. I uninstalled it last year but kept the firewall rules. I still have them after many Windows updates....Those rules are still identified as NVTSYSH.

 

[shmu26]

At some point, I installed Syshardener. I uninstalled it last year but kept the firewall rules. I still have them after many Windows updates....Those rules are still identified as NVTSYSH.

Maybe Syshardener uses the same method as FirewallHardening, I don't know. But keep in mind that between last spring and now, there has not been a major feature update. The fall update was insignificant. It did not entail a reinstalling of Windows, like a major feature update does. A major feature update restarts your computer several times, and takes a very long time to complete, because it is essentially reinstalling Windows, in the process of which it reverts some of the system settings to their default value.

 

[oldschool]

Why is that though?

Firewall rules are in registry, IIRC.

 

[Andy Ful]

I didn't know this. Thanks. Why is that though? The Firewall rules reset itself after major updates?

It uses Windows Policies that generally can survive major Windows updates. If not then they were not useful in Enterprises.

 

[Azure]

@Andy Ful

According to this article, requirement for ASR rules are Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise/Education

Demystifying attack surface reduction rules - Part 1 | Microsoft Community Hub

An A to Z guide, to help you understand what are Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules and how to successfully adopt it.

techcommunity.microsoft.com

 

[Andy Ful]

@Andy Ful

According to this article, requirement for ASR rules are Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise/Education

Demystifying attack surface reduction rules - Part 1 | Microsoft Community Hub

An A to Z guide, to help you understand what are Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules and how to successfully adopt it.

techcommunity.microsoft.com

The above example is from my Windows Home test machine (Virtual Box). I have simply run PowerTool application from the flash drive. The same will happen for any application (run from USB) which is not digitally signed or not recognized as trusted by WD ISG.
Anyone can test if ASR rules work by simply using WD demo webpage (sign in required):

https://demo.wd.microsoft.com