#Requires -Version 5.1 <# JbTecWiz Support Centre -- generated fix script Fault : Microsoft Defender will not turn on Fix : Find and remove the policy holding it off Source: https://jbtecwiz.com/support/win-sec-defender-off Run as : Elevated PowerShell Expect : 30 minutes Risk : high Reversible : yes WHEN THIS IS THE RIGHT FIX No other antivirus was involved. Treat a machine that disabled its own antivirus as potentially compromised. HOW TO UNDO IT The policy values can be recreated, though on a managed machine they should be set by Group Policy rather than by hand. This script walks the fix one step at a time and asks before each one. Steps with no command are things you do yourself -- it prints those and waits. Run with -DryRun to print without executing. -------------------------------------------------------------------- NO WARRANTY - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK This script is provided by JbTecWiz as-is and with no warranty of any kind, express or implied. You run it entirely at your own risk. JbTecWiz accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from its use, including but not limited to data loss, downtime, or configuration changes that turn out to be wrong for your system. You are responsible for reading this script before running it, for satisfying yourself that it suits the machine in front of you, and for having a working backup first. Some steps cannot be undone. -------------------------------------------------------------------- #> [CmdletBinding()] param( # Print every step and command without running anything. [switch]$DryRun, # Do not ask before each step. Read the script first if you use this. [switch]$Unattended ) $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop' $script:Failed = 0 function Write-Rule { param([string]$Text) Write-Host '' Write-Host ('-' * 70) -ForegroundColor DarkGray if ($Text) { Write-Host $Text -ForegroundColor Cyan } } function Show-Prose { param([string]$Text, [string]$Colour = "Gray") if (-not $Text) { return } $words = $Text -split "\s+"; $line = " " foreach ($w in $words) { if (($line.Length + $w.Length) -gt 74) { Write-Host $line -ForegroundColor $Colour; $line = " " } $line += "$w " } if ($line.Trim()) { Write-Host $line -ForegroundColor $Colour } } function Invoke-Step { param( [int]$Number, [string]$Do, [string]$Why, [scriptblock]$Command, [switch]$Manual, [string]$Shell = "powershell" ) Write-Rule " Step $Number of 5" Show-Prose $Do "White" if ($Why) { Write-Host ""; Show-Prose $Why "DarkGray" } if ($Manual) { Write-Host '' Write-Host ' -> Do this yourself, then press Enter to carry on.' -ForegroundColor Yellow if (-not $Unattended -and -not $DryRun) { [void](Read-Host) } return } Write-Host '' foreach ($l in ($Command.ToString().Trim() -split "`n")) { Write-Host (" " + $l.Trim()) -ForegroundColor Green } Write-Host '' if ($DryRun) { Write-Host " (dry run -- not executed)" -ForegroundColor DarkGray; return } if (-not $Unattended) { $a = Read-Host " Run this step? [Y]es / [S]kip / [Q]uit" if ($a -match "^[Qq]") { Write-Host " Stopped at your request."; exit 0 } if ($a -match "^[Ss]") { Write-Host " Skipped." -ForegroundColor DarkGray; return } } try { & $Command } catch { $script:Failed++ Write-Host (" Step $Number failed: " + $_.Exception.Message) -ForegroundColor Red Show-Prose "The rest of the fix may depend on this. Read the write-up before carrying on." "Red" if (-not $Unattended) { $c = Read-Host " Carry on anyway? [y/N]" if ($c -notmatch "^[Yy]") { exit 1 } } } } Write-Rule Write-Host ' Microsoft Defender will not turn on' -ForegroundColor White Write-Host ' Find and remove the policy holding it off' -ForegroundColor Cyan Write-Host '' Write-Host ' Risk: high Reversible 30 minutes' Write-Host '' Show-Prose 'No warranty. Use at your own risk - JbTecWiz accepts no liability. Read it before you run it, and have a backup.' 'DarkYellow' Write-Rule if (-not $Unattended -and -not $DryRun) { $go = Read-Host ' Ready? [y/N]' if ($go -notmatch "^[Yy]") { Write-Host " Nothing was changed."; exit 0 } } Invoke-Step -Number 1 -Do 'Look at the policy keys.' -Command { Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue } Invoke-Step -Number 2 -Do 'If DisableAntiSpyware or DisableRealtimeMonitoring is set to 1 on a machine with no management, that is a strong indication something set it deliberately.' -Why 'Disabling the antivirus by policy is one of the first things a lot of malware does. Turning it back on without investigating means it will simply be turned off again, or worse, will now be scanning a machine that is already compromised.' -Manual Invoke-Step -Number 3 -Do 'Scan from outside the running system before re-enabling -- the Microsoft Defender Offline scan boots into its own environment.' -Command { Start-MpWDOScan } Invoke-Step -Number 4 -Do 'Remove the policy values.' -Command { Remove-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender' -Name DisableAntiSpyware -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue Remove-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection' -Name DisableRealtimeMonitoring -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue gpupdate /force } Invoke-Step -Number 5 -Do 'Restart, confirm protection is on, and run a full scan.' -Command { Start-MpScan -ScanType FullScan } Write-Rule " Confirm it worked" Show-Prose 'Get-MpComputerStatus reports real-time protection enabled and a completed full scan.' 'White' Write-Host '' if (-not $DryRun) { Get-MpComputerStatus | Format-List RealTimeProtectionEnabled,FullScanEndTime,AntispywareEnabled } Write-Rule if ($script:Failed -gt 0) { Write-Host (" Finished with " + $script:Failed + " failed step(s).") -ForegroundColor Yellow Show-Prose 'Read the full write-up at https://jbtecwiz.com/support/win-sec-defender-off' 'Yellow' } else { Write-Host ' Finished.' -ForegroundColor Green } Write-Host '' Show-Prose 'To undo: The policy values can be recreated, though on a managed machine they should be set by Group Policy rather than by hand.' 'DarkGray' Write-Rule