Trouble With Windows 10 On An Hp Stream Notebook

I serve on the board of a local non-profit, and our Deputy Director has been 'sans computer' for a while.

Turns out that she had a Win7 laptop that was riddled with viruses/spyware/adware/malware.

I used Adware Cleaner, Avast Free Antivirus, ccleaner, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and iobituninstaller, and was able to get a lot of the junk off of there, but the final verdict was:

• Still can't check for Windows Updates
• Still can't update Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)
• Most update installs are still failing

I was going to do a Windows upgrade, but she pre-empted me by buying an 11” HP Stream Notebook (11-r014wm) running Windows 10.

She then asked me to do 'preventive maintenance' on it, so I installed:

• AdAware
• Adware Cleaner
• Avast Free Antivirus
• CrapCleaner
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

That's been more or less the standard protocol for me since approx. Win2k or WinXP, but I guess I should have done my homework first...

When I went to Window > Settings > Update & Security, I noticed that my Windows Defender was turned off (everything grayscaled). When I scrolled all the way to the bottom of that section, I noticed there is a hyperlink to 'Open Windows Defender'. I clicked on that (intending to maybe turn it on manually), and then I got a pop-up that said:

After doing some digging, I ended up deleting Avast, as I learned that (starting with Win10), Windows Defender is now the built-in antivirus software for Windows, having replaced Microsoft Security Essentials.

But that still didn't fix the 'Windows Defender is grayscaled' issue, so I ended up deleting all five of the utilities I'd installed, hoping getting rid of one of them would do the trick.

Nope. So now I'm down to no additional software installed above/beyond factory, and it still shows that Windows Defender is grayscaled.


Edit: I did find this and a few others (though mostly related to Win8 and Win8.1)... thinking I might take iobit uninstaller to this thing, and if still no dice do a "Reset this PC" (which is found under Window > Settings > Update & Security > Recovery).

 

I had the same problem when I moved over to Win 10. I ended up installing AVG anti virus which is ok but I did prefer MSE.
Look forward to the real solution.
s.

 

The problems uninstalling any AV program so that Windows Defender gets re-enabled, normally requires using the official uninstall tool, in this case it requires 'Avast Clear' and a restart of the system - it should be used now, even though you have tried uninstalling already:
https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility

 

Thank you both for replying...

I've tried downloading and running the Avast uninstall utility (both in 'Safe Mode' and 'Safe Mode With Networking'), but still no luck.

Everything in the Windows Defender section/module is still grayscaled.

 

Try running the recovery option 'REFRESH'
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17085/windows-8-restore-refresh-reset-pc

 

Thank you.

I may just end up resetting it, as there is literally nothing on the PC beyond the handful of utilities I installed (and have now uninstalled, lol).

 

So does anyone know where the list of 'protective' utilities (AV, malware, etc) that are 'approved' (or 'encouraged') and also cool/kosher to install on Windows 10 would be?

Is there a (tacked/stickied?) thread somewhere for that?

 

You could try MajorGeeks Top Freeware Picks.
s.

 

When you uninstalled Avast, Windows defender was not re-enabled.
Run Tweaking.com Windows Repair.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/tweaking_com_windows_repair.html

Because this is a new PC, go straight to the Repairs tab. Click Open Repairs, unselect all repairs, and then just select Restore Important Windows Services. Click Start Repairs.

 

Thank you (sorry, have been out of town).

Would I still need to do "Step 1" (drain all the power)?

 

No.

 

I tried #26 (Restore Important Windows Services), but to no avail. I then later tried #6 (Repair Windows Firewall), but that didn't do anything, either. All of the Windows Defender settings are still grayscaled.

 

Interestingly enough, however... I might finally have something approaching a lead:
answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_defender-protect_start/windows-defender-can-not-be-turned-on-after-update/3613fe25-b7c3-418f-9386-821dc96e6c19?auth=1

While attempting Method 1 recommended by Microsoft Community Forum moderator Karthik, I was unable to manually start the Windows Defender service... but it did give me an error message:

 

"Windows could not start the Windows Defender Service service on Local Computer.
Error 557: Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source."

Ha, I have the same thing, even SFC /SCANNOW finds nothing wrong. Nice work on your latest, most secure OS, MS!

I'll be watching, I'll chip in again if I find anything that might be useful, Good Luck.

 

Interesting/funny... I was just able to get the Win10 update on the first laptop I tried to work on (hoping that might fix whatever ails it)... and the first thing Win10 tells me after it walks me through the setup process is:

 

So, did you end up doing a 'RESET' of the OS as you mentioned in post #6?

 

Open the Registry Editor.
What value data does this key have?
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

 

Yes, I went ahead and did the Reset (instead of the Refresh or Restore) mentioned here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17085/windows-8-restore-refresh-reset-pc

I went that route because I thought it would be more all-encompassing and thorough.

But it apparently isn't as all-encompassing and/or thorough as the name would imply.

 

At the top level, it shows:

^those should be three separate columns, but I'm not able to get the spacing correct

I notice that there is also a "Policy Manager" sub-folder, but it seems to say the same thing.

 

Do you see this?

 

No, just the top line:

Not the second one:

 

More interesting/funny stuff with the first computer (which I somehow, just before the deadline, managed to upgrade to Win10 for free).

I mention it because they're in similar states/conditions.

I think there are definitely 'remnants' of Avast on this machine, because I'm getting a 4"x3" pop-out from the systray area:

There shouldn't be anything left of it. It was completely uninstalled before the upgrade to Win10.

And I double-checked, it is nowhere to be found in the Add/Remove Programs tool.

But it didn't come from nowhere...

This has got to be what Win10 is seeing, and what's disabling Windows Defender.

 

Apologies for the double-post, but the 10-minute post-editing deadline kicked in.

Here's the notification:


There's absolutely no sign of Avast in System > Apps & Features:


In fact, here's everything in Control Panel > Programs & Features:

 

Run the latest version of Avast Clear, as suggested in #3. Latest version is here: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/avast_software_uninstall_utility.html