How to Resolve Windows Defender Update Issues
A warning message similar to the one listed below may be displayed on your screen, when you try to use the Windows Defender tool on your computer:
Windows Defender Definitions haven't been updated
Cause of the Warning
This warning message is displayed when one or more of the following conditions are true:
- Your PC is experiencing problems in the Windows Update process.
- In a corporate environment:
- Administrator of your network has blocked the access to Windows Update.
- Your computer is experiencing problems with networking configuration that is related to some other third-party product.
- Your network administrator has deployed Microsoft Windows Software Update Services (WSUS) server on the network to manage the update related issues.
Steps to Update Windows Defender Definitions
If the warning message is displayed, perform the steps covered below to update Windows Defender definitions on your PC.
Step 1: Manual installation of Windows Defender definitions updates
Normally, Windows Defender updates are delivered to your Windows computer by using the Windows Update feature. However, at times, you may receive error if one of these services are not related to Windows Defender. In this case, your first step will be to manually update Windows Defender definitions, by performing the following steps:
- Open the Microsoft Malware Protection website by clicking on the link given below:
http://microsoft.com/security/portal/ADL.aspx#top
- Refer the instructions given on this Web site to download and install updates for your computer.
- If you still receive the warning message, you may have to contact support for problem resolution.
Step 2: Ensure that all required Microsoft Windows Update files are installed on your computer
- Open the Windows Update Web site by clicking on the link given below:
- Here, select the Express or Custom button to check for and install required updates on your computer.
Note : In a corporate environment, you may not be able to download the updates if they are blocked by your network administrator. In this case, it will be better that you contact your network administrator to gain information on how to update Windows Defender definitions on your computer.
As the Windows Defender updates are delivered to you through Microsoft Windows Update, Automatic Updates, and Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) services, you may encounter definition update problem, if one of these services has a problem. To troubleshoot the problem with Windows Update, perform the steps listed below.
Step 1:
OnWindows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 computers, open Start menu, select Run, type %windir%\windowsupdate.log , and then click the OK button, to open. Next, examine the Windowsupdate.log file for error messages.
Similarly, on a Windows Vista computer, open Start menu and type %windir%\windowsupdate.log in the Search Box and press Enter.
Step 2:
Next, click on the following link to open the Microsoft Knowledge base article that provides with information on how to read this log file and find out error entries:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902093/
Step 3:
On Windows 2000, XP, or 2003 computer, open the following Web site and on the Options page, and then perform a search using the keywords that describe your problem.
On a Windows Vista computer, click on the following link, open the Windows Help and How-to Web page, and then perform a search using the keywords that best describe your problem.
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/search.aspx?=&qu=%22windows+update+error%22
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