Keep your PC safe with Windows Defender for Windows 8

In Windows 8, the Windows Defender tool is installed as standard, whose main mission is to help the user keep the computer safe from spyware, viruses and other malware. Today, malware can knock on a computer's door in countless ways, so it never hurts to have the help of software dedicated to combating it in real time.

In today's post, we are going to look at the functionality Windows Defender offers users to combat malware and the steps you need to take to activate the application on your Windows 8 system.

First of all, turn on Windows Defender

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The first thing to do so that the system and data are safe from the (bad) consequences that viruses, spyware and other malware can bring, is activate Windows Defender To do this, move your finger or mouse to the upper right corner of the screen until the right side toolbar opens. In it, in the search box, type Windows Defender and then click on the Windows Defender search result to open the application."

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Once the application is open, you can see the 4 tabs into which its functionality has been divided:Start: shows the summary of the system protection and the update level of the virus and spyware definitions, the date and time of the last system scan carried out and allows launching a new one, choosing the Quick, Full or Custom mode. Update: Detailedly displays the update level of virus, spyware, and other malware definitions, indicating the date and time they were last updated and, through the Update button, it allows you to obtain the latest version published by Microsoft.History: allows you to see the items that Windows Defender detected as potentially harmful and the actions performed on them, filtering by Quarantined Items (those that are under observation to decide whether they are malware or not), Allowed Items (items that Windows Defender has detected as potential malware but have been authorized by the user), and All Detected Items.Settings: In this section you can configure various Windows Defender features, such as turning on real-time protection, excluding certain locations and files from scans, defining exclusions processes (.exe, .scr, .com), join MAPS (Microsoft Active Protection Service) and define advanced configuration parameters."

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Once activated, it is important to update the definitions of viruses, spyware, and other malware that Windows Defender uses to identify malicious software on the equipment. Windows Defender itself is automatically responsible for this update, although you can request the update manually by accessing Windows Defender, in the Update tab and pressing the Update button. This manual update is useful when there is a major threat roaming the network, or when you want to do a thorough scan, to make sure all malware patterns are being considered in the scan."

The best prevention is the user

Taking advantage of the fact that the topic of this entry is computer security, it should be remembered that the best preventive measure is always the user himself The Protection tools, such as Windows Defender, help a lot to protect the computer, but unfortunately they are not always 100% effective.Despite the fact that Microsoft and other companies in the world invest a huge amount of resources to fight malware, it is constantly evolving and there is always a small chance of being infected, even if you have the most modern version of any protection system. .

This is why it is very useful to have Windows Defender activated on your computer, but also remember that the prevention task of malware begins with oneself, being essential to avoid potentially dangerous practices. Opening emails from unknown sources, downloading software from disreputable sites, clicking on links that you don't really know which page they lead to, are examples of practices that should be avoided in order to have problems.

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