Windows 8 In Depth

Making Sure Windows Defender Is Turned On

We’ve been troubleshooting Windows PCs for many years. It used to be that users accidentally deleting system files or making ill-advised attempts to edit the Registry or some other important configuration file caused most problems. Recent versions of Windows (particularly XP) could either prevent these kinds of PEBCAK (Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard) issues or recover from them without a lot of trouble. However, we’re all too well aware of the latest menace to rise in the past few years, and it has taken over as the top cause of desperate troubleshooting calls we receive: malware, the generic term for malicious software such as viruses and Trojan horses.

The worst malware offender by far these ...