Hello,
Having recently upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10, I had a question about using Windows Defender.
I've come to understand that Windows Defender automatically scans in the background every now and then. However, one of the many joys of Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows 7 for me was that I could manually scan any documents, items, and whatnot from external sources (e.g. files downloaded from the internet or copied from a USB-Sticks) before opening it. To do this manually on Windows 7 with Microsoft Security Essentials, one would right-click on the document and run a scan. To my understanding, Windows Defender on Windows 10 does not offer this option.
When looking for a way to make this part of the drop-down menu when you right-click a file, and when searching the web I came across this website: How to Add to the Context Menu in Windows 8
I know it's not intended for Windows 10, but I figured that since all the Folders were in the same place I would give it a go.
After following the instructions and restarting my laptop I found that in the drop-down menu when you right-click a folder, it now shows that I can scan with Windows Defender, which is great! [see following image]:
Yet, when I click on Windows Defender, I get the following error:
I presume this means I have done something wrong in the command However, I cannot for the life of me figure out what that would be.
Also interesting to note is the following:
As you can infer from the last image, I can now only scan 'Folders' but not 'Files' per se (e.g. docs, images, tried as many as I could find).
Any ideas on what I might have done wrong? And maybe more importantly, any advice on how to get Windows Defender to run manually?
Any help in these regards would be greatly appreciated!
Best,
RFrost
There's a tutorial here for Win 10.Windows Defender context menu - Add in Windows 10 - Windows 10 blogWhile you must be signed in as and administratorto be able to add or remove the Windows Defender context menu, all users will be able to use the context menu.
Hello RFrost,
If you like, you can also try this context menu below to see how you like it. It works in Windows 10 as well.
Scan with Windows Defender - Add in Windows 8
That only allows me to have a shortcut to Windows Defender if I right-click on my desktop. A very nice feature as well, but as described in my post, what I was looking for instead was a way to seperatly scan files with Windows Defender (so right-clicking on a specific file and having it scanned as Microsoft Security Essentials allowed).
Any neat little trick in order to have that done?
@Brink
That looks more like something I was looking for! I'm gonna check it out and see if it works, thanks!
@Brink
That did the trick, many thanks! Too bad that it runs in a 'Command' window but at least now I can scan files seperatly
I wonder why Microsoft decided to scrap that feature from Windows Defender though...
Still, many, many thanks!
You're most welcome. I'm glad that it'll work for you.
Yeah, it would be nice if Windows Defender had a native scan with WD context menu like it did in MSE.
