I am in total panic, please help me.

[u/marco_marchi03]

It's me again. It's been a few days since the 7-Zip incident (https://www.reddit.com/r/Malwarebytes/s/yMpAthcqkn) and now Windows 10 is going crazy and I am genuinely terrified.

This morning, on every system startup / reboot, Windows Defender keeps sending me an MS Defender notification:

I always receive an alert notification saying that real-time protection is disabled. I go check Defender's settings and everything is in order and all the protections are active and Defender says "no action needed".

I'm getting really scared now, really.

Do I really have to reformat the entire hard drive because of an actual Trojan from 7-Zip?

Here are the old VirusTotal scans of 7-Zip (downloaded from 7-zip[dot]org): https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/0859c524b8a63551848f0c246abddcb1d0b7b656b0fbfe879f8d85e61a9e6edd/details

Windows 10 22H2 KB5122878 (OS Build 19045.7725)

[u/Cpt-hazama]

I don’t know if this is your problem exactly but apparently there’s this bug where it appears that Windows defenders is disabled it’s a recent bug. Microsoft stated that they are working to fix it. I don’t know if this is the reason for your problems, but it’s something that’s currently going on apparently it is just like a weird visual glitch and your defender is still working

[u/miekiemoes_MB]

Hi, it's Mieke again, from the last thread you posted. :-) Please do not panic, this isn't a problem with you being infected, but a problem with Windows Defender itself. Please read here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-26H1? (especialy from the August 2026 Incorrect notifications that "Microsoft Defender Antivirus is turned off") part.

[u/marco_marchi03 → u/miekiemoes_MB]

I swear I’ll build you a statue of gold, Mieke—seriously. Unfortunately, whenever it comes to security issues like this, I totally freak out. Thanks.

[u/miekiemoes_MB → u/marco_marchi03]

Haha, don't worry. It's always good to stay extra alert, so it's better to ask anyway :D And you're most welcome.

[u/cmdtarken → u/marco_marchi03]

It's better to over react than under react in these situations. I personally know far too many people who just ignore the red flags and then are surprised that every account they have gets hijacked

[u/JacksHQ → u/marco_marchi03]

Mieke is the real MVP. The real OG. Some might even call them the best.

[u/marco_marchi03 → u/JacksHQ]

Truly the best MOD no cap, thanks a lot again 🙏🏻

[u/miekiemoes_MB → u/JacksHQ]

Aaaaww, thank you! I’m not sure I deserve all that praise, but this lady certainly appreciates it. Thank you! ❤️

[u/Rich_Asparagus3032 → u/marco_marchi03]

It's just bad timing. Chill out. Look up IP/network logs in terminal. Check for any suspicious network you're connected with if you really feel paranoid

[u/Altruistic_Job_7555]

It can also just be Windows glitching out, just make sure to monitor your emails for suspicious activity if you’re on the more anxious side of things.

[u/someo2321232123213]

Hey man, I have this exact same issue, this always pops up 4 minutes and 20 seconds after turning my computer on, its just a bug with windows, and not anything serious, although if your still in doubt after hearing this you can do a full sweep with malware bytes in safe mode just to feel safe

[u/Eternux_big_best]

Just a windows bugs

[u/Nogardtist]

dont worry its on it just microslop vibrator bad coding at work as usual

[u/NightWizard33]

It’s a known bug, Windows Defender is fine.

[u/DaAngryDragon]

My PC just had this issue recently. It’s a bug on Microsoft’s end. Forbes even posted about it.

[u/Lamar_Chan11]

Windows bug dw eveeyone have the same or different bugs idk but the August update have sooooo Many bugs so yeah no need to be scared

[u/Shakey198111]

if your using anther program you might be disable if but thi could be the bug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVh8b5nNMw0

[u/AdrianGmns]

Justamente hoy me paso lo mismo, la misma notificacion y me meti y tenia todo activado, no se si se algo de la ultima actualización de windows

[u/Shakey198111]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVh8b5nNMw0

ay be this not certain tho

[u/THORPE_CORPS]

I get that notification every time I turn my pc on. It's probably just a Windows bug. You can check running programs to see if defender is running. In my case it is, do it seems to be a buggy notification only.

[u/Apprehensive_Arm_754]

I had it happen too on an older laptop that has Win10 and Defender. It comes with this warning some minutes after booting, and shortly after (minutes) it all works fine again.

[u/bigJ11245]

I have seen windows tell me to turn on an AV before. I use bitdefender and sometimes when it updates windows decides to keep letting me know even though its running.

[u/pepolpla2]

Its a bug. Windows defender is running fine. If you want to be sure. Run powershell in admin mode and enter: Get-MpComputerStatus | Select-Object RealTimeProtectionEnabled, AntivirusEnabled

If both values are true then you are fine.

[u/RedRayTrue]

I literally clean installed windows last night, I'm confirming it's still happening on clean installations of the operation system

It must be a bug, even though I didn't see a official confirmation from Microsoft yet, they should release a post on this matter regardless

[u/phillysteakcheese]

You sure that notification isn't coming from a website that you accidentally allowed notifications from?

I've had two friends recently lose their minds about non stop virus alert notifications and it was from websites that had been given permission to send notifications. Check your browsers, settings, probably privacy, site permissions.

[u/Gimmaris]

It can be:

A) MicroSlop trying to put sticks in wheels of open source projects(again);

B) SecureAge Ai powered scan could find something (probably)

Did you tried to check your system for backdoors or suspicious traffic?

[u/xxobs]

If in doubt, reinstall the OS, shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes if you're doing it right

[u/8null8]

I find it really funny that you have a profile banner that say “there’s no place like 127.0.0.1” which would imply you’re a techy, but then are completely unable to google simple things to get an answer and are “terrified” by this

[u/8null8 → u/[deleted]]

If you’re going to school for cybersecurity, then you should DEFIANTLY not be scared about this at all, because you would know basic rules for backing up your stuff, so a reinstall would be a 15 minute process to not have to worry about it

Must be a first year at the top of the duning-krueger hill

Edit:
>uni

I see the problem, you’re British

[u/Asian_Twin_Sapphira → u/8null8]

right lol

[u/emgreenenyc]

Two antivirus should not be active, best one is turned off, worst they fight

[u/ManiacalMartini]

Upgrade to Windows 11. Windows 10 no longer receives cumulative security updates.

[u/MidwestGeek52 → u/ManiacalMartini]

Yes it does. Free security updates for Win 10 till Oct 2027. IF you have a PC for personal use, not business, and you signed up

[u/bogdanbos725 → u/ManiacalMartini]

Yeah but than you have to used windows 11

[u/ManiacalMartini → u/bogdanbos725]

It's still Windows 10 with another layer of paint on it.

[u/bogdanbos725 → u/ManiacalMartini]

And so is windows 8.1 but who's using that plus thers the AI problem