Both Norton & Windows Defender are Inactive after 22.5.5.14 update

Fixed by disabling Smart Firewall then re-enabling.

This happens after having Windows Security Center disabled then re-enabling it via a reg tweak and rebooting.  Probably no one else, if anyone, that does this but I can't delete this post.

I had the same problem on one W10 system but a reboot fixed it.

Jim

I agree. Turn off Fast Startup and use Group Policy to disable Windows Defender. Things go much better after those are done.

Windows Defender or Norton Problem? Installed Windows 10 10586.3. running since 11/14/15 without any problems.

I Checked updates and found Windows Defender update was trying to install and failed. Check update again and Windows Defender download started and failed. I got warnings about firewall and virus protection being turned off.

Went control panel security showed solid red warnings. I tried to turn fix by choosing Norton Security as provider but nothing helped. Checked inside Norton which said Norton smart firewall and auto-protect were on as they should be.

Checked Control Panel Windows Defender. It Opened to Windows Defender program. Red checked saying it need updated. This should not even open all other computers say Windows Defender disabled.

I opened Norton Security and noticed it was not logged into my account. When I tried to sign in, my login with email address showed with password space. I tried to type my password and nothing happen (like keyboard problem) Closed login and tried again and still same. Restarted computer and tried to login to my account again and same problem.

Opened browser, Logged into my account with no problems or errors. Tried using Norton Security login and same problem.

I have uninstalled/reinstalled Norton Security, signed into my account, did Norton update, Scanned and no problems found. Checked Windows 10 update and it reported  PC was okay and up to date. Used browser logged into my account and activated with old key.

What caused this problem?

hi Dennis

There can be a problem with the latest Windows 10 update causing difficulties with Norton in some cases uninstalling a Norton product. Below is part of a comment by a Norton Employee on the subject:

We work very closely with MSFT as a vendor partner.  Their goals are to ensure there is an always on approach to whatever AntiMalware the consumer uses.  Removing our compatible product is a bug in the inventorying approach they use to determine compatibility.  It was and is something we are working jointly to fix.

I hope this helps.

Michael

I have been a Norton user for years and now have multiple machines running Norton  Security now. I have always trusted these products. I have never had a problem like this before.  I know MS does not want other antivirus programs running on the system.  After I reinstalled Norton Security it appears Windows Defender is not disabled.

Is there some way to turn off Windows Defender? It does not appear to be disabled.

Oops nevermind, I solved it by opening Norton Security, clicking Help, clicking Get Support. It repaired the installation and I closed out all of the Norton windows.

Now Security and Maintenance says everything is fine and shows my Norton product as the anti-virus and firewall :D

Screenshot;

It has been usual for my Windows Activity Center to report that my firewall and antivirus and maleware are not turned on when I boot up. I simply open the center and click 'turn on' and all is well. Today I pressed 'turn on' and it went to the 'trusted application" question. I said yes to Norton on all issues and nothing happened. The center says that both Windows and Norton report that the firewall and virus protection are off. Now when I check Norton  everything is on and the Norton autofix scan says Norton is running fine. I simply for the time being have deselected the security issues from the activity center but I can't find anyone who knows what is going on or what to do. I have also run Windows (sfc) and the result is no corrupted files were found. I have Windows 7 Home 64 bit operating system. Someone said to uninstall and reinstall Norton but I would rather avoid that unless it is the definitive cure!

In the action centre in windows 8.1 my spyware, antivirus, and firewall all come up red. It is telling me that they are not working and need to be switched on. I try to do this but it wont let me. The strange thing is, is that my Norton antivirus and firewall are on, green,  and working perfectly. What could be going on here. Why does windows think that everything is off?

Depending on how this update is delivered, it can be in two parts. The engine update first, and then the rest of the patch.

Sometimes, it requires two restarts/reboots.

If you're having problems, another reboot might help.

Having only just picked up this email

"16-Nov-2015 | 4:05PM: Tony_Weiss created Norton 22.5.5 Product Update available now"

I ran Live Update, installed the updates and restarted my PC.

There was a Warning flag from Window Action Centre which took me to a few other warnings. Some of them are shown below.

It's not a problem - I turned on NIS & everything worked well after another restart.

But as this has not happened before, I thought I'd mention it FWIW. It was interesting that the Action Centre kept trying to 'persuade' me to choose Defender instead of NIS.

Multiple re-boots do Nothing to fix the problem. Windows Security Alerts "sees" that Norton Internet Security Anti-virus Is on, but "sees" that Norton Internet Security Firewall is off.

Since I do Not use Windows Defender, and I have Windows Xp (which is Not getting updates), is the problem somewhere in the NEW NIS updates? Is there a New part, that is having trouble telling (even Old Windows) that everything IS running??? I have seen problems here, from people with Windows Xp, 7, 8, 10. So, NOT a problem with One particular Windows version. Problem whether you have Windows Defender running or not. One thing that seems to be common, is that Everyone got the NEW NIS Engine Updates.

Is there Something that either Windows Action Center (Security Alerts) is being "told" by 3rd party Security programs, or is Looking for, from 3rd party Security programs to have the correct Status, that has been Changed?? So, Windows is looking for "YES", for ON status, but is getting "SEY" instead???????????

My problem started with windows update.  Norton should disable and cancel windows updates for Windows Defender.  When I reinstalled Norton Security windows updates keeps wanting to download updates for Window Defender which always failed.

I disabled Windows Defender using gpedit.msc and found setting 'Specify the day of the week to check for definition updates', enabled and choose Never.

When I ran windows update, the error about Window Defender update fail showed with retry (normal for fail). Now after retry windows update reports my PC is up to date. I Check for new updates several times since and reports my PC is up to date. Hope this solved the problem.

Why didn't disable Windows Defender???

An alternative to have Fast Start Available when you want it and don't need a hard restart is to leave Fast Start enabled and "Restart", for a hard restart as needed,as opposed to "Shut Down."  Fast Start does not effect "Restart."

I just updated one of my 2 Win7 PCs and got this exact same problem.

I power cycled the PC about 15 minutes ago and so far I have not received the Windows Action Center alarms.  Looks like it may have worked.

Windows Security shield is Not there anymore.

Wonder why a couple of Boots didn't do it, but, Disable Firewall (after a couple of re-boots), then Re-enable Firewall "fixed" it.

Don't think I saw any Norton Liveupdates that looked like they were fixes.

Dennis8:

Windows 10 Pro Updated to Windows 10 10586.3

Norton and Windows Defender both want to have control of virus protection and the firewall. Under Security everything red protection off virus protection and firewall. I tried selecting Norton and nothing. In Norton I turned off both virus protection and firewall. Open Norton and  This Fixed Problem,  Norton controls both virus protection and firewall.  Restart PC and same problem.

Use Norton or Windows Defender??? Well I choose Norton.  I KILLED WINDOWS DEFENDER.

How?

Run
gpedit.msc (Local Group Policy Editor)
Choose 'Computer Configuration
Choose Administrative Templates
Choose Window Components
Choose Windows Defender
Under Settings Choose 'Turn off Windows Defender'
set this to enabled
Apply

Stay inside Windows Defender Settings

Under 'Signature Updates'
Choose 'Specify the day of the week to check for definition updates'
set this to enabled then in the drop down selector choose 'Never'
Apply

Restart. Norton has control now!!!!!! No Problems since, No more Window Defender or Updates try to download

No problems with Norton in 10240 Windows 10 update.August 3 to November 8. Windows Defender never tried definitions update.

Just before Windows 10 Fall update 10586,. I believe this started because of a forced update just before just before Fall update appeared. After that Windows Defender definitions updated appeared and always failed.

OMG! This completely solved the problem with defender still wanting definition updates. I had just done a clean install of Windows 10 and kept running into this problem. Kept trying to troubleshoot and came across this here. It was driving me NUTS! I could not for the life of me have figured it out. I don't know who is to blame here. MS or Symantec. Maybe both? Either Norton is not fully disabling Windows Defender in Windows 10. Or MS just being really aggressive with it.

This is really BAD imo. Because you cant do any MS updates with out addressing this problem first. Or it will just sit there every time you try and update trying to grab a definition update from Windows Defender. 

Thanks! Quick response appreciated.

That has fixed the problem, and to be on the safe side I did 3x restarts. Had previously checked through "services.exe", and Norton 360 was always running and set to automatic.

There are now no errors when checking through the control panel security information.

Its been pulled. But, what happens with the issue of Windows Update trying to pull Windows Defender definitions? I just done another clean install of Windows 10 Pro 64 bit. Latest Windows build. And I installed Norton again. Guess what? Even with the previous version before this newer one was pulled. Its trying to pull down a Windows Defender update and throws an error. What do we do now?

Will Norton be including that fix as well for users in the patch?!?!? I thought by going back to the previous Norton build and doing another clean install. Problems solved with this. But, no go. I checked for Windows Updates. It was fine for a few hours. And boom. Got hit with this definition error again regarding Windows Defender. It shows disabled as well.

This is critical. Because people will not be able to pull down new Windows Updates as it will constantly be stuck and trying to get a Windows Defender definition update. Someone or some really screwed the pooch here. I don't know if its MS or Symantec's fault. Combination of both?

lmacri:

FattiesGoneWild:

Will Norton be including that fix as well for users in the patch?!?!? I thought by going back to the previous Norton build and doing another clean install. Problems solved with this. But, no go. I checked for Windows Updates. It was fine for a few hours. And boom. Got hit with this definition error again regarding Windows Defender. It shows disabled as well.

Hi FattiesGoneWild:

This is pure speculation on my part, but a few Win 10 users were reporting issues with Windows Defender/Windows Firewall and failing Windows updates for the Windows Defender definitions with Norton v22.5.4.24 (i.e., just prior to the 16-Nov-2015 release of Norton v22.5.5.14) so it's always possible that these problems actually started with the Win 10 November 2015 Patch Tuesday updates of 10-Nov-2015 or the big "Threshold 2" (Build 10586) Fall Update of 12-Nov-2015.  If that's correct then downgrading to v22.5.4.24 isn't going to resolve the problem.

     rstaaf / rindert: Microsoft Defender Definition Update Failing (14-Nov-2015)
     brianarnett1:    comcast security suite and windows 10 firewall (15-Nov-2015)

The fact that the Win 10 Threshold 2 update has reset Win 10 to all it's default settings and re-enabled the Fast Startup feature on machines that previously had this feature disabled as avjohnnie noted <here> likely hasn't helped matters.
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32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox v42.0 * NIS (2014) v21.7.0.11 * MBAM Premium v2.2.0

Wow. You know the odd thing? I have 2 other machines. Both Windows 10 Home 64 bit. When this new major update for 10 came out. I just upgraded them through Windows Update since 10 was already installed. I did not want to do another clean install on both machines being only 3 months in or so with new OS. Neither machine exhibits this problem. Unlike the other machine running 10 Pro with a clean install.

Since I have 10 Pro on that machine. Sure I can do the gpedit.msc fix listed above earlier and it works. But, that is just a band aid fix. So, not sure what to do? Home users are even more screwed since they don't have access to the gpedit.msc fix. That is a Pro feature. 

Mohan_G. Presumably if we've already installed it and there's no (obvious) problems, I presume we just do nothing.

But this must be a 'first' for me - I usually have a problem and come here to get it fixed. This time, I had the problem at first then did what I've outlined in my 19-Nov 11:48AM and it worked. So why, I have to ask, are others still having the problem?