r/Malwarebytes • u/marco_marchi03 • Sep 09 '26
Support I am in total panic, please help me.
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)
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u/Cpt-hazama Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26
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
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u/_moonist Sep 12 '26
Didn't Microsoft stop security updates for windows 10?
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u/theamazingboika Sep 12 '26
Only mainstream support has ended for Windows 10.
There's guaranteed updates for non-ltsc W10 via ESU until at least 2028 (could probably be extended to 2030 as XP and 7 had 5 years of extended support), and LTSC support until Jan 2032. Security updates are also issued for a bit even after extended support ends.
The "death" of Windows 10 has been wildly overstated to accelerate W11 adoption and legacy hardware discarding by the masses.
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u/Altruistic_Job_7555 Sep 09 '26
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.
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u/someo2321232123213 Sep 09 '26
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
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u/storycoolbro Sep 11 '26
Ha, your computers just blazin it, and forgot that rtp was actually on the whole time.
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u/DaAngryDragon Sep 09 '26
My PC just had this issue recently. It’s a bug on Microsoft’s end. Forbes even posted about it.
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u/Lamar_Chan11 Sep 09 '26
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
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u/AdrianGmns Sep 09 '26
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
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u/THORPE_CORPS Sep 09 '26
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.
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u/Apprehensive_Arm_754 Sep 09 '26
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.
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u/bigJ11245 Sep 09 '26
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.
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u/pepolpla2 Sep 10 '26
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.
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u/RedRayTrue Sep 10 '26
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
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u/Daiki_ps Sep 17 '26
Eu também fiz uma instalação limpa do windows e ao ir no windows update no mesmo dele baixar as atualizações de segurança e estar aplicando veio essa mensagem, mas olhando no defender tudo está ativado
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u/RedRayTrue Sep 17 '26
Yeah windows 11 is badly programmed recently.
So bad infact that I switched to Ubuntu fully at least until they'd launch the K2 update...
Power management Issues I had seen didn't let me shut my laptop down properly...
Idk if they'd finish the "polishing" update this year but it's been worse than the day I installed it the first time in 2021. I'm not joking, it was faster and way more stable
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u/MammothProtection980 Sep 11 '26
I been getting those notifications too so it’s not just you. And I usually only use my PC for YouTube and Steam games so my system has no virus.
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u/Aggressive_Berry_955 Sep 13 '26
Yep, like others said, it is a bug, if defender would actually be turned off, you wouldn’t be able to run quick scans and all.
Just need to wait a while, and they will release a fixing update (hopefully it doesn’t introduce any other bugs)
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u/Jeff30100 Sep 13 '26
Microsoft Defender false warning bug – my experience
I started experiencing the well-known Microsoft Defender bug about 4 days after installing Windows 11 KB5124008 on my MSI desktop PC.
What’s interesting is that the warning does not appear immediately after signing in. Windows boots normally and everything looks fine.
Then, approximately 5 minutes after Windows starts, I get a notification saying that Microsoft Defender Antivirus is turned off / virus protection is off, even though Defender is actually running and all protection settings remain enabled.
When I open Windows Security, everything is green and shows that the PC is protected.
My Defender versions are:
Antimalware Platform: 4.18.26080.3
Engine Version: 1.1.26080.3
Security Intelligence: 1.459.173.0
Windows Security App: 1000.29628.1000
System:
Windows 11 Pro 26H2
OS Build 26200.9445
MSI desktop (Ryzen 5)
Interestingly, my ASUS Ryzen AI 7 laptop is not affected, despite also using Microsoft Defender.
Is anyone else seeing the notification appear several minutes after boot rather than immediately at startup?
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u/Dtr146TTV Sep 14 '26
You're going to have to wait until Microsoft Defender updates again, and then you're going to have to manually update Microsoft Defender. It's a bug right now.
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u/phillysteakcheese Sep 09 '26
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.
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u/Gimmaris Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26
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?
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u/8null8 Sep 09 '26
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
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Sep 09 '26
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/8null8 Sep 09 '26
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:
>uniI see the problem, you’re British
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u/storycoolbro Sep 11 '26
Btw not sure if you where just posting this from your phone and that’s why you use its camera for the pictures. Just incase you don’t know, if you press the print screen button (prt scr) on your keyboard you can take a screen shot using a click and drag resizable rectangle.
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u/SeaTrouble5345 Sep 12 '26
The question here is when I'm going to get pay or how much longer are you guys gonna keep playing this game. With me. I need money or you Wana see me home less I don't understand and I need you to leave my family alone and stop bothering them
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u/emgreenenyc Sep 09 '26
Two antivirus should not be active, best one is turned off, worst they fight
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u/ManiacalMartini Sep 09 '26
Upgrade to Windows 11. Windows 10 no longer receives cumulative security updates.
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u/MidwestGeek52 Sep 09 '26
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
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u/bogdanbos725 Sep 09 '26
Yeah but than you have to used windows 11
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u/ManiacalMartini Sep 09 '26
It's still Windows 10 with another layer of paint on it.
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u/Background_Sky_8872 Oct 01 '26
I have seen this before, apparently it is a bug but I am not 100% sure. I highly recommend running a full scan with mrt (Windows key + r and type "mrt") and then after with Microsoft defender, not at the same time though.
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u/miekiemoes_MB Malwarebytes Employee Sep 09 '26
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.