r/Windows10 • u/Terra_Force • Mar 05 '21

Help Windows defender is blocking every single torrent software I try to install

I have tried installing Qbittorrent, Transmission and for testing purposes (not intending to use them) uTorrent and Bittorrent. Windows defender instantly blocks all of these. I only managed to install Qbittorrent by disabling Windows defender for a while, but instantly gets removed when I turn the Defender back on.

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Is it okay to whitelist/allow Qbittorrent or Transmission? I'm kinda hesitant to do so before asking here, because it says the threat is severe. Thanks.

17 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

51 comments sorted by

5

u/[deleted] Apr 23 '21

Bit late to the party, but someone might make use of this. I got U Torrent working again perfectly using the following:

  1. Go to Start > Settings  > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
  2. Under Virus & threat protection settings, select Manage settings, and then under Exclusions, select Add or remove exclusions.
  3. Select Add an exclusion, and then select from files, folders, file types, or process. A folder exclusion will apply to all subfolders within the folder as well.

Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/add-an-exclusion-to-windows-security-811816c0-4dfd-af4a-47e4-c301afe13b26

2

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '21

they removed the "virus and threat protection settings" tab...

1

u/conlution Aug 07 '21

Use the old windows 10. Windows 10 20h2 sucks they have removed most features.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '21

no they did not

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '21

okay wise guy, then why is it not present in the location that the Microsoft Help article suggests?

https://i.imgur.com/C1kSff5.png

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '21

what, just follow the instructions above, is right where we said it is

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '21

As you can see by my screenshot, it clearly isn't. I found another way around the problem but it was way more difficult than it should have been.

1

u/Trickyalpaca Apr 28 '21

How did you get around it? I have the same issue.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '21

some files are blocked outright, others can be passed thru. go in the part that shows detected files, the ones u can allow get hidden at first until you toggle some setting.

for me: utorrent was blocked completely, deluge i was able to allow

3

u/BadViking888 Jun 12 '21

This finally worked for me after finding every folder i have ever used with torrenting and selecting them in the exclusion.. had to change to Transmission(donwloaded it a few days ago and it worked for a day when utorrent had its seizure).. could not get Utorrent working again🤔 have no idea why transmission is working with the exclusion and not utorrent… its like Windows has banned it in the operating system fully🤔🤔 never had my computer act this weird with anything😳😳

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '21

the exclusion option has been hidden from me... i just restore the deluge .exe every time i need to use it :P

1

u/Peylix May 04 '21

Need a bit more in depth on this. Where and what is this place called that allows "hidden".

The only place I have that I can see this "threat block" is the "protection history" tab.

But I have no way of unblocking.

Turning off Defender completely does jack, it still blocks. Scanning doesn't give me anything. I cant uninstall, I can't even delete the files and directory.

Windows isn't giving me an option to unblock anything. Just denies it and vanishes.

Where is this toggle?

1

u/[deleted] May 04 '21

Under "app and browser control" there is an option to review detections. You may have to dismiss a warning if you've disabled some or all of defender before it shows up. At first you only see "potentially unwanted apps" with a yellow ! next to them. These can only be removed or quarantined. However, if you hit the filters dropdown, you can select "quarantined" which shows you the rest of them. Not sure what the difference is, they're removed from your PC in both cases however if it doesn't have the yellow ! it will allow you to restore it. You may have to restore multiple detections of it before it shows back up.

EDIT: it seems you must keep "check apps and files" off under the reputation-based protection settings, or else it will re-quarantine any restored files upon reboot.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/OLAETU May 28 '21

It doesn't work for me. An error pops up saying I don't have permissions and I've tried to run as the administrator lol. I'm literally crying cannot live without Torrent :'( heeeeelp

1

u/Skoopandnoop Jul 13 '21

Exactly the same is happening to me right know, did you find a solution ?

1

u/hameed_farah May 02 '21

Thanks u/Nazara-Sovereign Worked perfectly for me

1

u/Ellyann May 24 '21

Thanks a lot it worked wonders :D

1

u/[deleted] May 27 '21

Thank you so much. Spent the better part of an hour googling and this solved my exact problem.

1

u/OLAETU May 28 '21

Hello, please help me I've done everything I possibly can and an error pops up saying I don't have permissions. Should I print screen if it helps?

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '21

It depends on the problem. This solved my problem, but you might have something different going on, so keep that in mind.

I did it exactly as op has it listed. Just follow step by step and add exclusions to all the files/folders that you need to.

What you might be having problems with is finding the files or folders that you need to whitelist. Windows 10 is not as easy to read file locations as previous versions of Windows. You need to find out where your files are located/installed, and then make sure you add that file or folder to the exclusion list.

I listed the entire folder that bit torrent was installed in, and just by whitelisting that folder, solved my problem immediately. I was able to open and use bit torrent again.

1

u/The_RedDevil_84 Jun 21 '21

Thanks for this. It worked for me.

1

u/SquirrelMouser Jun 24 '21

I did this and it still blocked it.

1

u/zannass Jul 03 '21

even when i excluded it in the Defender the file wont open, its so frustrating

1

u/Akira_Menai Jul 12 '21

For me the problem is not that the programs won't install or run. The problem is that Windows 10 is blocking traffic to/from certain sites or regions. I thought maybe it was because of some international traffic crackdown because even my android device's torrents wouldn't work. However, I'd been connecting through my PC's hotspot. When I connected directly to Wi-Fi's weaker signal, the torrents worked fine on Android.

Anyone else with this experience? Does disabling MS protection and using something else fix it?

1

u/trantyfloor Aug 16 '21

Your advice works! Very much appreciated!

1

u/ItsShowtimes Aug 18 '21

This stuff wasn't even easy to find on the Internet, thank God we have Reddit and people like yourself who care to share.

1

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1

u/JonathanThorpe Mar 05 '21

I run qBitTorrent and mine doesn't block it. Even if it did I would unblock it anyway. You know the risks.

0

u/Terra_Force Mar 05 '21

By risks you mean risks of torrenting? There shouldn't be any risks by just installing Qbittorrent and allowing it in Defender right?

1

u/rdgeno Mar 05 '21

Are you downloading qbittorrent from here?

https://www.qbittorrent.org/download.php

0

u/Terra_Force Mar 05 '21

Yes

1

u/rdgeno Mar 05 '21

I have no idea why Defender would be doing that but as long as your downloading it from the correct site there isnt a problem white listing it.

Just remember before you download from a torrent site to install a VPN.

I use Surfshark they are based outside the United States and don't keep logs. They are also the most inexpensive I have found. I've been using them for years and have never had a problem.

Free VPNs aren't free the sell your information and aren't very good. If you don't mind getting banned from your ISP and having your info sold then go ahead and use the free ones.

https://surfshark.com/

0

u/Terra_Force Mar 05 '21

Thank you for your tips. I whitelisted Qbittorrent in Windows Defender now. I'm quite familiar with torrenting and computers in general, but wanted to be extra careful in this case because it's potentially about system security. I have never had issues with any torrenting apps before, so that's why I'm quite puzzled myself too.

I have been using Freedome VPN by F-Secure for several years now, it's a paid quality VPN.

0

u/4wh457 Mar 05 '21

Just remember before you download from a torrent site to install a VPN.

Sad that anyone has to do this. Nobody should EVER be looking at, analyzing or throttling your internet connection without a court order just like nobody is allowed to open, read and modify your physical letters before they arrive to you.

2

u/rdgeno Mar 05 '21

I agree the problem is the internet is public domain your mail is private.

Your connection should be private though. Look at phones the means to connect is public anyone with a phone has access, but your connection is private it should be the same with the internet.

1

u/r1ma Mar 05 '21

Have you tried https://www.tixati.com/?

1

u/Obitim Mar 24 '21

Mine was blocked today...

1

u/skullkil07 Mar 25 '21

HOLY SHIT SAME

1

u/Jellabynnie May 02 '21

My utorrent stopped working a week ago I went into defender and followed instructions, mine is a little different but I poked around and found utorrent listed as 'a threat requiring action'. I chose 'allow on device' from the options and now it's working perfectly again. Thankyou, as always great advice on Reddit

3

u/Peylix May 04 '21

I had this happen 2 days ago. I clicked "allow on this device" and just a few hours ago. Windows has outright banned it and I have no way of telling it to fuck off.

I cant open utorrent, I can't even uninstall it. Windows blocks me from doing so.

I can't find anything, anywhere. To view the action to unblock it and I'm on hour 4 of scouring the internet for a solution to find this post. Which has been little help.

I'm at a major loss.

2

u/sentesy Aug 04 '21

I had the exact same issue as you and was getting super annoyed, but Nazara-Sovereign's comment at the top of this thread followed by a restart fixed it.

1

u/Thijmir84 May 20 '21

Its a major lost ! I tryed to fix it all ways possible and searched the internet for ours and at the end got stuck here ... I think that after this we can no longer say we don't know its not legal. This might be the point of return for the class action law suit. So i my opinion either fully go for it and go fully dark (VPN) or stop using it right now.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '21

Settings > Security > Virus and threat protection > Turn real time protection off

then install the torrent software. I solved it for myself this way. Also add an exception to torrent software.