Repairing the Windows Defender Update Problem

There is a widespread problem with Windows Defender (Beta 2) not updating. It purports to update and reports the update as effective, then immediately asks for the same update. Or it will not update at all.
The problem is with Windows Installer that is used to install programs in Windows.
It can become damaged for a number of reasons, among them being:

• a corrupt registry,
• interruption of the installation of a program using Windows Installer,
• and multiple instances of Setup running simultaneously. 

The solution lies in the judicious use of the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility: MSICUU.EXE available from: http://tinyurl.com/42ul9. This is used to perform clean up operations of the Windows Installer registry settings.

Download the file msicuu2.exe from the above URL and save it to disk. You will be advised to close all running programs before installation. Double click to install it. By default it will install in  C:\Program Files\Windows Installer Clean Up. Run the file msicuu.exe. from within the Windows Installer Clean Up folder. It will present the dialog box on the right

Scroll down and select the Windows Defender Signatures entry. That is the one causing the problem, but your definition file will be a different number from that shown here. Remove this entry and Exit.

Terry Bibo

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