Protection History

CJW · 21 Oct 2023

I'm having trouble clearing the Protection History section in Windows Security. I did clear Allowed Threats, but not Protection History.
I followed the instructions on this website: How to manually clear Windows Defender Protection History & ran into problems.

1. Using the 'Set-MpPreference' command in PowerShell gave me this message: "'Set-MpPreference' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."

2. Trying to open the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans folder gives me the "You don't currently have permission to access this folder' error message. Even though the folder's Properties Access show that I DO have Full Control.

3. I was able to get into Event Viewer & complete those instructions. But Protection History still did not clear.

I've tried all instructions using both my Standard Account & Administrator Account.
Anyone have any other suggestions I can try?

dalchina · 21 Oct 2023

Hi, it seems to be (possibly) a bug or issue with Defender itself.

See:
Clear Windows Security Protection History in Windows 11 Tutorial | Windows 11 Forum
In post #4 one person found a way in Safe Mode.

Note this history is supposed to be cleared automatically after a period anyway.

There are quite a few reports around. This thread found a 'workaround' if you can call it that...(!)
W10 Windows Defender Protection History

I would guess it's something to do with Defender's exploit guard protection, or perhaps Controlled Folder Access.

Curiously there's not a tenforums tutorial on this... yet..
This is a neater guide than some to clearing the protection history although it adds nothing to resolve this problem - just for interest and a placeholder for what may be a tutorial proposal:
4 Best Ways to Clear Windows Defender Protection History on Windows 11 - Guiding Tech