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Windows Defender

Prevent a False Alarm From Appearing in Future Scans

SUMMARY: Is a false alarm appearing when you scan your machine for spyware and rogue software? Tell Windows Defender to forget about it.

Note that this tip is for a BETA version of Windows Defender, and was written when Beta 2 was released. This information is subject to change based on new beta releases and/or the final version of the product.

When Windows Defender detects potential spyware or other rogue software on your system, it displays information on such software in the scan results.

Sometimes false alarms can happen. Windows Defender might detect perfectly legitimate files, shortcuts, registry entries, etc. as pieces of spyware, making them as having "potentially unwanted behavior".

If you want to prevent Windows Defender from marking such software as spyware, after you perform a scan, click on the pull-down Action next to the software package and choose "Always Allow". Then, when you are done checking through the rest of your software, click the "Apply Actions" button.

Now Windows Defender will ignore the selected software when performing future scans.

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