[Tutorial] Problems with Windows Defender under Windows 10

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John_Ha
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[Tutorial] Problems with Windows Defender under Windows 10

Post by John_Ha »

 Edit: January 2020

Microsoft has recently changed Windows Defender.

If you use Microsoft's Anti Virus then Windows Defender is still present.

If you use the third party Anti Virus software then Windows Defender is disabled on your PC, you cannot see Windows Defender, and the procedure below does not work. 
Windows 10 has introduced Windows Defender and many W10 users seem to be finding it causes problems with AOO and LO where they cannot save their files, or where AOO/LO hang and are unresponsive when they attempt to do a Save.

The problem is caused by the Controlled Folder Access component of Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection. See Microsoft's Customize controlled folder access

The solution is to add soffice.bin to the list of programs allowed by Windows Defender.

Go START > Settings > Update and security > Windows security (on the left) > Virus and threat protection > Manage Ransomware protection (at bottom)

If Controlled Folder Access is OFF, you have no problem.

If Controlled Folder Access is ON then click Allow an app through controlled folder access > Add an allowed app.

This opens a Navigator window where you will notice that only .exe and .com files are shown.

For AOO navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice 4\program\ as below and type in soffice.bin.

For LO navigate to C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\program\ and type in soffice.bin.
You MUST type in soffice.bin as you cannot select it
You MUST type in soffice.bin as you cannot select it
The trick is to type soffice.bin into the File name field and click Open. soffice.bin is now added as an allowed program as below.
added.gif
You can alternatively disable Controlled Folder Access completely but this compromises the security of your PC. Do so by going START > Settings > Update and security > Windows security > Virus and threat protection > Ransomware protection. Set Controlled Folder Access to OFF.

Do I also need to add the other .exe files like swriter.exe, scalc.exe, simpress.exe and soffice.exe etc?

No. swriter.exe (and scalc.exe, simpress.exe etc) are not required as they do not write to the disk. Only the program soffice.bin writes to the disk and hence only soffice.bin needs permission to write to disk.

It has been reported that adding soffice.bin using a powershell command as described in Use PowerShell to allow specific apps does not work.

If you experience any problems please do not post here - start a new thread in the forum.
Last edited by John_Ha on Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
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