{"id":137540,"date":"2024-03-05T00:19:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T05:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/?p=137540"},"modified":"2024-03-05T00:19:51","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T05:19:51","slug":"windows-defender-security-has-disabled-your-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/windows-defender-security-has-disabled-your-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"Windows Defender Security Has Disabled Your Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"daves-65148136\" class=\"daves-single-post-before-content\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><p>I got a laptop with the following <span style=\"color: #000000;\">window<\/span> open. &#8220;<strong>Windows Defender Security Has Disabled Your Computer<\/strong>&#8221; with a <strong>1-800 number<\/strong> to call &#8211; obvious fake. It showed a Windows security screen with what looked like everything disabled. It seems to have disabled the mouse as well or at least made it hard to use.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Fake-Call-Microsoft-Support.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-137543\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Fake-Call-Microsoft-Support-640x480.jpg\" alt=\"windows-defender-disabled-computer-fake-message-call-numbers-1-800\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Fake-Call-Microsoft-Support-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Fake-Call-Microsoft-Support-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Fake-Call-Microsoft-Support-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Fake-Call-Microsoft-Support-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Fake-Call-Microsoft-Support.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Note: Don&#8217;t ever call any of the numbers listed. They are all scams.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>They make it hard for you to close or do anything. I tried to open up the Task Manager by right-clicking on the Taskbar but nothing. So I held down \u201c<strong>Alt + Ctrl + Delete<\/strong>\u201d on the keyboard.<\/p>\n<p>This took me to a blue screen (the purple screenshot is from my system \u2013 colours may vary depending on your themes) and I clicked on \u201c<strong>Task Manager<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p><div id=\"daves-3585019014\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Alt-Ctrl-Del-Task-Manager.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-137544\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Alt-Ctrl-Del-Task-Manager-640x480.jpg\" alt=\"alt-ctrl-delete-screen-options-task-manager\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Alt-Ctrl-Del-Task-Manager-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Alt-Ctrl-Del-Task-Manager-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Alt-Ctrl-Del-Task-Manager-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Alt-Ctrl-Del-Task-Manager-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Alt-Ctrl-Del-Task-Manager.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Then I went back to the main screen with the \u201c<strong>Task Manager<\/strong>\u201d open. I looked for any unusual running program but nothing stood out. There were only three apps open. Can&#8217;t remember the other two but \u201c<strong>Microsoft Edge<\/strong>\u201d was one of them. I right-clicked on \u201c<strong>Microsoft Edge<\/strong>\u201d and then in the menu, I clicked on \u201c<strong>End Task<\/strong>\u201d. That closed it out.<\/p>\n<p>Task Manager screenshot from my system. Note that you can highlight a program and click on the &#8220;<strong>End Task<\/strong>&#8221; button in the lower right-hand corner. Same result.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Task-Manager-End-Task-Microsoft-Edge.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-137545\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Task-Manager-End-Task-Microsoft-Edge-640x432.jpg\" alt=\"task-manager-right-click-end-task-\" width=\"640\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Task-Manager-End-Task-Microsoft-Edge-640x432.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Task-Manager-End-Task-Microsoft-Edge-350x236.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Task-Manager-End-Task-Microsoft-Edge-150x101.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Task-Manager-End-Task-Microsoft-Edge-768x518.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Task-Manager-End-Task-Microsoft-Edge.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I ran <strong>Malwarebytes<\/strong> and found nothing. They had <strong>CCleaner<\/strong> on their system so I ran it. Then when I opened up Edge again, everything was working just fine. If you get a message to \u201c<strong>restore sessions<\/strong>\u201d,<strong> don&#8217;t allow it and just X-it out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These are usually just ads that take advantage of some flaw in the system. Usually, when I run virus\/malware scans in these situations it never detects any malware or virus.<\/p><div id=\"daves-3204671740\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-2\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Chrome<\/strong> used to have an issue with such intrusions but I haven&#8217;t seen one in Chrome for a while. Now it seems to be Microsoft Edge&#8217;s turn. I had one of those 1-800 warning messages a while back in <strong>Opera<\/strong> but was able to close it by closing the tab.<\/p>\n<p>For more support:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/your-computers-infected-call-1-800-xxx-xxxx\/\">Your Computers Infected Call 1-800-xxx-xxxx<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/?s=infected\">Search Infection<\/a><\/p><div id=\"daves-801952869\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<div id=\"daves-790915885\" class=\"daves-after-content\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3225321574\" \ndata-ad-format=\"autorelaxed\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I got a laptop with the following window open. &#8220;Windows Defender Security Has Disabled Your Computer&#8221; with a 1-800 number to call &#8211; obvious fake. It showed a Windows security screen with what looked like everything disabled. It seems to have disabled the mouse as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2084,"featured_media":137610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,57,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-phishing-internet","category-scams","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}