[FIX] Virus And Spyware Definitions Couldn’t Be Updated In Windows Defender

Published: June 10, 2015 · 04:02 PM \\ Applies to: Troubleshooting

As long as latest virus and spyware definitions are installed on your Windows Defender app, your Windows operating system is safe and secure. When these definitions became outdated, security threats on your system may increase. Hence, being a smart Windows user, you should often update Windows Defender with latest virus and spyware definitions to stay safe.

However, there are some scenarios which may came around, where you can’t update Windows Defender the newest definitions. In such cases, following error messages can be received:

Virus and spyware definitions couldn’t be updated

The app couldn’t check for virus and spyware definition updates. Check your Internet Connection and try again.

Error code: 0x8024402c

Error description: The definition updates couldn’t be installed because the proxy server or target server names can’t be resolved.

In some cases the error codes may be 0x80240022, 0x80004002, 0x80070422, 0x80072efd, 0x80070005, 0x80072f78, 0x80072ee2, 0x8007001B. The problem is common for all of them, and that is you can’t update Windows Defender at all.

FIX : Virus And Spyware Definitions Couldn’t Be Updated In Windows Defender For Windows 10/8/8.1/7

If you’re also facing this problem on your Windows 7 or later running machine, here are the fixes you can follow:

IMPORTANT : Before you try the fixes, make sure about following points:

1. You have latest Windows Updates installed.

2. You’re signed in as administrator and UAC is set to Always notify level.

3. Windows Defender Network Inspection and Windows Defender services are running in Services window (use services.msc command to get this).

4. You’ve an active and stable Internet connection.

FIX 1 – Remove The Current Signature File Of Windows Defender

1. Make sure Windows Defender is closed. Press + R, type following command and press Enter key.

2. Now open Windows Defender and re-try to update. If it starts to update, finish that operation, install definitions and reboot.

FIX 2 – Install Latest Definitions Manually

Another thing you can try is to install latest virus and spyware definitions by downloading them manually using these links:

For Windows Defender installed on Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 = 32-bit edition | 64-bit edition

For Windows Defender installed on Windows 7, Vista, XP = 32-bit edition | 64-bit edition

FIX 3 – Run Microsoft Fix it

You can also run the official Microsoft Fix it for this problem, which helps to fix this problem and enable automatic updates for Windows Defender. Download it from here:

Reboot the machine after running Fix it.

In this way, you can refer these fixes and we hope they will solve the problem. In case if the issue still persists, please drop a comment and we’ll be happy to help you!

About Kapil Arya

Kapil is presently a Microsoft MVP in Windows IT Pro expertise. He is Windows Insider MVP as well, and author of ‘Windows Group Policy Troubleshooting’ book. In 2015, Microsoft India accomplished him as ‘Windows 10 Champion’. Being passionate Windows blogger, he loves to help others on fixing their system issues. You can follow him for news/updates and fixes for Windows.

7 Comments

It didn’t work..It says ”This aaction is only valid for products that are currently installed”…And the others didn’t help as well WTF is this problem? Is this why we pay microsoft?

^^ Seems like you’ve installed another third-party antivirus and its registry keys are causing issue. Check the following hive and remove its registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Reboot, and retry fixes.

thanks this really helpfull

Uninstall and then reinstall. Take 5 mins and worked for me.

i’am steal error code : 0x80073b01 and if i Uninstall Windows Defender it can’t be??

Starting ‘Windows Defender Network Inspection Service’ (it was set to Manual in Services) fixed the issue for me.

^^ Thanks for sharing this Topaz 😊

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Why didn’t Windows Defender recognize spyware on my computer?

A reader tells us that he uses Windows Defender to scan his computer for adware and spyware every other day. So far it has reported finding no problems.

However, he writes, he also scans his computer with two other antispyware programs — Ad Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy. Both have reported that he has adware on his system. What gives?

The answer might lie in how Windows Defender and other antispyware products actually define spyware. For example, Windows Defender doesn’t detect cookies. Why? Because many cookies are used for legitimate purposes and Microsoft believes that the appropriate place to manage cookies is through your Web browser.

This is a complicated issue, because new forms of spyware are developed every day, and some components of legitimate programs can meet criteria for spyware, if a program defines spyware broadly.

If you’re interested in how we define spyware, take a look at How Windows Defender identifies spyware and Windows Defender antispyware cycle .

It might also be the case that the version of Windows Defender he is using hasn’t been updated lately. Windows Defender detects spyware by using what we call “definitions.”

These definitions need to be updated in order for Windows Defender to work correctly. Updating them is a snap if you have Automatic Updates in Microsoft Windows turned on, because Windows Defender works with Automatic Updates to automatically install the latest definitions.

To make sure that you have Automatic Updates turned on, click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance and Maintenance. Click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab and review the settings.

Instead of waiting for regularly scheduled updates from Windows Update, you can also tell Windows Defender to check for new definitions automatically before scheduled scans. Here’s how:

1. Open Windows Defender by clicking Start, clicking Programs, and then clicking Windows Defender.

2. Click Tools, and then click Options.

3. Under Automatic scanning, make sure the Automatically scan my computer (recommended) checkbox is selected.

4. Select the Check for updated definitions before scanning check box, and then click Save.

If you try these steps, but it still looks like Windows Defender has made a mistake, you can report a possible spyware problem to Microsoft .

Windows Defender is no longer in beta! The most recent version is available now at the Microsoft Download Center .