How to handle failed downloads "virus detected" on Windows 10

Martin Brinkmann
Nov 23, 2017
Windows, Windows 10
|
12

I tried to download a file recently on a Windows 10 Fall Creators Update system using Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox, and could not because all blocked the file download because of a virus that was detected during the security scan.

Chrome displayed "Failed - Virus detected", Microsoft Edge "[filename] contained a virus and was deleted", and Firefox simply "failed" in the user interface.

Windows Defender was the security program on the machine, and a quick check revealed that the built-in security tool was indeed responsible for blocking the file download on the machine.

I knew that this was a false positive, and the following paragraphs describe how I tried to get the file to download to the system.

First thing that I did was start Windows Defender Security Center to find out more about the threat.

Start the program with a tap on the Windows-key, type Windows Defender, and select the entry Windows Defender Security Center.

windows defender threat protection

Click on the Hamburger Icon in the top left corner to display menu names next to icons, and select Virus & threat detection from the menu.

Select scan history afterwards. Windows Defender may list there that there are not any current threats. This may be puzzling at first, but the security program lists only threats there that require user decisions.

Since the downloaded file was quarantined automatically, no user action is required which in turn means that there are not any current threats.

The list of quarantined threats is below. If you are lucky, you may see the virus that Windows Defender detected when it scanned the file download. The file name is not listed there however but the date may be sufficient to make an educated guess.

A click on the row displays options to restore the file or remove it, and to display details. Details displays the file name, but it may not be enough to identify the file, as Windows Defender may display a temporary name.

windows defender details

 

Remove deletes the file from the quarantine, restore on the other hand may restore it on the system so that you may access it.

The current version of Windows Defender Security Center has quite a few issues in this regard. I mentioned the lack of details already, but it is just one of the issues that you may run into.

Another is that you may only get old files listed  under quarantined threats. Windows Defender Security Center limits the threats to five on that page. While you can click on "see full history" to display all items that the security program quarantined, you will notice right away that the buttons to remove or restore files are missing there.

What you can try is clear the history, and retry the download. It happens that you get a failed download due to the detection of a virus, but no immediate listing under quarantined threats.

You have one option to deal with that:

  1. Turn off the protection for the time being, and download the file again. While it is usually not suggested to turn off the security tools of the system, you sometimes have no other recourse but to do so. Go to Virus & threat protection > Virus & threat protection settings to turn off the protective modules there.
  2. Add the file that you just downloaded to the list of exclusions (you cannot do so before it is downloaded), and turn the protective modules back on afterwards. You find the option on the Virus & threat protections settings page.

Closing Words

The whole process of unblocking files that you want to download that Windows Defender blocked is complicated and to a degree broken. Why are not there options to remove or restore files in the full history, why do I need to click multiple times to find out more about a threat, and why are not threats listed sometimes in the main interface where you can restore them?

Summary
How to handle failed downloads
Article Name
How to handle failed downloads "virus detected" on Windows 10
Description
Find out how to restore files you try to download on Windows 10 that are blocked because the installed antivirus solution detected a threat.
Author
Publisher
Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Dan Donx said on January 15, 2023 at 10:29 am
    Reply

    What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?

    Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.

    If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.

  2. Dexter said on January 15, 2023 at 11:14 am
    Reply

    5. Rufus
    6. Ventoy

    PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.

    1. cdr said on January 15, 2023 at 3:32 pm
      Reply

      I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.

  3. sv said on January 15, 2023 at 6:40 pm
    Reply

    bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.

    ps…. time travelling?
    written. Jan 15, 2023
    Updated • Jan 13, 2023

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on January 16, 2023 at 5:49 am
      Reply

      This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.

  4. Anonymous said on January 16, 2023 at 8:24 am
    Reply

    Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.

  5. basingstoke said on January 16, 2023 at 11:18 am
    Reply

    I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:

    1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)

    2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)

    3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””

    4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows

    5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss

    Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:

    6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now

    Have I missed any group off this list?

    1. Heinz Strunk said on September 19, 2023 at 3:57 pm
      Reply

      You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.

      Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.

  6. ilev said on August 24, 2023 at 7:34 pm
    Reply

    Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update

    1. EP said on August 24, 2023 at 9:21 pm
      Reply

      only from windows update though
      KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site

  7. Anonymous said on August 24, 2023 at 11:05 pm
    Reply

    1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.

    2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.

    3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.

    This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
    Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.

    Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.

  8. john said on August 24, 2023 at 11:17 pm
    Reply

    Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.

    1. John G. said on August 25, 2023 at 12:08 pm
      Reply

      Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.

  9. EP said on August 25, 2023 at 3:10 pm
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215

  10. EP said on August 29, 2023 at 7:32 pm
    Reply

    check out the following recent articles:

    Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
    https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/

    BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/

  11. Leonard Britvolli said on August 30, 2023 at 10:33 pm
    Reply

    While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.

  12. sembrador said on September 5, 2023 at 9:32 pm
    Reply

    My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.

  13. EP said on September 6, 2023 at 11:55 am
    Reply

    motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):

    https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277

  14. Raphael Benzo said on September 24, 2023 at 9:52 pm
    Reply

    I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
    Tank you for your help

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