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We all know that Windows 8 has an inbuilt antivirus named as Windows Defender. However in Windows 8 there is no direct link to open Windows Defender, like we open say, Explorer. So if you want to do a quick scan, you have to first search for Windows Defender, open the program and then run the scans.
Add Windows Defender features to Context Menu
In this article, we're going to tell how you can add some of the important features of Windows Defender to the desktop right-click context menu using Registry Editor., This will allow you to directly access the Windows Defender features.
To do so:
1. Press Windows Key + R combination, type put Regedt32.exe in Run dialog box and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Add Windows Defender to context menu and create a cascading menu
2. Navigate to the following location:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ DesktopBackground \ Shell \ WindowsDefender
3. In the right pane, create three strings in with corresponding data:
Icon : %ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\EppManifest.dll
SubCommands: WD-Settings;WD-Update;WD-Update-QS;WD-QuickScan;WD-FullScan
MUIVerb : Windows Defender
Add Settings option
4. Now go to the following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ CommandStore \ shell \ WD-Settings
5. In the right pane, use the corresponding data for the strings (If you don't find any string, create one):
Default: Settings
HasLUAShield
Icon : %ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\EppManifest.dll
6. Create a sub key command in the left pane under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ CommandStore \ shell \ WD-Settings.
Insert the following data for Default string in the right pane:
“C:\\Program Files\\Windows Defender\\MSASCui.exe\” -Settings
Add Update option
7. Now go here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ CommandStore \ shell \ WD-Update
Put the following data:
Default : Update
Icon : %ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\EppManifest.dll
8. Next, create a sub key command under in left pane under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ CommandStore \ shell \ WD-Update. (Similar to step 6).
Put the following data for Default string in the right pane:
“C:\\Program Files\\Windows Defender\\MSASCui.exe\” -Update
Add Update and Quick Scan option
9. Next, move here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ CommandStore \ shell \ WD-Update-QS
Put the following data:
Default: Update and Quick Scan
Icon : %ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\EppManifest.dll
10. Create a sub key command under in left pane under (Similar to step 6):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \CommandStore \shell \WD-Update-QS
Put the following data for Default string in the right pane:
“C:\\Program Files\\Windows Defender\\MSASCui.exe\” -UpdateAndQuickScan
Add Quick Scan option
11. Now its time for the following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \CommandStore \shell \WD-QuickScan
Use the following data:
Default - Quick Scan
Icon - %ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\EppManifest.dll
12. Create a sub key command under in left pane under (Similar to step 6).
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion\ Explorer \CommandStore \shell \WD-QuickScan
Put the following data for Default string in the right pane:
“C:\\Program Files\\Windows Defender\\MSASCui.exe\” -QuickScan
Add Full Scan option
13. Finally, navigate here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \CommandStore \shell \WD-FullScan
Use the following data:
Default : Full Scan
Icon : %ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\EppManifest.dll
14. Create a sub key command under in left pane under (Similar to step 6):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \CommandStore \shell \WD-FullScan.
Put the following data for Default string in the right pane:
“C:\\Program Files\\Windows Defender\\MSASCui.exe\” -FullScan
You can now go to your Desktop,and check the right-click context menu. It should be similar to shown in first image of this article. The benefit of manual method is that you can add only those options which you need.
NOTE: If you do not want to do this work, I have created a registry fix which will let you add or remove these entries easily. You can download it by clicking HERE. you can also Add Windows Defender features to Context Menu using our Ultimate Windows Tweaker 3.
Hope this will make life a bit easy for you while using Windows Defender in Windows 8.
