CHAPTER 1 ■ INTRODUCING TROUBLESHOOTING IN WINDOWS 10

The Automatic Troubleshooters and Recovery Options

At the bottom of the Security and Maintenance panel are quick links for the Windows Automatic
Troubleshooters, which can fix some problems in the OS by resetting components back to their default state,
and the Recovery options, which include backup and reset controls for the PC. I will detail these features in
depth in Chapter 4 (where I will also cover disk defragmentation and cleanup) and Chapter 2, respectively.

Windows’ Security Systems

Windows 10 comes preinstalled on all systems with a variety of security systems, including antivirus
protection and a firewall. These systems are crucial to the safe and smooth operation of a PC, and so I want
to spend a little time showing you how they can be managed.

Windows Defender Anti-malware

Since Windows 8, Microsoft’s operating system has come with inbuilt antivirus software. This is called
Windows Defender and isn’t to be confused with the Windows Defender anti-spyware package you might
have been familiar with from Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. In Windows 10 (and with
Windows 8), this is a rebadged version of Microsoft’s Security Essentials antivirus and anti-malware package.
As packages go it is extremely lightweight, using almost no system resources and not slowing your PC.
It’s not as effective as some of the dedicated stand-alone packages though and will be disabled if you use one
from a third-party such as Eset (which is the package I use), Kaspersky, or Norton.
Windows Defender has two interfaces on a PC. Primarily it is controlled through the Settings app, and
you’ll find it under Update & security listed as Windows Defender, see Figure 1-7.

Figure 1-7. Windows Defender is easily controlled through the Settings app

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