In this article, we guide you to How to Enable PUP or PUA Protection in Windows Defender? Those of you who don’t know, PUP stands for Potentially Unwanted Program. Similiarly PUA stands for Potentially Unwanted Application. Microsoft has added several great features inside Windows Defender in recent years which make it a worth tool for our system protection. Some of the great features Microsoft team adds in it are System Guard, Network Protection etc. Windows Defender of Windows Enterprise edition has more feature when we compare it with Windows Home Edition. However, Windows home edition has also a list of great windows defender features.
What is meant by Potentially Unwanted Program or Potentially Unwanted Application?
Okay, let talk about Potentially Unwanted Program or Potentially Unwanted Application first. PUP are such type of programs that are not necessary while we install a software bundle. Basically, intruders wraps the PUP inside the software bundles via which they get access to your system in some way. So, when you install those bundles those PUPs will also get a space in your system. Therefore, Windows Defender developers implements a feature called PUP protection via which they can stop such intruding. PUP or PUA protection activates automatically at two phase. The first a program download completes and store in our Hard Drive. The second phase is when we install a program.
So, lets check out how to turn this feature on in your windows defender Package
How to Enable PUP Protection in Windows Defender? (Guide)
Right now, PUP or PUA protection feature is given only in Windows 10. Horeover, one can enable this feature via Windows PowerShell or Registry Editor. So, lets take a look at both the method.
How to Enable PUP or PUA Protection in Windows Defender Via Windows PowerShell?
To enable PUP Protection via PowerShell, First, Open the Windows PowerShell in Administrator Mode. Then, the command given below.
Set-MpPreference -PUAProtection 1
In the above command 1 stands for ON. It means that you have enabled the Potentially Unwanted Application Protection.
How to Enable PUP or PUA Protection in Windows Defender Via Registry Editor?
Open the Registry Editor by typing Regedit.exe in the search panel of start menu.
Now, Go to the Location given below.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender
Here, You have to create a DWORD value and name it as PUAProtection.
Now, Open the PUAProtection value by double clicking on it and set its value to 1.
So, these are the two methods via which you can enable the PUP or PUA protection in Windows Defender. Moreover, these changes will take into effect when you turn off and on the real time protection. Additionally, you could also update your windows defender. Finally, Restart your windows.
Read also: How to Add Microsoft Windows Defender in Google Chrome Browser?