Hello All!!

Upon booting, the "castle wall" does NOT appear in the tray. If I click on the shortcut to WinDef, then it appears.

Am I "unprotected" prior to opening the program and the icon appears in the tray? I have "real time" enabled and "check for updates" before scanning if that has anything to do with it.

Perhaps something in "msconfig" as I have very few items checked there.

Thanks and wishing a good day to all!!

Yes, you are protected. You can confirm in Task Manager.

Open Defender and from the main screen go to Tools > Options. At the bottom of the "Real-time protection options", there is an option to "Choose when the Windows Defender icon appears in the notification area".

There are 2 options:
1. "Only if Defender detects an action to take" (default setting)
2. "Always" - which will show the icon in the toolbar with a green check while Defender is running.

The real issue is that of the protection...TY

The #2 option(Always) is checked.

The icon in the tray only appears after the icon on the desktop is clicked and the program is opened. Then, it remains in the tray until a re-boot.

Is "MsMpEng.exe what should be in Task Mgr.??...If so, it is there whether the icon is in the tray or not. Am I correct to assume that this is the true indication that the protection is active???

MsMpEng.exe is a Defender process and MSASCui.exe is the actual startup file.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/M....exe-14484.html

If you see these, you are protected.

Ah HA!!!!

When MSASCui.exe is included in the Start-Up, then it behaves as you described it should.... I did NOT have it included in the Start-Up menu until now. TY TY TY

Wonder if I have been being protected all this while?...No worries.mon.....lol Have NOT been infected in some time....See, now I said it......