How To Solve Windows Defender Error Code 0x80070422?
Windows Defender is the built-in pc protection application for all versions of the Windows OS starting with Windows 7. If, for whatever reason, Windows Defender is disabled on your computer and isn't actively protecting it, all you need to do in order to enable Windows Defender and get it to start protecting your computer again is to launch Windows Defender & click on Start now in the Home tab. But, unfortunately, many Windows 10 customer have recently started reporting that when they do so, Windows Defender doesn't start and they instead see an error message containing windows defender error code 0x80070422 . the complete error message reads:
“The service couldn’t be started. The service can't be started, either because it's disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it.”
When an affected user sees this error message and clicks on Support information within the dialog, the error code for the problem is revealed to be error code 0x80070422. If you do not use any third-party computer security programs and Windows Defender – your last line of defense against threats – refuses to start up, your computer is left completely vulnerable, and that is a truly terrible thing.
This problem can be caused by anything from a corrupted Windows Defender registry key or the Windows Defender service being disabled to a third-party computer security program clashing with Windows Defender or corrupted Windows elements. Thankfully, though, there are just as many possible solutions to this problem as there are causes, and the following are some of the most effective ones:
Configure the Windows Defender service to start automatically
Press the Windows Logo key + R to open a Run
Type services.msc into the Run dialog and press Enter to launch the Services Manager.
Scroll down the list of services, locate the Windows Defender service and double-click on it to open its Properties.
Open the dropdown menu in front of Startup type: and click on Automatic to select it.
Click on Apply.
Click on OK.
Close the Services Manager.
Restart the pc .
Fix the issue using the Registry Editor
Press the Windows Logo key + R to open a Run
Type regedit into the Run dialog & press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
In the left pane of the Registry Editor, navigate to the following directory:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services
In the left pane of the Registry Editor, right-click on the registry key named WinDefend under Services, and click on on Permissions….
Click on Advanced and navigate to the Owner
Click on the name of your account under Change owner to: to highlight it, click on Apply and then on OK.
Back in the Permissions dialog, click on Administrators under Group or user names: to highlight it, click on the Allow checkbox in front of Full Control under Permissions for Administrators, click on Apply and then on OK.
In the left pane of the Registry Editor, click on the WinDefend registry key to have its contents displayed in the right pane.
In the right pane of the Registry Editor, locate and double-click on the registry value titled Start, replace whatever is in its Value data: field with 2 and click on OK.
