Firefox virus warning is triggered by old mitigated Windows Defender detection history
Having the exact same issue as [this one] and [this one].
In Firefox, a virus warning is persistently being triggered by an old threat that was mitigated (deleted) long ago, but is still showing up in [Windows Defender Detection History].
I believe the problem would be solved if Firefox would ignore the detection history, for threats that have been mitigated.
One option would be to turn Firefox warnings off altogether, and leave everything to Windows Defender. I don't want to do that just yet.
I did try to clear that history, to no avail. Here's what I tried.
- [Clearing the event log] - [a support tip from Microsoft] - Is there some process holding on to that directory? ProcessExplorer nor Resource Manager find it, not by DetectionHistory nor by its handle, as per [this post] and [this one] - Navigating in Windows Explorer, I can't get any further than "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\scans". That is, I can't get to "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History\Service\DetectionHistoryhistory". - Trying [these tips] did not help either. Even when I'm user `nt authority\system` who owns that history file, I can't delete it. Access denied always. Running `chkdsk` with the `/sdcleanup` option did remove other, empty subdirectories in `...\DetectionHistory`, but not `.\13\68295B79-72DC-433F-88C7-42E23422F5D8`. - [this] limits the time to keep the detection history. I set it to 1 day, checked two days later, it was still there.
I'm on Windows 10 Pro v 22H2 build 19045.3324, with Firefox version 116.0.2 (64-bits).
Screenshot of warning and detection history attached.
(edited to fix the links - do not use the '|' but use a space) - c
Modified by cor-el
All Replies (2)
Hey there! It sounds like you're facing an issue where an old virus threat that was already taken care of is still triggering warnings in Firefox due to the Windows Defender Detection History. To address this, you might want to consider a couple of steps. First, you could try clearing your Windows Defender Detection History again, making sure to follow the steps you've mentioned. If that doesn't work, you might want to check if there's any ongoing process holding onto that specific directory in your system. If possible, restart your computer and try deleting the file again. Also, keep in mind that sometimes Windows permissions can be tricky, so make sure you have the necessary permissions to delete the file. If all else fails, you could explore setting Firefox warnings to be handled solely by Windows Defender, but I understand if you'd rather not go that route.
Hi @suram080, thanks, but as you might have gathered from my original post, I've already tried everything I listed, which is the same as what you suggested. And none of it helped.
Also, thanks to "c" for fixing the links.