"Windows Defender Backup" rule not working

[lmacri]

On 15/06/2023 at 08:29, mogli said:

The new "Windows Defender Backup" rule doesn't delete anything here (Windows 11), any ideas?
(That's kind of expected as the folder should have a strong anti-tampering protection.)

Hi mogli:

I just updated to CCleaner Free Portable v6.15.10623 today and noticed that Custom Clean no longer has a checkbox for Windows Defender Backup on the Windows tab under "System".  Compare this with the third image in my 26-Jun-2023 post <above> of the CCleaner v6.13.10517 interface.

There a Windows Defender checkbox on the Applications tab under "Utilities" but I don't know if this Windows Defender checkbox is new or if I just never noticed it before.  I have no idea what files it is supposed to clean because if if I enable that option and click Analyze it doesn't find anything to remove (note that I use Microsoft Defender as my antivirus).  Note that the second image in my 26-Jun-2023 post <above> shows I can use Windows 10's  built-in Disk Cleanup to clean non-essential Microsoft Defender files if I wish, and Disk Cleanup shows I currently have ~ 9.0 MB of Microsoft Defender files that could be removed that aren't being detected by CCleaner v6.15.

If someone can't provide further insight I'll just leave that Windows Defender option unchecked. 

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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v116.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.0.277-1.0.2114 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * CCleaner Free Portable v6.15.10623

[Nergal]

[Windows Defender]
ID=2132
LangSecRef=3024
Detect=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender
DetectFile=%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft AntiSpyware\GIANTAntiSpywareMain.exe
Default=False
FileKey1=%CommonAppData%\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History\Results\Quick|*.*
FileKey2=%CommonAppData%\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History\Results\Resource|*.*
FileKey3=%CommonAppData%\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Support|*.log
FileKey4=%CommonAppData%\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History\Service|*.log
FileKey5=%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft AntiSpyware|errors.log;tracksEraser.log;cleaner.log
SpecialKey1=N_WINDOWS_DEFENDER_QUARANTINE

It should be noted that I don't think I have any of these folders  I have some of these folders but they don't open when i click. They say they're empty but I can't open not even as elevated UAC. I have Defender as my default and also have the defender that comes with Office 365

ok i opened them in elevated cmd prompt and they do have files. ccleaner is NOT cleaning these locations, possibly for the same reason they won't open in explorer

[Wisewiz]

Thank you, @lmacri, for noticing those things. They'd both escaped my notice. And thank you, @Nergal, for that information. A fruitful thread, this.

[Nergal]

I should note "controlled folder access" is turned off in defender settings.

[nukecad]

11 hours ago, lmacri said:

If someone can't provide further insight I'll just leave that Windows Defender option unchecked.

In my opinion "Windows Defender Backup" should never have been included in the first place, they are required 'just-in-case' files.
That's why they are protected and CCleaner wasn't able to clean them anyway,

As I recall the "Windows Defender" in "Utilities" clears out the Defender scan logs, (At least it used to, for me it doesn't seem to do anything at the moment).
If you clear out those logs then Defender thinks it has never been run, and wants/does a scan so that it has at least one scan log.