Windows Security - Protection History

Current status of "Protection history"...

I have not found this setting yet. This may or may not have something to do with the Blink based Edge web browser and its built-in experimental feature "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen PUA support" as explained by Windows Latest. Apart from regular Edge, I also have Edge Beta version 79.0.309.40 (Official build) beta (64-bit) installed. I am running Windows insider build 19035.1000 right now.

I can see now that this feature has been moved out of experimental state into regular feature set...

So that explains that. But I still don't see where I would find the "setting to block potentially unwanted apps"? Perhaps I can no longer find it in "Windows Security", and perhaps not in my build of Windows 10? It's understandable that nothing is understandable, and that whatever was a fact yesterday is no longer so today, given the pace at which technology is marching forward.

If at all possible, I would still like to see what it is that Windows is complaining about, what this message was pertaining to.

It should be noted that Edge Beta (based on Blink) is not part of and not delivered with Windows 10 insider builds. I have installed it separately. Although "Windows Defender SmartScreen" is available in regular Edge as well (version 44.19035.1.0).

Whoa! Hold on... I see a couple of things wrong here at a few different levels.

Command line vs. GUI: Using PowerShell to change settings in Windows Security?
So you're telling me that there is no graphical way of "setting to block potentially unwanted apps" in "Windows Security"? Even though the message is coming right from the GUI of "Windows Security"? In other words, I have to use "PowerShell" to accomplish the task? Fancy! Now, how many normal/regular Windows users know what PowerShell is or how to use it with confidence?...

@Micrsooft: Is this some inside joke that I'm not getting? If you as a programmer present such a message graphically in the context of "Windows Security" where you rant about some setting for "unwanted apps" being turned off, then I expect you to graphically present the option to remedy that problem. Albeit there is a contextual "Actions" drop-down menu, but it has no "off" option as presented in the message, and there is no "on" option (as implicated by the message). So even if these actionable commands so to speak do remedy the problem (I haven't actually tried it), this is not the way to interact or communicate well with the user. There needs to be an option to flip this setting on or off right there in the GUI of "Windows Security", instead of issuing some PowerShell command in the background.

Truths about the state of things in Windows Security and Windows
Let's try to establish some truths about what is and what isn't true about Windows Security. I invite you to correct me if I'm wrong at any point.

• "setting to block potentially unwanted apps" is equal to "PUAProtection".
  
• "PUAProtection" is equal to "SmartScreen".
  
• "Microsoft Defender" is equal to "Windows Defender Security Center".
  
• "Windows Defender Security Center" is equal to "Windows Security".
  
• "PUAProtection" is disabled by default.
  
• "PUAProtection"/"SmartScreen" cannot be changed from within "Microsoft Defender"/"Windows Defender"/"Windows Security".

Windows Defender Security Center vs. Windows Security
Here are a couple of things that are not matching in my version of Windows 10 and "Windows Security" with the linked article on Windows Central and "Windows Defender Security Center". Today is 2019-12-06, and that article was published 2018-08-20.

• There is no "Threat history" under "Virus & threat protection". I can see why. It would seem redundant to say the same thing twice: "Threat history" and "Protection history". (Pun! Protection is history!)
• There are no "Quarantined threats" under "Virus & threat protection". This is now "Allowed threats". I can see why: "Allowed" is simple English.
  

So to sum this up...

Question: Where is this "setting to block potentially unwanted apps"?

Answer: It's not where you think it is or where it should be (where it appears: "Windows Security"). It's in PowerShell... 🙄

Command syntax:

Set-MpPreference -PUAProtection ?

Replace ? with 0 before issuing the command to change the setting to Disabled, 1 to change the setting to Enabled or 2 to change the setting to Audit mode.

Follow-up Question: Where do I go to find out what the current setting is without changing it?

Follow-up Answer: You will find the current setting in... well, not in Windows Security... but in PowerShell... 👌😜

Command syntax:

Get-MpPreference | select PUAProtection

Issue this command as is to display the current setting, where 0 means Disabled, 1 means Enabled and 2 means Audit mode is enabled.

I still don't understand why I was presented with this message in the first place?!...

I checked my current setting and it's 0 (as can be seen from the screenshots above), and from the looks of it "PUAProtection" is disabled. OK, I did install a new Widnows 10 build and a couple of updates. But still! It is disabled now and it surely was disabled back then, and I did not change these settings back then and I did not change them now either.

Given that "PUAProtection" is disabled by default, per Windows Central article above and per my own assessment, what is Windows Security and Windows yelling at me for?... 🙄

Also, given that "PUAProtection" is disabled by default and that I have not changed this setting as of yet, why is Windows not yelling about it now?... You can see the screenshot in my first reply. It yelled at me about it then, but is no longer doing that. Why not? What changed?

My gut tells me that it's Windows itself that changed something in the settings right before installing the new build or the new security update, and it was telling me that my device may not be safe in the meantime while it installs whatever it had to install. Temporarily disabling security in order to make a change that affects security? My wild guess! I will most likely never know for sure what it was really doing or why that message popped up.

It may have been caused by an EXE file I downloaded from the web. I just remembered clicking on a "Run anyway" button when I tried to run the EXE file. I don't recall exactly what EXE file this was, but it may have been Waterfox Classic 2019.10 Setup.exe or gimp-2.10.14-setup.exe. These are the ones I downloaded recently.

Example dialog box for illustrative purpose...

Not sure how this broke the settings for "PUA"... 🤷‍♂️

OK, I found a graphical way to change the "PUA" setting. It can be found by visiting Windows Security, "App & browser protection" and then "Reputation-based protection". Like so many other things in the world today, we just need to find a reliable source for information, and be careful how we use the information we find on the web. The PowerShell method still works, but that's more interesting for administrators. From end-user perspective, "Windows Security" is all they really need to make changes to their system and observe current settings.