It’s annoying to encounter a computer freezing issue and you may encounter it when installing Windows updates, playing games, connecting external hard drives, etc. Today, let’s talk about the “Microsoft Defender antivirus update freezing computer” issue.
Since September 14th, 2023, my computer has been freezing randomly. I’ve been debugging back and forth on what the issue could be.
How to fix the Microsoft Defender antivirus update freezing my computer Windows 10? If your PC fails to log in to the desktop, you should boot the PC to enter WinRE or Safe Mode and try these fixes.
To run Windows to Safe Mode, you can prepare a repair disk, set it as the first boot order in BIOS, and enter the setup interface. Next, click Repair your computer to enter WinRE. Go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart, and press F4 or F5 to enable Safe Mode.
For more details, refer to this post – How to Start/Boot Windows 11 in Safe Mode? (7 Ways).
Method 1: Remove All Non-Essentials Hardware Devices
Some non-essential peripherals, such as USB flash drives, external hard drives, cameras, or other connected devices, can cause the “Microsoft Defender antivirus update freezing computer Windows 11” issue. Try updating Windows after disconnecting non-essential peripherals to avoid problems. Also, make sure Bluetooth devices are turned off since they may cause problems.
Method 2: Reinstall Drivers
If your graphic drivers are outdated after updating the system, you need to apply compatible updates with the new system. So, you need to uninstall the graphics drivers and reinstall them. Here are the steps.
Step 1: You need to open Device Manager, then navigate to Display adapters.
Step 2: Right-click the device using the graphic driver, and select Uninstall.
Step 3: Wait for the process to complete.
Step 4: Click the Action tab, and select Scan for hardware changes.
Step 5: Then you can download the latest drivers directly from your manufacturer’s website.
Method 3: Uninstall Third-Party Antivirus
If you have installed Webroot, Bitdefender, or AVG, you can refer to the following posts to completely remove the third-party antivirus since it may be interfaced with Microsoft Defender.
- How to Uninstall Webroot on Windows/Mac? Follow the Guide!
- How to Uninstall Bitdefender on Windows/Mac/Android/iOS?
- How to Uninstall AVG on Windows and Mac | Can’t Uninstall AVG
Method 4: Uninstall Recently Installed Update for Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Microsoft Defender antivirus update freezing computer Windows 11 may occur if the security update for Microsoft Defender is incompatible or contains certain errors. Thus, you had better uninstall the recently installed update and restart your computer.
Step 1: Type control panel in the Search box to open it.
Step 2: Go to Programs > Uninstall a program > View installed updates.
Step 3: Then, find the recently installed update and right-click it to choose Uninstall. Then, follow the on-screen instructions to finish it.
Method 5: Reinstall Your Windows 11/10
If none of the above methods work, you may consider reinstalling your operating system. Reinstalling will reformat the hard drive, so it is best to back up the important data before reinstalling. To keep significant data safe, you can use the best backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up your PC. It supports performing the data backup and recovery, cloning HDD to SSD, etc.
MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 1: Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker on your Lenovo laptop.
Step 2: Go to the Backup interface, you can see system partitions are selected as the backup source. If you need to back up files, click SOURCE > Folders and Files to select items you want to back up.
Step 3: You only need to click DESTINATION to choose a path to save the system image file. It’s highly recommended to choose an external hard drive as the destination.
Step 4: Click Back Up Now to start the backup task.
Then, after creating the backup, you can start to reinstall your Windows. Here is how to do that.
Step 1: Press the Windows and I keys together to open the Settings application.
Step 2: Go to the System page, and click Recovery.
Step 3: Under the Recovery options part, click the Reset PC button.
Step 4: A window pops up and asks you to choose an option to continue.
- Keep my files: this can remove apps and settings but leave personal files on your PC.
- Remove everything: this can delete all of your apps, settings, and personal files.
To reinstall Windows 11 without losing data, you should select the first one. To perform a clean install of Windows 11, select the second option.
Step 5: You will get the following popup to ask you to decide whether to install Windows 11 via the cloud or locally. Select one based on your needs.
- Cloud download: this can download new Windows system files from Microsoft servers and it will use more than 4GB of data.
- Local reinstall: this uses the files already present on your local storage to reinstall Windows 11.
Step 6: You can see the current settings for resetting the PC in the new window. Click Next to continue. Windows lists down things that resetting will do. Just click the Reset button to start the reinstallation process. This will take a few minutes and wait patiently.
Final Words
In conclusion, this article has demonstrated reliable solutions to fix the “Microsoft Defender antivirus update freezing computer” issue. Try these ways. If you have any problem with MiniTool ShadowMaker, please contact us via [email protected] and we will reply to you as soon as possible.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Having been an editor at MiniTool since graduating college as an English major, Daisy specializes in writing about data backups, disk cloning, and file syncing as well as general computer knowledge and issues. In her free time, Daisy enjoys running and going with friends to the amusement park.