March 2015 antimalware platform update for Windows Defender in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8

This antimalware platform update for Windows Defender updates Windows Defender services, drivers, and UIs. This update has�prerequisites.

Microsoft regularly releases antimalware platform updates to guarantee consistency in protection, performance, robustness, and usability in a malware landscape that is constantly changing.

This antimalware platform update contains the following improvements:�

• Hardening improvements to the antimalware platform
• Manageability improvements to the antimalware platform

This update also includes a deprecation of the DisableGenericReports registry entry under the following registry subkey:

This deprecation should not affect existing telemetry options. You may want to review Windows Defender settings to make sure that they reflect your desired options.

See the detail to review whether telemetry is being sent by Windows Defender.

See the detail to review how file samples are sent by Windows Defender.

Method 1: Windows Update

This update is available from Windows Update.

Method 2: Microsoft Download Center

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Note The update for Windows RT 8.1 or Windows RT can be obtained only from Windows Update.

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Prerequisites

To apply this update, you must install update 2919355 in Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1.

Registry information

To apply this update, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

Restart requirement

You may have to restart the computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

This update replaces the update that is described in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article�2976536.

Review whether telemetry is being sent by Windows Defender

1. Open Windows Defender UI.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. Select the MAPS section.
4. Enable the�I do not want to join MAPS option to opt out of sending telemetry.

Review how file samples are sent by Windows Defender

1. Open Windows Defender UI.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. Select the Advanced section.
4. Enable the Send file samples automatically when further analysis is required option to opt out of automatically sending file samples.

File information

The global version of this update installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.

Windows RT and Windows 8 file information

For Windows RT

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows 8

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows 8

Windows RT 8.1 and Windows 8.1 file information

For Windows RT 8.1

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows 8.1

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows 8.1

See the terminology that Microsoft uses to describe software updates.