This Windows 10 trick gives your PC built-in ransomware protection

By Arif Bacchus Published June 10, 2021

Ransomware is quite dangerous, as hackers use it to hold your important files hostage until you pay them a high price. There are many ways to protect yourself against this, but it turns out that Windows 10 has a trick that can allow you to turn on built-in ransomware protection in just a few clicks.

The trick involves just going to your Windows 10 Start Menu and searching for “ransomware protection,” as discovered by PCGamesSN. This will then prompt you to open up the Ransomware protection page in Windows Security. From here, you’re able to toggle a switch for Controlled folder access.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The switch isn’t turned on by default, so you’ll need to turn it on manually if you’re interested in enabling the protection. Microsoft also explains on the settings page that this feature will protect your files, folders, and memory areas on your device from unauthorized changes by unfriendly applications.

Recommended Videos

In the event that your PC ends up picking up ransomware from a piece of software or a download, Windows Security will alert you. You’ll be able to take an action accordingly.

The folks behind PC Security Channel on YouTube actually showcased this in action, and it works decently, protecting the folders covered by the Windows 10 feature. However, it is important to note that the feature doesn’t always block the ransomware from running itself. It rather blocks the side-effects of it, and other unknown software, from accessing the protected folders you can define through controlled folder access.

In PC Security Channel tests, you can see that some ransomware was able to run, but the files were still accessible to the user after the fact. Some games also might behave oddly if the feature is turned on, too, but certain apps can be exempted at your own discretion.

This all builds on the virus and other threat protection that is built into Windows 10 with Windows Defender. There’s also ransomware protection with OneDrive, too, which lets you back up your important files to the cloud in the event your PC ends up hacked.

Of course, there are free and paid alternatives that can provide protection. We have a list of the best free antivirus software right here.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…

Computing

Windows 11 24H2 may crash your PC if you have a certain SSD

The blue screen of death in Windows.

Microsoft's Windows 11 2024 Update, more commonly referred to as 24H2, is here, but it's not without issues. Reports from disgruntled users have flooded various forums, talking about constant blue screens of death (BSOD) that have appeared since they updated to the latest version of Windows. Although Microsoft has yet to officially acknowledge the problem, the users seem to have pinpointed the cause of it, and even found a workaround.

So far, it looks like these crashes are fairly limited in scope, as they seem to happen if you have one of a few Western Digital SSD models. Other SSD vendors appear unaffected so far. As reported on the WD Community Forums, users are getting BSODs with the error "critical process has died" ever since they updated to the 24H2 update.

Computing

Microsoft is fixing my biggest problem with Windows 11 on handhelds

Asus ROG Ally with the Windows lock screen.

We're finally starting to make some progress on the handheld experience of Windows 11. Although Windows 11 handhelds like the ROG Ally X are some of the best handheld gaming PCs you can buy, that's despite their use of Windows, not because of it. Now, the latest Windows 11 Insider preview (build 22631.4387) adds a feature that should make navigating the OS much easier on a handheld -- a keyboard built for gamepads.

Windows has included an onscreen keyboard for years, and updates over the last couple of years have even made it usable with touch inputs. On a handheld, however, there are two problems with the keyboard. You can't invoke it naturally -- you have to bind Windows + Ctrl + O to a hotkey -- and you can't use your controller to navigate it. With the new update, Microsoft is fixing that last point, at the very least.

Computing

Windows 11 is creating an ‘undeletable’ 8.63GB cache

The Surface Pro 11 on a white table in front of a window.

The recent Windows 11 24H2 update is reportedly flawed with a new issue where it creates 8.63GB of undeletable update cache. This cache is made during the update process and seems to remain on the system, despite attempts to remove it using traditional methods like Disk Cleanup, Storage Sense, or even manually deleting system folders like Windows.old.

The issue appears to be linked to checkpoint updates, a new feature in Windows 11 designed to streamline and shrink update sizes by downloading smaller patches rather than full updates.