How to Enable or Disable Windows 8 SmartScreen Filter

[RedZot]

SmartScreen Filter is a new security module which is getting incorporated with several Microsoft programs, such as Internet Explorer or Windows Live Messenger. This new security feature prevents us save or run potentially dangerous files from Internet. Microsoft has integrated this filter in Windows 8 and the result is that when we come across any suspicious file in any way, our system will warn us about the same. It is very useful but many times we may need to disable it because we work with any file which appears suspicious however it is not. So if you come across such situations, you can follow these steps to enable to disable SmartScreen.

Windows SmartScreen is enabled by default and if you try to run a potentially dangerous application, we will see a warning message. In order to disable or enable Windows SmartScreen there are 3 different ways which are as follows.

From Control Panel:

• In order to disable SmartScreen filter from Control Panel , first open launch Control Panel from Start screen by typing control Panel or from My Computer > Control Panel in the ribbon.
• Now click on System and Security and then click Action Centre.
• Here on the left side you will an option named “Change Windows SmartScreen Settings” as shown in the image below.

• To disable this feature we have to select the last option “Don’t do anything”.

Using group policies:

If you have to disable or enable SmartScreen filter on several computers (on Domain) then you can make use of Group Policy. Note that Group Policy editor (gpedit.msc) is accessible only in Professional version of Windows 8 or higher. Here are the steps you need to go through for working with Group Policy:

• Computer Configuration> Administrative Templates> Windows Components> Windows Explorer.
• In the right panel we must find a policy called: Configure Windows SmartScreen.
• If you enable this policy will have access to three settings that are exactly the same that are listed if we access the settings for this feature through the control panel.

Using the Windows Registry.

This is the 3rd method. Windows SmartScreen behavior can also be controlled using the Windows registry. You can access Windows registry by typing "regedit" in the home screen or in Run Command (Win+R) and navigate to the following location.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ System

In the right pane create a new DWORD key (edit / new), which we shall call EnableSmartScreen. This supports three key values that correspond to the following control panel.
0 (zero) - Off, do nothing.
1 (one) - Warn before running unrecognized applications from the internet, but not require administrator approval.
2 - Require administrator approval before running unrecognized applications from internet

The changes take effect after reboot.

[salmanyosef]

What does this Smart Screen Filter actually does. I am not able to understand its benefit. Is it some kind of antivirus. And if this is enabled, do I need to install a antivirus also. Can I skip that. I want my system to work faster. And when I install antivirus it gets slower. Applications take time to load. The same thing happen to emails also. I do not want something which can keep on giving popup about each and every files in the pc. It must be able to bifurcate which is healthy and which file has infection. In this way we can avoid antivirus.

[sameer22]

It just a security feature. It is not a complete security suite due to which there can be issue if you skip antivirus installation. You can enable this to block installations. This tool just block malicious programs. So it is a kind of benefit. This tool actually works with Internet Explorer. Sometime you visit some site and download additional stuff like toolbar or addon. This application will block them if there is a security issue with them. You must always keep a good antivirus in your system. Update it on regular time interval to get maximum protection.