The unofficial Shadow Defender Support Thread.

If I may, in addition to what has already been said and with which I agree in the field of hypotheses, in my opinion it seems to me that little or no information has been provided, but only an inexplicable disappearance of a program.

One might wonder if someone else uninstalled it themselves or even not believe it because it could even be an accidental laptop swap or an incorrect memory.
Obviously I say this without the slightest sense of offense, mind you, since this has also happened elsewhere and at this point anything can be, they are only hypotheses since we do not know anything else.

After all these further hypotheses and in the absence of any further addressing (he only said it wasn't Defender) one could "even" think of malware.

 

Well.

Please keep us informed of any related findings, there is a lot of curiosity about that issue! ;-)

 

Perhaps the Windows Event Viewer reports some strange occurrence during the period when Shadow Defender vanished?

 

@ stapp
I had this issue Shadow Defender most recent version went bye bye on 1 of my pc's on patch Tuesday, but the pc was stuck in shadow mode, and It would not come out of shadow mode. I hade to wipe the system

 

Unlikely, but perhaps in the realm of possibility?
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...emselves/18f50fa5-48a2-475b-9c37-f77e64ec622e
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...e/e5bb12e1-04b8-4f5b-a8e5-a8d44ae9a7b1?page=2

 

@Bob D
A very interesting post

Thanks for posting.

Patrick (sdmod)

 

The linked posts indicate that it also happened to other (although it doesn't seem many) users.
It would be interesting to know how those programs were installed, whether the PCs were corporate or not, etc., whether for the current user or for all users, but as often occurs there isn't much informations.
Positive side is that the issue seems solved with recent updates.
Anyway, thanks from me too.

 

Today I began an update of Windows 11 to version 24H2, in a compatible laptop, using an ISO customized by Rufus.

While checking for compatibility, the installer reported that Shadow Defender was not compatible and should be uninstalled. To complete the uninstall, a reboot was necessary.

I will try to install SD after the update is completed. I´m not optimistic.

Edit

I tried after the update completed successfully. Windows blocks the install because the app causes security or performance problems, not specified.

 

@Robin A.

You could try turning off fast startup also know as Hiberboot, hybrid boot, or hybrid shutdown

'Fast startup is turned on by default in Windows 8/10. When it is turned on, Windows will take hibernation instead of shut down, so after reboot all changes will remain. To discard all changes made in shadow mode after shut down, please disable fast startup'

System Requirements for Shadow Defender

Windows 11

Windows 10

Windows 8, 8.1

Windows 7 SP1 with KB3033929 installed

Windows Vista SP2 with KB2763674 installed

Windows 2003

Windows XP

Patrick

 

Update about SD and Windows 11 24H2

I did an in-place upgrade to Windows 11 24H2. SD was not detected as incompatible during the upgrade, and it´s working normally after it.

Some details:

2012 Dell laptop, not compatible with Windows 11, upgrade from Windows 10 22H2 to Windows 11 24H2.

I used the "setup with parameters" method, as described here (and elsewhere):
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/cant-upgrade-from-23h2-to-24h2.29189/post-507879

SD v. 1.5.0.726, was installed in Windows 10, working normally after the upgrade.

 

@Robin A. I'm glad that you've had success installing Shadow Defender.
I've installed Shadow Defender on most Windows operating systems over the years (I have most versions) and unless there were radical, fundamental, changes to the Windows Operating system itself, I expect it to continue being useful for many years.
When using Windows, I am never without Shadow Defender and it has saved my neck on countless occasions when in ordinary circumstances my system would have been mangled.. It is very robust.
I use Shadow Defender in conjunction with Sandboxie and pre-installed portable browsers and plugins setup to my taste which I sandbox (within Shadow mode) as and when I need them. I just empty the sandbox when I'm finished with that browser 'session'. When I choose to reboot or (for example) if the system rebooted on it's own (as Windows occasionally does) everything is there ready and fresh without the need to reconfigure my browser or do a fresh 'install'.
Within that 'template' (in Shadow Mode) I run Malwarebytes ('on demand' as I need it) to examine any new files that I am considering bringing in permanently to my PC
I tend to close the browser (within Shadow Mode) after use and empty my sandbox, knowing that within that Shadow Mode session I can easily run the Browser again and re-sandbox right clicking the browser executable file, 'run sandboxed'.
That is my way.
I do my system 'housework' (defrag etc) outside Shadow Mode. I keep a up to date (or as much as possible). My backup is cloned backup of my entire system and saved full drive images with my working 'template' pre installed on both.
I know that other members probably have better ways of using Shadow Defender but that's how my gradual evolution has happened and I'm comfortable with the results.
I am writing this to you today using portable Firefox portable 52.9.0 (32-bit) browser (setup with my own choice of plugins/blockers and 'about config' configurations etc) on an XP service pack 3 system using my 'template'.

Patrick (sdmod)

 

Shadow Defender is been Stellar as most everyone who relies on it for years already knows.

It works perfect here on Windows 11 w/o issue whatsoever on 23H2 HOWEVER i yet to upgrade to the recent 24H2 and am a little skeptical given it's reported to NOT ALLOWED on that latest Windows 11 Upgrade.

I am actively pouring over/studying the available workarounds and those clean Geeks who are very sharp at finding methods to circumvent the ROADBLOCK that MS is equipped that Upgrade with preventing this very useful program from operating as intended.

Thank You @Robin A. on your positive result

Shame on MS

 

I have found a problem with the method described above (setup with parameteres): after the in-place upgrade, it´s not possible to update vía Windows Update. I have tried many times, unsuccessfully.

 

I made further tests using the "setup with parameters" method. I used the ISO built by Media Creation Tool. The process reported incompatibility of SD with Windows Sever 2025, asked for it to be uninstalled.

The difference with my first result was the ISO used. In the first test, I (inadvertently) used a UFD built and customized by Rufus, so I in effect combined the Rufus and setup with parameters methods. The result, as stated above, was a successful install without uninstalling SD, but a non-updateable installation via Windows Update.

My conclusion so far is that SD is incompatible with 24H2.

 

KB5044273 in Windows 10 blocks the installation of Shadow Defender, warning that it is incompatible. If you install SD first and then install KB5044273, this problem does not occur, SD works fine.
It's sad that there is no solution for Win11 24H2

 

Today (October 10) Rufus 4.6 (beta) became available. Also a new ISO for Windows 11 24H2, build 2033, is available from Media Creation Tool.

I created a UFD customized by Rufus 4.6 beta, using the ISO 2033, and used it to do in-place upgrades of two laptops. One is compatible with Windows 11, the other is not. Both had SD installed before the upgrade.

The upgrade was successful in both cases, and SD works well after it. No incompatibility message appeared during the upgrades.

 

The setup file is just 7z archive

You can extract it to

Code:

Setup\Setup.exe
Setup\Setup_x64.exe
Setup\Setup_x86.exe

And then extract Setup_x64.exe and run Defender.exe

 

Thanks for that info Robin! Which 2 version(s) of Windows did you upgrade from? Do I understand correctly that using Rufus for the upgrades allowed you to retain SD (and other apps as well?) from those prior versions of Windows?

 

Dell 2012 laptop, not compatible with Windows 11, was upgraded from Windows 10 Pro 22H2.

ThinkPad AMD 2019, compatible, was upgraded from Windows 11 Pro 23H2. When this laptop was upgraded directly from the ISO, the installer asked for SD to be uninstalled to continue.

Yes, SD and the other apps were retained. This is the default option.

 

That is good news, but it remains to be seen if subsequent 24H2 updates will refuse to install unless SD is removed.

 

On a friends freshly installed Windows 11 24H2. Shadow Defender outright wouldn't install, which is a shame as its a great program but I doubt it'll be updated.

 

There are no workarounds for installing SD on a freshly installed 24H2, nor is there any hope of upgrading SD

 

I haven't received 24H2 yet, but I think all good things won't last forever, unfortunately. Reflect has become so fast that it can replace SD. It is a costly replacement though...

 

SD can´t be installed on Windows 10, either. But they are still selling it in the website...