Add Defender to 'All Programs' in Start Menu?

[JorgeA]

I'm working with my first fulltime Windows 7 system, and it's become an annoyance that here, unlike in Vista, Windows Defender does not appear in the Start Menu under All Programs. Seems like Microsoft has buried it -- you kinda just have to know (somehow) that it's there so that you can type "def" in the Start Search box.

Is there any way to get Windows Defender to show up in All Programs? I would rather not create a Desktop icon or pin it to the Taskbar: for my taste, there's quite enough permanent stuff in those places already. And if possible, I would prefer not to pin it permanently to the Start Menu, either. I just want it to be listed like a regular application alongside the others in All Programs (but it's OK if it shows up in the Start Menu as a frequently used program).

BTW, this failure to list Windows Defender in All Programs -- doesn't it make a mockery of the name of that feature? It's not like it's some obscure process that only the people who wrote Windows ever heard of.

--JorgeA

[bphlpt]

It's not in the All Programs list because it's in the control panel, along with Windows Firewall, Internet Options, etc, etc. It's become more a "part" of Windows rather than an application or an addon program.

Cheers and Regards

[JorgeA]

Are you sure about that? I just tried to get to Windows Defender via the Control Panel, and couldn't find it.

In Vista, Defender was already available via Control Panel: click Start --> Control Panel --> Security --> Windows Defender. But when I follow the same route in Windows 7, no "Windows Defender" option shows up. At least, none that's labeled that way.

It does show up if I switch the Control Panel view from "Category" to icons, but why should a user have to change the way they approach the Control Panel just to find a particular item in it? (Especially since the default view is Category, where you don't see Defender or any way to get to it.) It doesn't make sense, as it would mean that the different view types are not equivalent routes to the same places. Which Category does Defender come under? (It's not in System and Security.)

Sorry if I sound frustrated. It's not you of course, it's Windows 7. I'm keeping that Vista listing under my avatar over there on the left.

--JorgeA

Edited December 30, 2012 by JorgeA

[bphlpt]

Sorry, I don't know, and really don't care, since I don't use categories but only icons, I think it's much quicker to find things that way and usually saves a click or two, and don't use Windows Defender anyway. But you're right. I couldn't find it under categories either, and you should be able to. I was mainly saying why I think it is no longer located under "All Programs".

Cheers and Regards