5 Ways to Error Code 0x800704ec When Running Windows Defender

What Is Error Code 0x800704ec?

The error code 0x80004ec is a Windows Defender error, occurring when you are turning on it. When this error occurs, you will see the warning message This program is blocked by group policy. For more information, contact your system administrator. (Error Code: 0x800704ec), as shown in the following picture:

Then you may wonder what may cause the Windows Defender error code 0x800704ec. As a matter of fact, there are many reasons causing the Windows error code 0x800704ec. For example:

• Third-party antivirus software.
• A corrupted Group policy.
• Damaged Registry files.

In general, the three reasons are the most common one to cause Windows Defender error 0x800704ec. Meanwhile, it also may be caused by other reasons.

Meanwhile, do you know how to fix error code 0x800704ec?

Thus, in the following section, we will walk you through 5 solutions to solve the error code 0x800407ec. If you have the same problem, try these solutions.

Solution 1. Enable Windows Defender Services

First of all, we will show you the first solution to error code 0x800704ec. To fix this Windows Defender error, try enabling Windows Defender Services firstly.

Step 1: Open Services Window

1. Press Windows key and R key together to open Run dialog box.
2. Type services.msc in the box and hit Enter to continue.

Step 2: Enable Windows Defender Services

1. In the popup window, find out all Windows Defender related services including the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Service, Windows Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service, Windows Defender Antivirus Service, Windows Defender Firewall, and Windows Defender Security Center Service.

2. Right-click these Windows Defender services one by one, and select Start to enable it.

When you have enabled all Windows Defender services, reboot your computer and run Windows Defender again to check whether the Windows Defender error code 0x800704ec is solved.

If this solution is not working, continue based on the following solutions.

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Solution 2. Uninstall or Disable Third-Party Antivirus Software

Here, we will show you the second solution to this Windows error code 0x800704ec. As we have mentioned in the above section, the error code 0x800704ec may be caused by the third-party antivirus software.

So, in order to solve the error code: 0x800704ec, try uninstalling or disabling the third-party antivirus software. Here, we demonstrate how to uninstall the third-party antivirus software.

Step 1: Open Control Panel

1. Type Control Panel in the search box of Windows 10 and choose the best-matched one.
2. Then open it.

Step 2: Uninstall the third-party antivirus software

1. In the pop-up window, click Uninstall a program under Programs to continue.
2. Choose the antivirus program and right-click it. Then choose Uninstall to continue.

When you have completed all steps, you can run Windows Defender again to check whether the error code 0x800704ec is solved.

Besides uninstalling the third-party antivirus software, you can also choose to disable it. Thus, you can click here to know more.

If this method is not working, please continue based on the following solutions.

Solution 3. Use Registry Editor

In this section, we will walk through the third method to fix the Windows Defender error 0x800704ec. In this method, try using Registry Editor to fix this issue.

Step 1: Open Registry Editor

1. Press Windows key and R key together to open Run dialog.
2. Type the regedit in the box and click OK to continue.

Step 2: Change Value data

1. In the Registry Editor window, navigate to Windows Defender folder based on the following path.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

2. On the right blank side, select the REG_SZ key and double-click it. Then change its value data to 0. Then click OK to continue.

When all steps are finished, you can reboot your computer and run Windows Defender again to check whether the error code 0x800704ec is solved.

Solution 4. Change the Settings of Group Policy

Here, we will demonstrate the fourth solution to the Windows Defender error code 0x800704ec. This Windows Defender error may occur when Windows Defender is blocked by the Group Policy. So in order to solve this problem, you can try changing the settings of Group Policy.

The following section will show you the detailed operation steps.

Step 1: Open Local Group Policy Editor

1. Press Windows key and R key together to open Run dialog.
2. Type gpedit.msc in the box and click OK to continue.

Step 2: Change the settings of Group Policy

1. In the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate to the Windows Defender Antivirus folder based on the following path.

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Defender Antivirus

2. On the right side, select the Turn off Windows Defender Antivirus and double-click it to continue.

3. In the pop-up window, select the Not Configured, then click Apply and OK to continue.

When you have finished all steps, you can reboot your computer and then run Windows Defender again to check whether the Windows error code 0x800704ec is solved.

If this method is still not working, continue according to the next partition.

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Solution 5. Optimize the System

In general, the damaged or corrupted system files may also lead to the error code 0x800704ec. So if you encounter this Windows Defender error, it is advisable to check and fix the corrupted system files by running System File Checker and DISM tool.

Here, we will show you the detailed steps.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt

1. Type command prompt in the search box of Windows 10 and choose the best-matched one.
2. Right-click it to choose Run as administrator to continue.

Step 2: Type the command

1. In the command line window, type the command sfc /scannow and hit Enter to continue.
2. The scanning process will take a few minutes. So, please do not close the command line window until you see the message verification 100% completed.

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When the process is finished, reboot your computer and run Windows Defender again to check whether this Windows Defender error is solved.

If you still encounter the issue error code: 0x800704ec, you may need to run some advanced commands to optimize your system and system files.

Then just input the following commands one by one. Please hit Enter after each command.

• DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth
• DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

When the whole process is finished, you can close the command line window and reboot your computer and run Windows Defender again to check whether the error code 0x800704ec is solved.

In general, after you have tried the above solution, the error code 0x800704ec can be solved. If none of the above solutions is working, you may need to reinstall the operating system to solve the Windows Defender error.

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I have encountered the error code 0x800704ec when running Windows Defender. But after reading this post, I successfully fixed it. Click to Tweet

Useful Suggestion

As is well known, the Windows Defender is a critical program of Windows since it can effectively protect your computer and files against virus attack. But from this post, you can learn that the Windows Defender may fail to work due to some reasons.

In addition, if the Windows Defender failed to work, your computer will be in high risk of danger since it would be easily attacked by the virus.

On the one hand, you may also encounter other problems besides the Windows Defender error 0x800704ec. So in order to protect your computer and data, you had better create a system image.

Thus, in order to create a system image, you can take advantage of a piece of professional backup software. Here, MiniTool ShadowMaker is strongly recommended.

MiniTool ShadowMaker is designed to back up the operating system, disk, partition, files and folders. And it is a piece of file sync software to sync files to two or more locations.

So, in order to back up the operating system, MiniTool ShadowMaker is the best choice. Just click the following button to get MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial.

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In the following section, we will show you how to back up the computer with the step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker

1. Download MiniTool ShadowMaker and install it on the computer.
2. Launch it.
3. Click Keep Trial to continue.
4. Choose Connect in This Computer to continue.

Step 2: Select backup source

1. After launching MiniTool ShadowMaker, please go to the Backup page.
2. Click Source module to continue.
3. In the pop-up window, choose Disks and Partitions.
4. Select the system disk and click OK to continue.

Step 3: Select the backup destination

1. Click the Destination module.
2. There are five available paths including the Administrator, Libraries, Computer, Network and Shared folders.
3. You can choose a destination to save the backup images and click OK to continue. It is recommended to choose an external hard drive.

Here, there are three important points where you should pay attention to.

• MiniTool ShadowMaker enables you to create an automatic backup. Just click Schedule to continue.
• MiniTool ShadowMaker offers three different backup schemes. The Incremental Backup is chosen by default. You can also change it through the Scheme button. 
• You can set some advanced backup parameters through Options.

Step 4: Start to back up the operating system

1. After you have selected the backup source and destination, you can click Back up Now to perform the task immediately.
2. You can also click Back up Later to delay the task and restart it in the Manage page.

In addition, you can also choose to create the bootable media which can be used to boot your computer and enter MiniTool Recovery Environment to do some recovery solutions.

When all steps are finished, you have successfully created a backup image. This way can effectively protect your computer even though the Windows Defender fails to work.

And if you encounter some other operating system, you can choose to restore your computer to a normal state with this system image.

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Now, you have learned how to protect your computer by creating system image. After you fixed error code 0x800704ec, try protecting your computer immediately.

MiniTool ShadowMaker is a magic tool which can help me to back up the operating system with ease so as to keep my computer safe.Click to Tweet

Bottom Line

To sum up, this post walked you through how to fix error code 0x80070ec with five solutions. If you encounter the error code 0x800704ec when running Windows Defender, try these solutions.

Besides, if you have any better solution to fix this Windows Defender error, you can share it on the comment zone.

If you encounter any problem when using MiniTool ShadowMaker, please feel free to contact us via the email [email protected] and we will reply to you as soon as possible.

Error Code 0x800704ec FAQ