When I was running updates on my Windows machines, I wondered why I had not been required to fix a blocked folder access issue in a very long time.
I went into – Settings/Privacy & security/Windows Security/Open Windows Security/Virus @ threat protection/Ransomware protection/Manage ransomware protection/Controlled folder access – and discovered that it was turned off.
I checked my Surface Pro 7 as well as a NUC running Win 10 and discovered that it was also turned off on these computers.
A search on the internet revealed that it is now off by default. I am certain that it used to be turned on by default.
Many sites advise to leave it off – typical article like this in Computer World to “think twice” before turning it on – https://www.computerworld.com/article/3665694/windows-controlled-folder-access-think-twice-before-deploying.html
However, I have turned it back on. I “think” I know what I am doing but perhaps it is best to leave the default if you do not want to deal with the issues.
Had to laugh- The first “issue” that I had to deal with was to allow “Open Live Writer” to log on to post this.