To ensure that another “Policy” has not been set, you should check this key in the Registry
“As an Administrator”
Hkey_Local_Machine\Software\Policies\Microsoft\ and select Windows Defender.
Any key in this folder other than Default is a policy that will affect the function of WD.
Expect to find DisableAntiVirus or DisableAntiSpyware. You can disable either of
these by modifying there Dword from 1 to 0. Do that by right-clicking the key name,
and select “Modify”.