Windows 11 misses the pointer while Defender cries wolf
- ID
- 20183
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 01 Sep 2026, 7:15 PM
- Fetched
- 01 Sep 2026, 7:39 PM
- Provider
- The Register
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.theregister.com/os-platforms/2026/09/01/windows-11-misses-the-pointer-while-defender-cries-wolf/5293602
- Source URL
- https://www.theregister.com/headlines.atom
Summary
- Score
- 3.0
- Created
- 01 Sep 2026, 7:39 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_coders
What happened
Microsoft confirmed two Windows 11 issues following late August 2026 updates: an August 27 update is reportedly wiping custom mouse cursor settings (reverting to large white cursors, with no official workaround), and Defender is falsely notifying users that antivirus is turned off even when it's active. The Defender false-positive affects all Windows and Windows Server versions running the latest Defender updates, with no fix available yet.
Why it matters
If your team or customers run Windows endpoints or Windows Server with Defender, expect support tickets about 'Defender is turned off' alerts that are actually false positives—don't waste time re-enabling or reinstalling. For cursor issues, some users found uninstalling the August 27 update restores settings, though Microsoft hasn't endorsed this. No action needed beyond triaging noise.
Discussion angle
How to handle false-positive security alerts in a support workflow—when the OS itself is the source of misinformation, standard triage scripts break down.