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[Awesome Donkey]

So, Windows Defender. It's the anti-virus bundled with Windows now. While yes, you can use a third-party anti-virus application, a lot of users tend to stick with running just Windows Defender, myself included. With the release of Windows 10 (and subsequent updates to Windows 10) Windows Defender has been more deeply integrated into Windows 10 now, so issues associated with Defender can become more apparent. Windows Defender can and does interfere with JRiver Media Center's ability to playback all your media files.

You might remember the tutorial for taming Windows Defender on the Wiki here but due to changes to Windows Defender and Windows 10, parts of that tutorial can't be applied anymore. So you want to know how to prevent Windows Defender on Windows 10 from interfering with JRiver Media Center? This is the tutorial for you!

Ready to go? Let's do this thing!

NOTE: This tutorial was written on Windows 10 running the Fall Creators Update. If you're using an older Windows 10 build, your Windows Defender may look different. I'll try to keep this tutorial updated for future Windows 10 updates (and its visual changes to Windows Defender). Also, yes, I know that MC23's executables are shown in the screenshots. I didn't update them for MC24 yet - I'm waiting for the next Windows 10 April 2018 Update to do so!


Step 1 - Opening the Windows Defender Security Center window:

First, we need to open Windows Defender. You can do this by either right clicking on the Windows Defender shield icon in the system tray by the clock and selecting Open or you can open the Start Menu and search for Windows Defender Security Center. Once you find it and open it, you should be greeted with this window;



See this? Alright, let's proceed to Step 2...


Step 2 - Navigating to the Exclusions list:

This can be a bit tricky and hard to find, but we can get you there. First, look for the Settings cog icon/button on the bottom left side (where the red arrow points below) and click on it...



Once we click on Settings, we're met with the following;



Now, see the red arrow next to Virus & threat protection settings? Click on Virus & threat protection settings to open that section. Once it's open, scroll down and look for Exclusions like in this screenshot...



Click on Add or Remove exclusions like the red arrow in the screenshot above shows.


Step 3 - Adding Exclusions for JRiver Media Center to the Exceptions list:

Now, we're in the exceptions list. You should see a list like this screenshot below (sans any of the exclusions in this list)...



Now, we're going to add some exclusions. See the red arrow in the screenshot above next to Add an exclusion? Click the + button and you'll see a list of items...



We can add a File, a Folder, a File type and a Process to the exclusions. For the purpose of this tutorial, we're going to add exceptions for files, folders and file types. Keep in mind, we can only add one exception at a time, so I'll list files/folders/file types that should be added to the exceptions list. I'm using the 64-bit JRiver Media Center 24 build on Windows 10 as the example here, but if you're using the 32-bit build or an older JRiver Media Center (pre-24) build, you'll find the Media Center installation directory in the Program Files (x86) instead of the Program Files folder used for the 64-bit build of Media Center. I'll include a list of file locations for both 32-bit and 64-bit Media Center 24 below.

NOTE #1: This assumes Windows is installed on the C:\ drive. If you're using a drive letter other than C, adjust accordingly!
NOTE #2: Every time you add an exception, User Account Control will pop up a dialog asking for permission for the app to make changes to your device. Please press Yes!


Folders to add to the Windows Defender exception list:

For 64-bit JRiver Media Center 24:

C:\Program Files\J River\
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\

For 32-bit JRiver Media Center 24:

C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\

Now, we need to add the J River folder that contains all the library files, thumbnails, etc. that's located in the hidden %APPDATA% (Roaming) folder. The easiest way to do it is add an exception for a folder, then with the Select Folder dialog open, at the top type in %APPDATA% and press Enter to open to that folder. From there click on the J River folder to select it and finally press the Select Folder button to add it to the exception lists. Here's what the Select Folder dialog looks like - the first upper red arrow is where you type %APPDATA% into the address bar, and the second lower red arrow is the J River directory we're looking for...



Also, I recommend adding folder exceptions to where your media files are stored, whether it be a on a NAS, on another hard drive, etc. For example, I keep my main music library in M:\Music with the backup music library in Z:\Music so I add both of these folders to the exception list.


Files to add to the Windows Defender exception list:

Honestly, adding folder exceptions *should* be enough to stop Windows Defender from interfering with Media Center. But I don't trust Windows Defender enough to not scan files inside a folder added to the exceptions. So this part is considered optional but I do recommend doing it. It's overkill and time consuming, I know, but it's better safe than sorry.

So here's some of the files you might want to try adding (one at a time) to the exception list.

For 64-bit JRiver Media Center 24:

C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\CDLabeler.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\dbghelp.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\gnutls.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRCrashHandler.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRDisc.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRImage.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRMediaUninstall.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRPlayer.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRReader.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRService.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRShellExt.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRTelevision.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRTools.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRWeb.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRWMFactory.dll
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRWorker.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\MC24.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\Media Center 24.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\Media Center 24.tlb
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\Media Editor.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\PackageInstaller.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\TWAINDSM.dll

For 32-bit JRiver Media Center 24:

C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\CDLabeler.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\dbghelp.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\gnutls.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRCrashHandler.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRDisc.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRImage.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRMediaUninstall.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRPlayer.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRReader.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRService.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRShellExt.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRTelevision.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRTools.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRWeb.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRWMFactory.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\JRWorker.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\MC24.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\Media Center 24.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\Media Center 24.tlb
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\Media Editor.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\PackageInstaller.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 24\TWAINDSM.dll

If you use the Media Network and/or the Media Server features, Media Center will add a MC24.exe file to both the C:\Windows\System32 folder and the C:\Windows\SysWOW64 folder. So, add these files too if you're using Media Network, Media Server, etc. You might want to check the two directories regardless for the presence of the MC24.exe file and add exceptions. You'll probably want to add these to the exceptions list regardless if you chose not to add the file exceptions above since they're located outside of the Media Center installation directory.

C:\Windows\System32\MC24.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\MC24.exe

I know there's more files inside the Media Center 24 install directory like in the Drivers and Plugins folders. It's up to you whether or not you want to manually add all those to the exception list.


File types to add to the Windows Defender exception list:

This is also considered optional, but I do it so Windows Defender isn't running real-time or on-demand scanning of my FLAC and other media files.

.ape
.avi
.cue
.dff
.dsf
.flac
.iso
.log
.m4a
.m4v
.mkv
.mov
.mp3
.mp4
.mpeg
.mpg
.shn
.wav
.wma
.wmv
.wv

And whatever else file types you're using. Adjust this to your own needs!

So, we've added a bunch of exceptions for JRiver Media Center. If yours looks kinda like this...




If you're satisfied, call it done. Congrats, you've added Media Center exceptions to Windows Defender. I'd recommend rebooting after doing this. If you have any questions or notice any issues with the tutorial or any feedback, please post below!

Enjoy!

[Awesome Donkey]

Okay, new repost of this for MC24. A couple things to note;

1) I'm aware I've straight copied and pasted the previous tutorial and modified it a little to reflect MC24's executables/folders. I also reused the previous screenshots which show MC23's executables. I plan to rectify this as soon as the next Windows 10 update (aka the April 2018 Update) is officially released.

2) I also found a third-party utility (Defender Injector) that can easily add multiple files and folders to the Windows Defender exclusions list at the same time, which I plan on writing about for those who are interested.

3) Upon the next Windows 10 update release, I plan on experimenting with what needs to be excluded, to cut down on the files/folders that need to be excluded. Will also play around with wildcards as well!

[RD James]

Windows Defender can and does interfere with JRiver Media Center's ability to playback all your media files.

So can anyone provide reproducible steps for this?
Because doing something like running auto-import on a library of 140,000 files is one of the things I would expect Defender to interfere with the most, and the memory increase was negligible while CPU usage was only 1-2%.
 
I know that you mean well, but I just don't think it's good advice to be whitelisting a program like Media Center when it has features like scanning drives for media files and automatically analyzing them, built-in web browsing, and Java for Blu-ray menus.
 
I know that other anti-virus programs frequently cause problems for Media Center, and I fully support recommending their replacement with Defender on Windows 10.
But I don't think these exclusions are necessary, and if you must set up exclusions, I would only recommend the main executable rather than whitelisting entire directories.

[Awesome Donkey]

I notice it every time I do a clean Windows 10 install, after installing MC and restoring a library backup. The main issue I notice is I start MC24 but it doesn't near-instantly appear like it usually does when I have the exclusions added. Looking in Task Manager I can see MC's process is running, but I also see Antimalware Service Executable using increased CPU/RAM. My guess it's either scanning MC's executables and/or it's uploading MC's executable(s) to MS for analysis (which with my connection can take a lifetime, it seems). Eventually the MC UI opens and everything's back to normal.

It's just annoying, honestly. Yes, excluding all files and directories is overkill, but I prefer Defender not interfering with MC in any way possible. I don't use BD or video so I don't have to worry about Java but you can probably workaround that by excluding specific folders inside %APPDATA%\J River\Media Center 24 and not excluding the Plugins folder.

[tyler69]

I wonder if adding any of these exclusions can be automated during setup of MC. It could be controlled by a checkbox when going through setup.

[Awesome Donkey]

I wonder if adding any of these exclusions can be automated during setup of MC. It could be controlled by a checkbox when going through setup.

Probably not a good idea. It'd probably raise red flags somewhere within the system. I mean, it'd be a serious security issue if an application added itself to Windows Defender's exclusions list - something potentially devastating if malware did this.

[JimH]

Definitely not a good idea.

[Awesome Donkey]

As far as a potential "minimal" set of exclusions, I'd say these executables (they're for the 64-bit version, adjust the path accordingly for the 32-bit version);

Code: [Select]

C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRService.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\JRWeb.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\MC24.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\Media Center 24.exe
C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 24\PackageInstaller.exe
Also these if you use Media Network/Media Server;

Code: [Select]

C:\Windows\System32\MC24.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\MC24.exe
And finally these two directories located in %APPDATA%

Code: [Select]

%APPDATA%\J River\Media Center 24\Library
%APPDATA%\J River\Media Center 24\Thumbnails
Admittedly, adding the Thumbnails directory probably isn't needed. Just in case Defender slows down MC's task of generating thumbnails.

I'll be testing this "minimal" set of exclusions once the Windows 10 April Update is out.