Interesting -- Thanks!
As shown by the many "worst password lists", an awful lot of people don't want to suffer the least inconvenience when it comes to computer security. The few times Microsoft has tried making Windows even slightly more secure, those users revolted & Microsoft backed off. Nowadays they take an opt-in approach -- the means to increase security are there, but the details are made available to those running IT departments &/or their security teams rather than users like us. DefenderUI [ defenderui[.]com/ ] allows casual users to enable much of the same hardening IT pros might use, without needing the Enterprise or Pro version of Windows, and without potentially overwhelming documentation &/or instructions -- you choose a profile, then use a well laid out GUI to turn stuff on/off. You're able to turn features off because at higher security settings, some stuff you use now might not work, and turning one or more features off should fix it. As you increase security, you decrease convenience. DefenderUI is relatively light weight regarding its impact on Windows, but it will make quite a few changes in the registry, since that's where most of its features are turned on/off. Many [most?] of those registry entries are protected -- if you try to edit them in Regedit it refuses -- which is a nice touch [for a long time Microsoft left the list of excluded folders that Defender would ignore unprotected, so malware could add itself to the exclusion list].
There's a similar app that's also free called Hard Configurator [ hard-configurator[.]com ]. It has a few modules, and will install & work in Win7 without the Defender customizations. On the site's download page you can also download the standalone ConfigureDefender, standalone Run-By-Smartscreen, H_C_HardeningTools, & SimpleWindowsHardening -- some folks might rather use the portable ConfigureDefender, that basically does what it says, allowing more control, &/or the Simple Windows Hardening app, also portable, that lets you set "Software Restriction Policies (SRP) and some useful Windows Policies". That 2nd app can also be used if/when you're running anti-virus software other than Defender. IMHO Hard Configurator is a bit harder to use than DefenderUI -- it's more granular, which some would consider a plus. It also installs itself in the Windows folder, which is a bit odd but shouldn't matter really.
