Question about moving files from an external hard drive to laptop

[jacquelynm]

For the past month now every time I try to move a file from my external hard drive to my computer a message pops up saying these files may be harmful to your computer. This happen with every file on the drive and I know none of them are harmful. Why is this happening now, and how can I fix it? I moved files fine just a couple months ago, and have not changed my security settings or anti-virus program since.

[WAWood]

@jacquelynm 

You're running Windows 10 and most likely, you're running Windows Defender as well -- which is notorious for misleading notifications.

It go so bad on my PC that  I searched online for scripts I could use to both disable Windows Defender and to grant exclusions for folders I regularly use to download and migrate files.

Defender resets itself regularly, so even if you have disabled some of its features, they are likely to have been turned ON again by Microsoft.  I have a folder with scripts in it that I run whenever I turn on my PC.