Windows Defender not working properly

[allented]

As of the last few days windows defender will not open or start up and has turned off spyware and virus protection. In the bottom corner of the screen is a flag saying i have 2 PC issues to be solved, which is turning on virus and spyware protection. When i click on it to turn them on an error message appears with the the error code 0x80073afc.
I have searched through various threads on whirlpool and several other sites but am unable to find any resolution to this problem.
If anyone knows of a solution or could help out with fixing this problem it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Neemobeer]

That error means it can't load a MUI file. These are the resource files that contain the language specific string data for a program.

Here is a copy of those files provided your on Windows 10 1903. You can unzip these files and copy them to "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\en-US". If you're on a different language you'd need these files from a system using the same language.

Alternate method would be to run
sfc /scannow or dism /online /restorehealth /cleanup-image to potentially repair the corrupt/missing MUI files.

A reboot may be required after