Windows 10 Windows Defender blocking programs

I use a long established family history recording program but can no longer enter data or shut down without using Task Manager, unless I disable Defender. To see if the problem was my program I installed the free Roots Magic program and tried to enter data, but again I could not until I disabled Defender. I do not wish to use a different antivirus program – are there any settings in Defender that can be altered to solve the problem. I am using Windows 10 Home latest version