SmartScreen is a new security feature Microsoft included in Windows 8, which helps you protect from malicious programs installed on your Windows 8 PC. Windows SmartScreen gives warning when you installing or running an unrecognized program downloaded from the Internet. However, it requires internet connection to work.
How does Windows SmartScreen works?
In a word, when you try to install a program, SmartScreen sends program details to Microsoft server and collects data regarding that program and decide whether it is safe to run or not.
Windows SmartScreen, of course, a great security feature, but the problem is, absence of internet connection will block every unrecognized program that you downloaded from the internet, unless you specifically ask to run it. Another problem is, as Microsoft receiving information about all the programs you run on your computer, it may be a privacy issue. Whatever will be that, you can disable or enable this feature very easily. For that,
1. Open Run command box by using Win + R key combination and enter SmartScreenSettings.exe in the box, and hit Enter.
2.It will open SmartScreen settings window. Select the option ‘Turn off Windows SmartScreen’ and click OK to save the settings.
Note: To turn on Windows SmartScreen feature in Windows 8, just open SmartScreenSettings.exe as said above and enable ‘Require approval from……’and click OK to save the settings.
