Forum Discussion
WDAG - My problem child (crash and other issues)
I have an issue with Windows Defender Application Guard. When I attempt to open a new protected browser window in Edge, it shows a loading animation for a few seconds and then closes unexpectedly. I rarely use it, but I still would like it to work because I paid for the Windows license. The main reason I'm reaching out is because even if the feature is disabled or enabled, the FRST scan (I eyeball through those scan results like once a month, just to be sure everything is as it should) marks the "WDAGUtilityAccount" account with "<--- ATTENTION!". Additionally, I've observed that the "S-21-****" number varies in different locations; the last few digits differ on what I found in the registry and in the filesystem. This inconsistency doesn't seem normal to me.
Can anyone advise on how to resolve this issue? Thank you.
What I have tried:
- dism restorehealth and sfc scannow.
- chkdsk on all drives.
- Remove all features related to WDAG, boot, Enable them again. (containers, hyper-v, etc.)
- Some powershell re-registering attempts and other guides which I found on other help forums.
- Help that AI offered, which caused more problems, and I rolled back.
5 Replies
WDAG can be finicky and sometimes gets corrupted or misconfigured.
If the issue persists after trying these steps, consider creating a new Windows user profile or even repair-installing Windows as a last resort.The FRST scan marker suggests that FRST detected something that might be legitimate, misconfigured, or potentially malicious. Since "WDAGUtilityAccount" is a system account, unusual modifications could indicate corruption or misconfiguration.
wizard partition tool
It's normal for the Security Identifier (SID) to vary across different systems or even within different parts of the registry if the account was recreated or manipulated.
Open Windows Features (optionalfeatures.exe) and ensure Windows Defender Application Guard is enabled or disabled as needed. Also check Hyper-V and Containers, since WDAG depends on these features.
