How-to fix Windows Defender error “Get-MpComputerStatus : The extrinsic Method could not be executed.”

Enabling Windows Defender per GPO failed with the error message "Get-MpComputerStatus : The extrinsic Method could not be executed.", here is how to resolve this issue.

ByJan Reilink
On05-05-2021
InWindows Server

Home » Windows Server » How-to fix Windows Defender error “Get-MpComputerStatus : The extrinsic Method could not be executed.”

Enabling Windows Defender per GPO failed with an error message: “Get-MpComputerStatus : The extrinsic Method could not be executed.“. Here is how to resolve this issue.

Here is how I resolved the error message “Get-MpComputerStatus : The extrinsic Method could not be executed.“, in my specific situation.

I had Windows Defender Antivirus disabled per GPO:

“Turn off Windows Defender Antivirus”

In Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Defender Antivirus). And I wanted to enable Windows Defender in a new GPO, on a specific set of computers in an OU.

After I disabled the referenced GPO setting, I specifically enabled Windows Defender on that set of computers (OU). However, I still couldn’t enable Windows Defender, start its services, or retrieve its status.

Mehh… It errored out:

Get-MpComputerStatus : The extrinsic Method could not be executed.
At line:1 char:2
+ (Get-MpComputerStatus).AMServiceEnabled
+  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : MetadataError: (MSFT_MpComputerStatus:ROOT\Microsoft\...pComputerStatus) [Get-MpComputer
   Status], CimException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : MI RESULT 16,Get-MpComputerStatus

Get-MpComputerStatus : The extrinsic Method could not be executed.

Windows Defender: Turn off routine remediation.

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The fix? Enable Windows Defender using MpCmdRun.exe located in C:\Program Files\Windows Defender:

C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe -wdenable

And reboot your computer or server.

Key Takeaways

Enabling Windows Defender per GPO led to an error: ‘Get-MpComputerStatus: The extrinsic Method could not be executed.’
Windows Defender Antivirus was initially disabled through GPO settings.
After changing GPO, attempts to enable Windows Defender still resulted in errors.
The solution involved using MpCmdRun.exe from ‘C:\Program Files\Windows Defender’ and rebooting the computer.
This fix resolved the issue, allowing Windows Defender to function properly.