ESET Knowledgebase

Your ESET security product displays your current level of protection in the protection status area, located on the top right-hand corner of the main program window.

Green - Maximum protection

Yellow (orange icon) - your ESET security product requires your attention

Red - Maximum protection is not ensured  

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What does each color mean?

Green - Maximum protection
The green protection status icon with a white check mark indicates that your computer is fully protected.

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• Web and email: If Antispam protection is disabled, it will be marked with a yellow "Security notification" status;  however, your computer's protection status will not change because the Antispam module protects your email only.
   
• Windows Updates available: You may see the   icon in your Windows notification area or notice the message "Operating System is not up to date" in the Home screen when updates to your operating system become available. To change the verbosity of these notifications or disable them completely, see the following Knowledgebase article:
  
  
  • How do I disable Windows Update notifications in ESET products? (6.x)
     
• If Parental control is not Active, it will be marked with a yellow "Inactive" status; however your computer's protection status will not change. 

Yellow - ESET Smart Security / ESET NOD32 Antivirus requires your attention
The yellow protection status icon with a white letter 'i' indicates that your ESET security product requires your attention. The yellow icon indicates that Web access protection or Email client protection is disabled, there is a problem updating the program (outdated virus signature database, cannot update) or your license is nearing its expiration date.

• License is expiring in 14 days: Your protection status icon will also turn yellow when your ESET security product's license has 14 days remaining or fewer before it expires.
  
  When it expires, your ESET security product will be unable to update and your protection status will change to red. Instructions for renewing your license are available here.
   
• A computer restart is recommended: Your protection status will turn yellow when you update your ESET product to a newer version.
   
• If you disable Email client protection or Web access protection, your protection status icon will change to yellow. 
   
• If you select Block all network traffic in the Network module, your protection status icon will turn yellow because network services such as updates will be unavailable.
   
• If Gamer mode is enabled, all scheduled tasks are paused and the protection status window will change to yellow.
  
  Generally, you can restore the green maximum protection status icon by following the instruction in the alert box below the yellow protection status icon.
  

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Red - Maximum protection is not ensured
A red Protection status icon with a white exclamation point displays when maximum protection is not ensured and your computer is vulnerable to threats. Generally, you will see an alert message explaining why maximum protection is not ensured and recommending actions to take. One or both of the Antivirus and antispyware or the Personal firewall modules may have red exclamation points next to them.
 

• Product not activated: This problem is signaled by a red warning and a security notification next to the Computer item. You can activate ESET Smart Security from the program menu using the Product activation option. The program menu is located in the top right-hand corner of the main menu.
   
• Username and Password not entered correctly: If your Protection status icon turns red immediately after you install ESET Smart Security or ESET NOD32 Antivirus, check to make sure your Username and Password are entered correctly. A typo in the Username or Password fields will prevent your ESET security product from updating.
   
• If one of your ESET security product's critical protection modules is disabled, such as Real-time file system protection, the protection status icon will turn red. Visit the following ESET Knowledgebase article for more information about how to exclude certain files from Real-time file system scanning without disabling the module entirely. How do I exclude certain files or folders from Real-time scanning?
   
• License is expired: The Protection status icon will turn red after your license has expired. Click here for instructions on renewing your license.
   
• Protection status icon is red because your ESET Personal firewall is disabled. You can enable it from the main program window by clicking Enable filtering mode.

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