Stop WD from automatically turning on when doing testing

Hi folks

When doing deliberate Virus testing I need WD to be turned off -- is it possible to disable it (not uninstall) so it doesn't switch on again after a reboot or even randomly during testing.

I know normally you need to have some sort of A/V protection running - but if you want to test threats on a reasonably isolated machine you want to have this stuff turned off during your testing.

Running W10 Pro X-64.

Cheers
jimbo

How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 10 (with Pictures)

Matthew Wai said:

How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 10 (with Pictures)

@Matthew Wai

Hi there
I don't think you understood the post.

I don't want to permanently disable it.

I just want the manual setting to stay across re-boots. If I change a setting why on earth should Windows think it needs to be re-set on a re-boot. Unless you've made a severe error in say a configuration file I can understand Windows trying to take corrective action but if there is a standard user settable switch it shouldn't change until the user re-sets it again.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

I don't want to permanently disable it.

Is it possible to enable it after permanently disabling it? Is the disabling irreversible?

You can create a folder for tests and exclude it from WD's security checks.

I just used PowerRun to disable and enable Windows Defender via the commands "sc stop WinDefend" and "sc start WinDefend" respectively.