Permanently Disable Windows Defender?

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  1. Posts : 92
    W10 Home/W10 Pro
       #21

    BunnyJ said:
    Yes.. if WD is off you will not be receiving any updates. It's similar to installing a third party AV and you will be both turning off WD by doing this and stop all WD updates.
    Thanks, good to know!
    :)
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 3,105
    W10 Pro + W10 Preview
       #22

    Simple ways to turn off Windows Defender in W10.
    1. Type Defender in search, turn off in Defender panel under settings.
    2. Open All Settings, Update and Security, Windows Defender.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 46
    64-bit 10240 10 Pro
       #23

    Microsoft probably would not like WD turned off on Builds that we are supposed to be testing..
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 22,740
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #24

    Gary said:
    Microsoft probably would not like WD turned off on Builds that we are supposed to be testing..
    When you install a third party AV defender gets turned off and I don't see any reason not to test them at this point. I don't think MS will care if you do this or not.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 3,105
    W10 Pro + W10 Preview
       #25

    Gary said:
    Microsoft probably would not like WD turned off on Builds that we are supposed to be testing..
    Necessary after installing Avast which is now updated for W10,
    Normally another installed AV would shut down Defender, but in my case both were running together, hence above solution.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 5,442
    Windows 11 Home
       #26

    Just for the record, reg tweaks to disable WD, even when disabled, it still runs.

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WdNisSvc]
    "Start"=dword:00000004
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend]
    "Start"=dword:00000004

    Additionally, you can also delete the WD folder, just to be sure, takes ~500MB.

    C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\WindowDefender\
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 569
    Windows 10 Pro/Windows 7 Ultimate
       #27

    topgundcp said:
    Since this is a TP. The option to turn off/disable Windows Defender is grayed out. However, you can turn off by:
    1. Open Admin Command Prompt and type: gpedit.msc
    2. Manoeuver to: Computer Configuration->Administrative Templates->Windows Components->Windows Defender
    3. Double click on "Turn Off Windows Defender" and select "Enabled" then click "Apply"


    WARNING: After turn off "Windows Defender", you might not be able to turn it back on. I suggest before trying this, make a backup image so you can restore to the way it was.
    Thanks a hell of a lot! I didn't know it turned itself back on after disabling it in Settings, this am when I got up it had deleted something important. I can't afford this happening, even with "exclusions", cos it seems that once something gets swallowed into Defender, you can't get it out of quarantine.

    I just did this, Can I get in there and shut off the service now, too? Ah, it's shut off now, but I wanna get rid of the little defender icon. Defender is the one thing left over from earlier versions of Windows I totally despise, although I did use it in Windows 8 for the longest time.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1
    WIndows 10 Professional
       #28

    LostLogic said:
    I'm on build 10074 of Windows 10 and cannot find a way to permanently disable Windows Defender. When I go to Control Panel > Windows Defender > Settings, it brings up the new Windows 10 System Settings app which gives an option to turn "Real-time protection" off. However, the description on that states:


    After about 15 minutes, it turns itself back on. How can I disable this permanently?

    Thanks
    This is what I did:

    Google and Download "Taskill.exe"

    You might find it here:
    Taskill Download - Softpedia


    Make a folder such as C:\Taskill and put taskill.exe into it. Make a desktop/taskbar shortcut to it. Open up properties of shortcut and in the field that says "Target" type in the box: C:\Taskill\taskill.exe MSASCui.exe
    -Click OK

    Now if you have the notification icon option turned on for Windows Defender when you run the Taskill shortcut you should see it go away. Waiting to see if it turns itself back on but so far it hasn't. If anything, the shortcut to kill the process definitely makes things easier to deal with.

    Hope that helps

    -Andre
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 1
    Windows 10 Pro
       #29

    TairikuOkami said:
    Just for the record, reg tweaks to disable WD, even when disabled, it still runs.
    Reg tweaks didn't work for me, since you can't edit those entries (access denied). Taskkill doesn't work either (access denied). Running as admin or just plain user with admin rights. There was no Windows Defender option in gpedit. None of these tips work. Even tried out Windows 10 safe mode, but even in safe mode Windows Defender is up and running and those registry entries are access denied...

    But I did find a way to really permanently disable WD.

    Boot up eg. Win 7 installation
    Press Shift + F10 to open CMD
    Go to your system drive (eg. C: )
    Open up the Program Files folder (cd "Program Files")
    Rename Windows Defender folder to something else (rename "Windows Defender" somethingelse)
    Create a new file called Windows Defender (eg. echo something > "Windows Defender")
    Reboot and remove installation media.
    Done.

    Windows can't find or run Windows Defender because the folder and the nasty .exe files inside are no longer where they're supposed to be. It also can't restore or reinstall Windows Defender since there's already a file or folder called Windows Defender.

    Notes:
    Do not open Windows Defender in Settings. Settings will crash.
    Opening Windows Defender in Control Panel gives out an error.
    To restore WD, just delete the file you created, rename somethingelse to Windows Defender and reboot your PC.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 1
    Win 10
       #30

    badrobot said:
    Once you installed a 3rd party AV, that almost always disable WD for good with no way to re-enable it other than doing a clean install.
    I have never known this to be the case. It usually disables yes, but it can be turned back on. I've never seen it just remove itself permanently. At the most your AV install might remove MSE if you have it, but not windows defender.
      My Computer


 

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