How to disable and possibly completely uninstall Defender


  1. Posts : 40
    Windows 8.1/10 Enterprise x64
       #1

    How to disable and possibly completely uninstall Defender


    Hiyas, WinDefend is evil. I'm not able to get off this damn thing, sc delete WinDefend fails due to access denied. Not even speaking of disable the thing via management console. I tried also old good Defender Uninstaller which had worked good for Windows 8, not successful on 10.(error message uninstalled with errors). So how to beat it?
    I'd like also hear about other intrusive services disabling program execution or protecting registry from access.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 68,652
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #2

    Hello Anakunda,

    Have you already tried turning off Windows Defender using group policy like in the tutorial below? :)

    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 5,442
    Windows 11 Home
       #3

    Just turn it off and then apply this ASAP.

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

    You can also delete ~500MB - C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 40
    Windows 8.1/10 Enterprise x64
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thank yas, after applying both registry patches and deleting

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Defender\
    C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\
    C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\

    from another Windows it looks like WD is completely gone. To make sure I created in C:\Program Files
    dummy file Windows Defender with no access rights to prevent creating WD folder in the future.

    Problem with programs executing prevention however not fully gone, wanting install Comodo Personal Firewall (cfw_installer_5732_83.exe) and getting tray notification "This application can't run on this machine"
    "Comodo 8.0 doesnot work on this version of Windows. Read more about it."

    Apparently this message doesn't come from Comodo installer but from Windows. What's the service controlling it?
    I have deactivated UAC and sc deleted Security Center, don't have more idea what yet to disable.

    I have installed Windows 10 totally 5 times from which twice CFW was accepted for install and 3 times blocked. Strange.

    What about Software Protection (sppsvc) ?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,079
    10 + Linux
       #5

    Install Norton Security Beta and say bye-bye to Defender:
    http://us.norton.com/beta/overview/ns2016-beta

    There is something else to do to delete Defender but what are you using to replace it? That replacement should do the work for you... Otherwise, try Norton because it will be fully disable it.

    Take care,
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 40
    Windows 8.1/10 Enterprise x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    MikeMecanic said:
    There is something else to do to delete Defender but what are you using to replace it? That replacement should do the work for you... Otherwise, try Norton because it will be fully disable it.
    Of course but WD is the worst. Not configurable and highly intrusive. I don't like NIS either. CIS worked always perfect for me and that's the way I'd like to go with Windows 10.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 605
    Windows 10
       #7

    Installing a 3rd party AV disables WD; why bother removing it? Besides I don't see how it's intrusive in anyway, it's far less intrusive than most 3rd party AVs.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 5,442
    Windows 11 Home
       #8

    fracking4oil said:
    Installing a 3rd party AV disables WD; why bother removing it?
    Because it is still running and sometimes causes problems, like 100% CPU usage.
      My Computer


 

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