As you know, Microsoft Corporation, which produces Windows operating systems, has for some time begun to market its own security tool called defender, which appeared in the eighth modification of the OS and then migrated to the tenth. How difficult it is to provide the necessary level of protection for both the system and user data is difficult to judge only for the reason that all sorts of ratings and reviews on the Internet very often look very contradictory. However, it is this toolkit that sometimes behaves in a completely inappropriate way, making it difficult for the average user to work. In this regard, many are trying to turn off Windows 10 Defender, considering it an absolutely useless tool. But how to do that? An ordinary user can be offered several simple methods that are based both on the use of system tools and on the use of third-party software.
Windows Defender: what is this program?
To begin, briefly dwell on what this applet, built into the operating system, is. Most likely, many suspect that in this case we are talking about anti-virus tools, which, in theory, should provide an appropriate level of protection. After the first installation of any of the latest versions of Windows, it is in an active state. As for the reliability of such protection, it causes legitimate doubts for many users and specialists, even though the developers almost completely borrowed the technology used in the defender from the notorious Bitdefender antivirus, making minor changes to it. But it is precisely this antivirus in the form of a tool built into the system that annoys users inexpressibly, because, as they say, "sticks its nose where it doesn’t go." Nevertheless, there is one good feature in it, which is that you can turn off Windows 10 Defender completely elementary.
Defender auto deactivation
Let's start with the simplest and most acceptable for all ordinary or novice users deactivating protection. How to disable Windows 10 Defender without using any cardinal methods and changing operating system parameters? Elementary! The fact is that this service is deactivated automatically immediately after installing any third-party antivirus software.
In other words, just install any antivirus you like, and the defender will disconnect by itself. Actually, the level of security provided by most commercial or free software products of this direction will still be much higher. But what if for some reason you decide to get rid of a full-time antivirus? In this case, the built-in tool activates itself again.
How to turn off the Windows 10 Defender antivirus program before the next reboot?
Now we assume that there is no third-party antivirus software on the computer. Turning off Windows 10 Defender using system tools, however, only until the next restart, is quite simple.
First of all, you need to call the "Task Manager" and forcibly terminate the process of this service.
After that, you should use the Windows 10 Defender Security Center section, which can be reached through the standard settings menu, after which you will need to deactivate the cloud protection and real-time protection points. In passing, pay attention to the moment that the module of the defender himself in the autoloading of the tenth version of the system may not be shown, so after a while (including after the reboot) the service will be activated again.
How to turn off the Windows 10 Defender service through group policies?
Now let's see what can be done to deactivate this service if it needs to be disabled not temporarily, but forever. One of the simplest methods is to change the settings of group policies, for access to which the gpedit.msc command is used, which is written in the Run console.
In the editor, through the computer configuration and administrative templates, you need to go to the defender section, which can also be called Endpoint Protection, select the disconnect point of the defender in the right window, call up the option editing window and set it to the on state. After saving the set value, it is advisable to restart the system.
Note: if for some reason (most often due to the lack of the necessary rights to change the system configuration) disconnection is not possible, start the policy editor on behalf of the administrator, using the creation of a new task in the "Task Manager". Please note that it is not possible to turn off Windows 10 Defender through the services section (services.msc).
How to shut down the antivirus permanently?
If anyone does not know, group policies are a kind of duplicate registry tool, but the registry has a higher priority, that is, the values set in the policies can be changed in the registry, but not vice versa. Therefore, you can turn off Windows 10 Defender through the registry (regedit).
In the editor, you must use the HKLM branch and through the sections shown in the image above, find the Windows Defender directory. On the right side of the window, through the RMB, you must manually create the DWORD parameter with a resolution of 32 bits, assign it the name DisableAntiSpyware and set the value as a unit. After exiting the editor, a reboot is required without fail!
Note: for all the above options for deactivating the defender, it is advisable to use the link to disable receiving messages about the status of anti-virus protection using the section of the security and service center in the Control Panel.
Disabling Security in Win Updates Disabler
Finally, in order not to change the system settings, you can use specialized third-party utilities. So, for example, the Windows 10 Defender program proposed for use disables, as they say, in one click.
To deactivate, you just need to check the corresponding item, and after restarting the system, the built-in antivirus will stop working.
Deactivate protection in NoDefender
You can also use another simple program. Its peculiarity, however, is that when you change the defender’s settings, the user will still end up in the main section of the system’s security settings, where you will need to perform the standard actions described above, and then press the deactivation button. But you can use this application in cases where you do not have the appropriate access rights at the administrator level.
Total
Thus, the complete or partial deactivation of the built-in Windows antivirus is not particularly difficult. As for the choice of the optimal solution, it should be noted that without the installed third-party security software, it is not recommended to turn off the defender under any circumstances, since both the computer and the user themselves will be left without protection at all. But the simplest method of deactivating the built-in tool of the system, as everyone probably already understood, is to install any third-party antivirus. It is both simpler and safer. And despite all the artificial ratings and laudatory odes to Microsoft’s defender, specialized antiviruses still provide much more reliable protection for both the operating system itself and confidential user information that can be stored on the computer.