As you know, Microsoft Corporation, which produces Windows operating systems, has for some time begun to promote its own protection tool, called the defender, which appeared in the eighth modification of the OS, and then migrated to the tenth. It is rather difficult to judge how much it provides the necessary level of protection for both the system and user data, only for the reason that all kinds of ratings and reviews on the Internet very often look very contradictory. However, this particular toolkit 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 the Windows 10 defender, considering it an absolutely useless tool. But how to do that? An ordinary user can be offered several simple ways, which are based both on the use of system tools and on the use of third-party software.
Windows Defender: whatis this program?
To begin with, let's briefly dwell on what this applet built into the operating system is. Apparently, many guess 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, many users and specialists have legitimate doubts about it, despite the fact that the developers almost completely borrowed the technology used in the defender from the notorious Bitdefender antivirus, making minor changes to it. But it is this antivirus in the form of a tool built into the system that inexpressibly annoys users, because, as they say, “pokes its nose where it doesn’t get to”. However, it has one good feature, which is that you can turn off Windows 10 Defender in a completely elementary way.
Defender auto deactivation
Let's start, perhaps, with the simplest and most acceptable for all ordinary or novice users of protection deactivation. How to disable Windows 10 Defender without using some drastic methods and changing operating system settings? 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 defenderwill turn off 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 the regular antivirus? In this case, the built-in tool will automatically activate again.
How do I turn off Windows 10 Defender Antivirus until the next reboot?
Now we assume that there is no third-party anti-virus software on the computer. Turning off Windows Defender 10 using the system, however, only until the next restart, can be quite simple.
The first step is 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 accessed through the standard options menu, after which you will need to deactivate the cloud protection and real-time protection items. In passing, pay attention to the fact that the module of the defender itself in the autoload of the tenth version of the system may not be shown, so after some time (including after a 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 permanently. One of the simplest methods ischanging group policy settings accessed using the gpedit.msc command 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 disable defender option on the right in the window, open the option editing window and set it to the enabled state. After saving the set value, it is desirable to restart the system.
Note: if for some reason (most often due to the lack of the necessary rights to change the system configuration) it will not be possible to disable, run the policy editor as an administrator, using the creation of a new task in the "Task Manager". Please note in particular that it is not possible to disable Windows Defender 10 via the services section (services.msc).
How to permanently disable the antivirus?
If anyone doesn't know, group policies are sort of a duplicate tool of the registry, 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 just through the registry (regedit).
In the editor, you must use the HKLM branch and through sections,shown in the image above, find the Windows Defender directory. On the right side of the window, via RMB, you must manually create a DWORD parameter with a 32-bit capacity, give it the name DisableAntiSpyware, and set the value as one. After exiting the editor, a reboot is required!
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 Security and Maintenance Center section in the Control Panel for this.
Disabling protection in the Win Updates Disabler app
Finally, in order not to bother changing 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 box, and after the system restarts, the built-in antivirus will stop working.
Deactivating protection in NoDefender
You can also use another simple program. Its peculiarity, however, is that when changing the settings of the defender, the user will still be taken to the main section of the system security settings, where he will need to perform the standard actions described above, and then click the deactivation button. But you can use this application in cases where you do not have the appropriate access rightsat the administrator level.
Result
Thus, full or partial deactivation of the built-in Windows antivirus is not particularly difficult. As for choosing the optimal solution, it should be noted that without third-party security software installed, it is not recommended to turn off the defender under any circumstances, since both the computer and the user himself will be left without protection at all. But the easiest method to deactivate the built-in tool of the system, as it has probably become clear to everyone, is to install any third-party antivirus. It's both easier 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 a computer.
