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I am running the latest updates of Windows, and I want to remove all anti-virus based protection on my laptop for battery savings.

I've tried going into PC Settings and Windows Defender, but it keeps enabling itself like a spying virus that owns my machine...

I've tried this too:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender]
"DisableAntiSpyware"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection]
"DisableRealtimeMonitoring"=dword:00000001

Still it comes back on after a reboot.

I can't disable the service either.

Peter Mortensen
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Jason
  • 4,076

2 Answers2

0

There are a couple of options.

Three options mentioned on the winaero.com site:

http://winaero.com/blog/disable-or-enable-windows-defender-in-windows-10/

  1. Use Winaero
  2. Temporarily disable it as you have done before (though most would have thought this was temporary).
  3. Via a Group Policy

A bit more hacker'ish solutions, except the same Group Policy method:

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/10/25/how-to-disable-windows-defender-in-windows-10-permanently/

  1. Group Policy
  2. Modify the Registry (also I would think this would work as you try and mentioned)
  3. Disable and adding a Task Scheduler
  4. A utility program called 'NoDefender' <== I have not tried this

Here is my UPDATE & SECURITY settings page after using the Winareo download (which I did scan using https://www.virustotal.com/

Enter image description here

Peter Mortensen
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zaphodtx
  • 124
0

Ghacks' second method here worked for me, Windows Defender has been completely disabled for months: http://www.ghacks.net/2015/10/25/how-to-disable-windows-defender-in-windows-10-permanently/

Disabling Windows Defender using the Windows Registry

You may disable Windows Defender in the Windows Registry as well. Basically, it is the same setting that gets written to it when you disable the application in the Group Policy Editor.

Tap on the Windows-key to open the Start Menu.
Type regedit.exe and hit enter.
Confirm the UAC prompt to continue.
Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender
If you see the preference DisableAntiSpyware on the right double-click on it and set it to 1 to disable Windows Defender.
If the preference does not exist, right-click on Windows Defender and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value, and name it DisableAntiSpyware.

To restore Windows Defender at a later point in time, delete the key or set its value to 0.

user198350
  • 4,269