Recently a reader contacted me regarding this issue. He installed a 3rd party antivirus program in Windows 10 computer but Windows Defender was not disabled and it kept enabled and running side-by-side with the installed 3rd party antivirus program. He was unable to disable Windows Defender in his Windows 10 device.
PROBLEM SYMPTOM:
You are using Windows 10 operating system in your computer. By default Windows 10 comes with built-in anti-malware program called Windows Defender (now known as Windows Security) to keep your system safe and secure. When you install a 3rd party antivirus program or security suite, Windows 10 automatically recognizes the new security program and disables the default Windows Defender program to prevent any conflict.
But when you tried to install your favorite antivirus program, Windows 10 security center (WSC) didn't recognize it and didn't register it. As the result, Windows Defender program was not disabled and keeps running side-by-side with your installed 3rd party antivirus product.
Now you have 2 security programs running simultaneously in your Windows 10 device. You want to disable Windows Defender or Windows Security but you are unable to do so.
PROBLEM REASON:
This problem occurs due to a new feature introduced in Windows 10 new versions. Now Windows 10 Security Center (WSC) requires all 3rd party antivirus programs and security suites to run as a protected process to be able to register with Windows. If a security program is unable to run as protected process, it'll not appear in Windows Security app and Windows 10 will not recognize and register the program.
Since Windows doesn't register the new security program, Windows Defender keeps enabled and running along with the new installed antivirus or security suite.
PROBLEM SOLUTION:
Fortunately Windows 10 comes with a built-in solution to disable this requirement. You can turn off protected process enforcement for 3rd party antivirus programs and security suites to force Windows 10 to recognize and register them successfully.
Although most of the popular antivirus programs and security suites have implemented this feature and now these programs already run in protected process but there are still a few security programs which do not come with this functionality. If you still want to use them, following steps will help you in disabling this requirement and register your 3rd party antivirus program with Windows 10 security center (WSC) so that Windows disables Windows Defender application and you have a single security program running in your PC:
1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit in RUN and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.
2. Now go to following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\FeatureIf you can't find Feature key under Security Center key, you'll need to create it manually by right-clicking on Security Center key and select New -> Key option.
3. Select Feature key and in right-side pane, right-click and select New -> DWORD option. Set its name as DisableAvCheck and change its value to 1
That's it. Restart your computer and Windows 10 will successfully recognize your 3rd party antivirus program or security suite. Windows Security Center (WSC) will now register your security program and will disable Windows Defender without any problem.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Windows Security Center comes with an option to enable Windows Defender to periodically scan and check for threats. If this option is enabled, Windows Defender will keep enabled and running in your Windows 10 device. Make sure this option is disabled as well.
1. Double-click on Windows Defender Security Center's shield icon present in Taskbar notification area (system tray). It'll open the main program window. If you have removed the icon manually or don't have the icon in system tray, you can open the Windows Defender Security Center by going to Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Defender -> Open Windows Defender Security Center option.
PS: You can also directly launch "Windows Defender Security Center" app using "windowsdefender:" command in RUN dialog box or you can open it from Start Menu -> Windows Defender Security Center.
2. After opening the program, click on "Virus & threat protection" section.
3. Now click on the down-arrow given next to "Windows Defender Antivirus options" link.
4. Now set the toggle Periodic scanning present under "You can keep using your current provider, and have Windows Defender Antivirus periodically check for threats" to OFF.
It'll immediately disable Windows Defender in your Windows 10 device.
