With its August update, Microsoft is no longer making it so easy to disable its Microsoft Defender antivirus software. But you can always install other third-party solutions.
When it comes to antivirus software, the name Microsoft Defender – formerly known as Windows Defender – isn’t the one that comes to mind first. And yet, if you have a PC, it is indeed present, built into Windows 10. But until now, it could be easily uninstalled. This will soon no longer be the case.
With its August update to Windows 10 (version 4.18.2007.8), Microsoft announced that its antivirus could be disabled, but the key DisableAntiSpyware which made it possible to make it totally non-functional via the registry is no longer taken into account. ” This setting is deprecated and will be ignored on client devices, effective with the August 2020 update (version 4.18.2007.8) of Microsoft Defender Antivirus Microsoft wrote.
No more ease for pirates
This solution had been around since Windows Vista, so the most seasoned users could turn to other third-party antiviruses to protect their systems without seeing Microsoft Defender take over.
If you want to use another third-party antivirus solution, it is still possible and this change does not impact security applications, Microsoft has confirmed. There will be no question of having two antiviruses in parallel on your computer, which would cause slowness of operation and would have an impact on your performance. Microsoft Defender will automatically turn off when installing another antivirus, but will keep an eye on system settings. This is why it becomes impossible to completely deactivate.
Microsoft intends to push the use of its own antivirus software which has progressed over the years and is now a security element of the Windows Security hub. And the Redmond firm is even extending its security hold: Microsoft Defender is also available on macOS, Android or Linux.
But this decision also has a real cybersecurity aspect. According to the site Bleeping Computer, malware developers have long used this registry key to turn off Windows antivirus protection and sometimes inject ransomware through it.
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