TechSpace Knowledgebase
Search:     Advanced search
Browse by category:
Contact Us
KB / Windows / How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender in Windows 8 and 8.1

How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender in Windows 8 and 8.1
Print
Views: 645
Votes: 1
Posted: 23 Jul, 2017
by: Lordthong T.
Updated: 05 Sep, 2017
by: Lordthong T.
How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender in Windows 8 and 8.1

information   Information
Windows 8 comes with a new version of Windows Defender which is the re-branded "Microsoft Security Essentials" (MSE). When Windows Defender is on, you're notified when viruses, spyware, malware (malicious software), or potentially unwanted software try to install or run on your PC.

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Windows Defender in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.
 
Note   Note
In order for Windows Defender to run, it will require that the Windows Defender Service remain "Started" (running) and set to "Automatic".

How to Start, Stop, and Disable Services in Windows 8
 
warning   Warning
Some 3rd party antivirus (AV) programs may turn off Windows Defender when they are installed to be used instead, and will not allow Windows Defender to be turned back on until the 3rd party AV has been completely uninstalled.
 
 


CONTENTS:
 

  • Option One: To Turn On or Off Windows Defender using Group Policy
  • Option Two: To Turn On or Off Windows Defender using a REG file




EXAMPLE: Windows Defender Turned Off
Name: Windows_Defender_OFF.jpg Views: 13594 Size: 28.1 KB




 

Windows Defender - Turn On or Off in Windows 8 OPTION ONE Windows Defender - Turn On or Off in Windows 8
To Turn On or Off Windows Defender using Group Policy

Note   Note
Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise editions.

All editions can use Option Two below.
 

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)

 Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Defender

Click image for larger version

3. In the right pane of Windows Defender in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Turn off Windows Defenderpolicy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (on) or step 6 (off) below for what you would like to do.


5. To Turn On Windows Defender

A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

NOTE: Not Configured is the default setting.


6. To Turn Off Windows Defender

A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

Click image for larger version

7. When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.

8. If you are turning on Windows Defender, then open Windows Defender, and click/tap on Start now.

Click image for larger version






 

Windows Defender - Turn On or Off in Windows 8 OPTION TWO Windows Defender - Turn On or Off in Windows 8
To Turn On or Off Windows Defender using a REG file

Note   Note
The .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD values in the registry keys below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

DisableAntiSpyware DWORD

(delete) or 0 = On
1 = Off
 

1. Do step 2 (on) or step 3 (off) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Turn On Windows Defender
NOTE: This is the default setting.

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Turn_On_Windows_Defender.reg

download


3. To Turn Off Windows Defender

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Turn_Off_Windows_Defender.reg

download

4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. If you are turning on Windows Defender, then open Windows Defender, and click/tap on Start now if needed.

Click image for larger version

9. If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.

Credit : https://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/21962-windows-defender-turn-off-windows-8-a.html
Others in this Category
document How to Clear Your Computer’s CMOS to Reset BIOS Settings
document Install Hyper-V and create a virtual machine
document Configure DHCP Using Policy-based Assignment
document What Are Domains and Forests?
document Phoenix ISA/MCA/EISA BIOS Beep Codes
document How to make a self extracting archive that runs your setup.exe with 7zip -sfx switch
document Configuring a Syslog Agent in Windows Server 2012
document Configuring PHP Development Environment in Windows
document Installing and Configuring target iSCSI server on Windows Server 2012
document How To Make UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 8
document TCP/IP Command-line
document How to set up an Internet email account in Outlook 2013 or 2016
document Enable Hyper-V on Windows 8.1
document Quickly Turn ON/OFF Windows Firewall Using Command Line
document How to List All of the Windows and Software Updates Applied to a Computer
document How to Repair a Windows 7 System with an Installation Disc
document How to Create Bootable USB from a Windows ISO
document How to Create Bootable USB from an IMG File
document 20 Terminal shortcuts developers need to know
document How to Update Your BIOS
document Getting Started With Lync Mobile 2010 For Android Devices
document "Attachment size exceeds the allowable limit" error when you add a large attachment to an email message in Outlook
document How do I renew the IP address for my computer ?
document Is your Windows 10 PC slowing you down, and the SFC utility is unable to fix the problem? Then use DISM to repair the Windows image to enable SFC to do its job.
document How to make a full backup of a Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 PC
document How to create a System Restore Point in Windows 10 with a simple double-click
document How to properly remove the Windows.old folder on Windows 10
document How control your Windows 10 PC or phone with another computer with the Connect app
document How to use Bing images within Office and Edge on Windows 10 PC.
document How to fix taskbar search not working in Windows 10
document How to disable or uninstall OneDrive on Windows 10 PC
document How to re-activate Windows 10 after a hardware change
document How to change the system language across your whole Windows 10 PC
document Use Windows Defender Offline to remove tough viruses from your Windows 10 PC
document 16 Essential keyboard shortcuts everyone should know using Continuum for phones
document How to disable Action Center in Windows 10
document How to use Storage Spaces in Windows 10
document How to generate a Battery Report in Windows 10.
document HOW TO CONTROL YOUR PRIVACY IN CHROMEBOOKS VS. WINDOWS 10
document Create Fake File in Window PC in Any Size and Any Format
document INCREASE BATTERY LIFE OF LAPTOP EASILY
document How to perform an image backup in Windows 8.1 or 10
document Block Windows 10 Upgrade
document Chrome reset for adware issues
document Revert from Windows 10 back to previous operating system
document Windows 7 Guide to using Microsoft Security Essentials
document Force Dragon Naturally Speaking to load a particular user profile
document Texthelp Read and Write Gold Prediction returns strange results or receives double letters
document Connect Powershell to your Windows Azure subscription
document How to set up desktop background image rotation in Windows 8
document How to adjust your Laptops screen brightness in Windows 8/8.1
document Microsoft Security Essential Install, Windows 7
document Set the default Microsoft Word template back to a blank document
document Schedule Windows to shutdown or restart after a time limit
document 20 Windows 8 and 8.1 shortcuts
document Bypass Windows 8 and 8.1 login screen
document All the Ways You Can Still Get Windows 10 for Free
document The Complete Guide to Giving Better Family Tech Support
document How to Stop Skype from Running in the Background on Windows 10
document How to Upgrade to a Larger Hard Drive Without Reinstalling Windows
document How to Find and Remove Duplicate Files on Windows
document Scammers Are Using a Fake Version of AdwCleaner to Trick People
document How to Use OneDrive as Your Default Save Location on Windows 8.1
document How To Fix a Blue Screen of Death
document How To Fix Comdlg32.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How to Fix Fm20.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How to Fix Gdi32.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Libxml2.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How to Fix Mfc42.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How to Fix Mfc90.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Msvcp71.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Msvcp80.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Msvcr70.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Msxml6.dll Errors
document How to Fix Ole32.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Oleaut32.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Shell32.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Sqlite3.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix Ssleay32.dll Not Found or Missing Errors
document How To Fix STOP 0x00000005 Errors
document How To Fix STOP 0x0000007B Errors
document Keep the Windows 10 Taskbar Visible While Using the On-Screen Keyboard
document EdgeDeflector Forces Cortana to Use Your Default Web Browser
document How to Move the Clock to Right-Most Corner on the Taskbar in Windows 10
document Add Control Panel (Or Any Program) To Your Right-Click Menu With a Registry Tweak
document Six Keyboard Shortcuts Every Computer User Should Know
document How to Upgrade Your Computer's Login Screen
document How to Use Windows 8's New File History Backup (aka Time Machine for Windows)
document What Kind of Maintenance Do I Need to Do on My Windows PC?
document How to Do a Clean Install of Windows Without Losing Your Files, Settings, and Tweaks
document How to disable Microsoft Windows 10 keylogger (enabled by default)
document How to Use the Cortana Voice Assistant in Windows 10
document How to Map a Network Drive in Windows 10
document How to Sync Your iPhone with Windows 10
document How to turn Off Windows Update in Windows 10
document How to Change a NetBIOS Name
document How to turn off Windows Automatic Updates in Windows 8/8.1
document How To Disable Updates in Windows 7
document How to Run Disk Cleanup on a Windows 7 Computer
document How to Check If Windows 10 Is Activated or Not
document How to Check CPU Speed
document How to Create a Shortcut to Windows Update in Windows 10
document How to Enter the BIOS Setup Utility or Boot Menu with windows
document How to Install Drivers
document How to Check the Application Event Log for Errors
document How to Optimize Windows 10 Performance by tweaking Visual Effects
document How to Setting Password Protected Print Jobs
document How to Change User Account Name in Windows 10
document How to Set Up and Use Remote Desktop for Windows 10
document How to Find Drivers for Devices Using a Hardware ID
document How to Changing BIOS mode from UEFI to Legacy
document How to Speed Up Windows 10
document How to Outlook 2010 - Rebuild the index file
document How To Fix Outlook 2016 Search Problems
document How to Release and renew IP address
document How to HP Printers - USB Printer Setup (Windows)
document How to disable Windows Defender in Windows 7
document How to Use Simple IF Statements in Excel
document Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need Two Program Files Folders?
document How to Assign a Static IP Address in Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, or Vista
document How to manually add a print server port?
document How to Join Your Computer to a Domain
document How to Force a Blue Screen in Windows
document How to Use All of Windows 10 Backup and Recovery Tools
document How To Repair HDD with DLC 2015
document How to change XAMPP apache server port?
document How to find computer serial number
document How to use Rufus to create a bootable USB drive to install (almost) any OS
document How do I format a USB Flash Drive to NTFS file system?
document Change RAID Type of a Volume or Disk Group
document Create an Admin User Account Using CMD Prompt (Windows)
document How to Find Your MAC Address in Windows 10
document How To Repair Windows 10
document Repair an Office application
document Add an email account to Outlook for PC
document How to install Office 365 on Windows PC
document How to test your home internet connection speed


RSS
Powered by KBPublisher (Knowledge base software)