uninstall Windows Defender

I installed Microsoft Security Essentials, then uninstalled it. Now
when I do Windows Update it keeps trying to install "Definition Update
for Windows Defender" as an "important" package.

How can I instruct Windows to completely uninstall Windows Defender so
it doesn't keep trying to install updates for it? There's nothing in
Control Panel / Uninstall programs for Defender.

ty

lid wrote:

I installed Microsoft Security Essentials, then uninstalled it. Now
when I do Windows Update it keeps trying to install "Definition Update
for Windows Defender" as an "important" package.

How can I instruct Windows to completely uninstall Windows Defender so
it doesn't keep trying to install updates for it? There's nothing in
Control Panel / Uninstall programs for Defender.


Windows Defender is part of the Windows 7 operating system. If you
want to *uninstall* Windows Defender, you must uninstall Windows 7.

Before you installed Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Defender
was turned on. When you installed Microsoft Security Essentials,
Windows Defender was automatically turned off. When you uninstalled
Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Defender was turned back on.

You can turn off Windows Defender by following the instructions he
https://www.simplehelp.net/2009/03/1...-in-windows-7/

In Windows 7, Windows Defender is not the same as Microsoft Security
Essentials. There is some confusion because Microsoft Security
Essentials was renamed to Windows Defender in later versions of
Windows.

https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/mic...dows-defender/

invalid, incapable of picking a nym, wrote:

I installed Microsoft Security Essentials, then uninstalled it.
(but get updates for Defender)

Those are two DIFFERENT security programs. That would be like
installing MS Word and CCleaner, uninstalling MS Word, and expecting
CCleaner to never get updates thereafter.

Now when I do Windows Update it keeps trying to install "Definition
Update for Windows Defender" as an "important" package.

Because Defender in an integrated aka embedded program in Windows.
Users can disable Defender. They cannot uninstall it.

Why would you want to uninstall all other security software and use
Defender? Only in Windows 8 did Defender move from a spyware-only
detector to including anti-virus detection. Defender protects you
little on Windows 7 and only against a specific category of unwanted
software. Why would you downgrade from anti-virus software to
spyware-only software? MS Security Essentials is better than Defender,
yet you uninstalled MSE and want to disable Defender. Do you plan
wandering the Internet while nude of any anti-malware protection?

The WU client is going to see Defender is there. So it queries the
catalog to find if there are updates to it. Why do you care about
updating Defender, especially if it is quiescent (you disabled it)?

How can I instruct Windows to completely uninstall Windows Defender so
it doesn't keep trying to install updates for it? There's nothing in
Control Panel / Uninstall programs for Defender.

Disable Defender. Go into Defender's own settings and disable its
on-access (real-time) protection.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...nder-antivirus

Then disable its service; however, as I recall, its service is
configured for Manual startup. That means its service doesn't start
unless requested by a caller - but you disabled the caller. For me, the
"Windows Defender" service is set to Manual but I may have set it that
way when I disabled Microsoft's crappy solution.

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-d...nder-in-vista/

I did both options (in reverse order): first going into Defender's
settings and disabling it and then changing (or ensuring) its service
does not load on Windows startup (something other than Automatic).

However, that won't prevent the Windows Update client from seeing the
Defender files and finding if there are updates to it. Why do you not
want Defender to get updated? Updating it doesn't enable it.

The WU client used to keep reporting updates to Skype. I don't have
Skype installed on my computer. However, MS Office incorporates some
Skype features and that's probably what keeps triggering the Skype
updates. I select to hide those updates each time they appear. I'm not
installing Skype to then update it for a program that I don't want but
that won't stop the WU client from finding there are applicable updates
for Skype.

Are you sure you are seeing an update to Defender and perhaps instead
are seeing the Malicious Software Removal Tool offered? That shows up
monthly. It is not an update. It is an self-contained malware scanner
that downloads, runs, reports if it found malware (within its limited
database), and then should delete its downloaded file (if it found no
malware in its limited list) - until the next month when it gets offered
again.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...-software-remo

"Windows Defender" is a service enable by the OS. You can disable it
with msconfig or equivalent. See my 3/31 posting below. I left it
'cause can use all protection available and I don't think it's heavy
on resources.