Windows 10: Permanently Disable Windows Defender?

Reg tweaks didn't work for me, since you can't edit those entries (access denied). Taskkill doesn't work either (access denied). Running as admin or just plain user with admin rights. There was no Windows Defender option in gpedit. None of these tips work. Even tried out Windows 10 safe mode, but even in safe mode Windows Defender is up and running and those registry entries are access denied...

But I did find a way to really permanently disable WD.

Boot up eg. Win 7 installation
Press Shift + F10 to open CMD
Go to your system drive (eg. C: )
Open up the Program Files folder (cd "Program Files")
Rename Windows Defender folder to something else (rename "Windows Defender" somethingelse)
Create a new file called Windows Defender (eg. echo something > "Windows Defender")
Reboot and remove installation media.
Done.

Windows can't find or run Windows Defender because the folder and the nasty .exe files inside are no longer where they're supposed to be. It also can't restore or reinstall Windows Defender since there's already a file or folder called Windows Defender.

Notes:
Do not open Windows Defender in Settings. Settings will crash.
Opening Windows Defender in Control Panel gives out an error.
To restore WD, just delete the file you created, rename somethingelse to Windows Defender and reboot your PC.

 

I have never known this to be the case. It usually disables yes, but it can be turned back on. I've never seen it just remove itself permanently. At the most your AV install might remove MSE if you have it, but not windows defender.

 

My problem was: clicking on a program (application) took a long time to open. I traced the source of this problem to Defender. I will not go into the gaudy details of the countless hours to somehow correct it. Then I stumbled upon your thread to Permanently Disable Windows Defender. Once disabled, all my problems disappeared.
Thank you again.

 

Above method is pretty simple and it disabled my windows 10 defender thing. Which I hate. Hehe.

 

Thank You

 

I'm on latest Dev edition after the anniversary update and simply used a defender script for regedit to turn it off, you might still get updates for it but they fail download. I turned them off in group policy so now I never see anything defender related ever now. I use malwarebytes and avast in tandem and it's worked perfectly for years. Win Defender is a useless app IMO and almost any malware or virus knows how to get around it. First thing I disable on a new install, it's a joke.