Start Windows Defender after shutting down third party AV

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Am trying to follow Susan’s instructions to enable the Attack Surface Reduction (ASR). I have Webroot AV and Malwarebytes. I shut both off, but do not find a place to turn Defender on. The only option I see when third party apps are ON is to have Defender periodically check for threats.

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It should be automatic:

Turn Microsoft Defender Antivirus back on

Microsoft Defender Antivirus will automatically turn on if no other antivirus is currently active. You’ll need to turn the third-party antivirus completely off to ensure Microsoft Defender Antivirus can run with full functionality.

Troubleshoot Microsoft Defender Antivirus while migrating from a third-party solution

Have you restarted the computer?

How to confirm the state of Microsoft Defender Antivirus

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ken

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No, I did not restart. I first shut down Webroot AV, just got warning, but no Defender. Later I disconnected from Internet, shut down Webroot AV and Malwarebytes Pro, no Defender, just warning.

Should I shut down both or only AV?

 

 

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Try shutting down both and then restarting.

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Ken,

Uninstall both WebRoot and Malwarebytes.

Reboot

Defender should now be in control.

Reinstall Malwarebytes Pro but when given the option DO NOT REGISTER with Windows. This leaves Defender as Primary AV and Malwarebytes as secondary but still doing active scans. I’ve run this way for years w/o issue.

Forget about Webroot you don’t need it.

HTH

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Ken

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I followed your instructions, but after rebooting, both third party apps were ON, and Defender was in passive mode. I had turned off the apps using the hidden icons in the task bar: should I have used some other way to turn them off?

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Webroot is a royal PITA to get rid of – even worse if it expires – at least in my opinion. Based on my experiences with it a few years back, I don’t care how good it MAY be, I wouldn’t let it near my machines as it takes over. I have uninstalled many A/Vs over the last years and Defender always came up just fine afterwards. My guess is Webroot may be causing your issue. I don’t play anymore – if Webroot is installed we nuke and go fresh. Just my opinion.

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The only reason I am looking to go back to Defender is due to Susan’s instructions about ASR. Everything about Microsoft has been suspect for years, why should I trust Defender now? I have used Webroot and Malwarebytes for years without any problems. Please give me convincing reasons to change. As they say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Correct?

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Ken,

RetiredGeek’s instruction were to uninstall both apps, not just turn them off.

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The only reason I am looking to go back to Defender is due to Susan’s instructions about ASR. Everything about Microsoft has been suspect for years, why should I trust Defender now? I have used Webroot and Malwarebytes for years without any problems. Please give me convincing reasons to change. As they say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Correct?

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Ken,

I’ve been running Defender and Malwarebytes Pro on multiple machines w/o issue for years dating back to when it was Microsoft Security Essentials. Why would you need to mess with WebRoot?

Defender and MBP play very nicely together if installed as per my previous post.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

2 users thanked author for this post.

wavy, access-mdb

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Ken,

We’re not trying to convince you to suddenly trust/use Defender, we’re trying to help you enable ASR.

One of the requirements for ASR to work is Microsoft Defender Antivirus must be running with real-time protection in “Active” mode.

The catch here is, if a 3rd party AV product was installed as the “default” Antivirus protection (i.e. Malwarebytes, Webroot, etc., etc.), Defender automatically enters “Passive” mode. Microsoft did this because having 2 “different” AV products trying to protect a system at the same time can cause lots of problems (sometimes they’ll fight with each other to control what’s allowed to run on the PC.)

Note: as was pointed out by RetiredGeek, “some” 3rd party AV products like Malwarebytes can be setup to work hand-in-hand with Defender in Active mode, but may require special installation procedures.

Your problem is you currently have 3rd party AV programs installed as the “default” Antivirus protection for your system which forces Defender to always be in Passive mode.

At this point, the only way to get Defender into Active mode is:

1. Uninstall your 3rd party AV products (Defender “should” automatically enter Active mode once they’re gone.)
2. Reboot.
3. Reinstall your 3rd party AV products without setting any of them as the “default” Antivirus protection for your system.
4. Enable ASR.

RetiredGeek already covered how to install Malwarebytes while keeping Defender in Active mode.

Unfortunately, a quick web search shows Webroot has no optional install procedure to keep Defender in Active mode (i.e. it’ll revert to Passive mode once Webroot is installed.)

So, if you “really” want to enable ASR, you’ll have to forgo using Webroot.

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RetiredGeek

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Followed your instructions, reinstalled MBP but was not asked about registering with Windows. Now only have MBP, no Defender. Now what? Unable reinstall Webroot, it keeps asking me for more money!

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If installing Malwarebytes Premium disables Windows Defender or your 3rd party antivirus software, you’ll need to change a setting in Malwarebytes. Follow these steps:

Open Malwarebytes, and click Settings.

In the Security tab, scroll down to Windows Security Center section.

Disable the option Always register Malwarebytes in the Windows Security Center

Fix: Malwarebytes Disables Windows Defender or 3rd Party Anti-Virus

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Ken

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