Windows Defender

Question

Hi All

Is it possible to uninstall Windows Defender on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019. I would like to uninstall windows defender on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 as we use third party Antivirus. Will there be any issue at the OS level if i uninstall Windows Defender, experts how do i uninstall windows defender.

Answer 1

Usually, the third party Antivirus will automatically take care of this for you.

Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name Windows-Defender  

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Answer 2

Hi RogerRoger-2394,

There’s no direct way to uninstall Defender. There should be no need to uninstall Defender. When the third party antivirus is installed it should deactivate Defender and leave it dormant.

If you own Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you can use Group Policy to permanently disable Microsoft Defender. There are two things you need to do:

Go to Start.

Look for “Windows Security.”

Go to “Virus and threat protection.”

Find the “Manage settings” option and click on it.

Click on the slider to turn off “Tamper Protection.”

After you’ve finished, you can proceed to round two:

Go to Start.

Type “gpedit.msc” into Search.

Click on the first result to access “Local Group Policy.”
Open the following in this order: Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

Double-tap on the “Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus.”

Click on the circle next to the word “Enable.”

Select the “Apply” button, and then click on “OK.”
Go back to Start to restart the computer.
After restarting your computer, Windows 10 Defender will be permanently disabled. The icon can sometimes linger on your Taskbar, but that doesn’t mean the process wasn’t successful. It actually refers to the Windows Security app, not the antivirus itself.

I hope this answers your question.

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Answer 3

is this GPO applicable for windows server 2019 and 2016

Answer 4

Hi,

Our application had been treated as ransomeware by Windows Defender, how to find out what causing the trigger so we can correct it?

Best regards,

Chatsuda