[ RESOLVED ] Windows 10 Windows Defender is off because you have an existing AV program.

[Sardonik]

My previous version of Malwarebytes was compatible with Windows Defender.  I renewed my Malwarebytes subscription on 11/05/17.  Now I get a pop-up message:  "PC: status:  Windows Defender Antivirus is OFF".  Windows Defender Antivirus is off because you have an existing AV program.  Uninstall your existing AV program to turn on Windows Defender Antivirus."

Can you please instruct me how to make both Malwarebytes and Windows Defender compatible?

Thank you.

 

[digmorcrusher]

Use this setting, should fix it.

[dprout69]

You cannot have two dominant AV's at the same time.  What the above is telling you is that Malwarebytes is your dominant.  If Malwarebytes were to turn off, then WD would turn on automatically.  It's always been like that.  If you want Malwarebytes as the dominant you can still have WD do periodic scanning... WD security center > Virus and Threat Protection > WD Antivirus options > Periodic Scanning on.  If you want WD as the dominant then do as digmorcrusher stated.   

[Porthos]

1 hour ago, dprout69 said:

You cannot have two dominant AV's at the same time.  What the above is telling you is that Malwarebytes is your dominant.  If Malwarebytes were to turn off, then WD would turn on automatically.  It's always been like that.  If you want Malwarebytes as the dominant you can still have WD do periodic scanning... WD security center > Virus and Threat Protection > WD Antivirus options > Periodic Scanning on.  If you want WD as the dominant then do as digmorcrusher stated.   

Post #2 is all you need to do. I would not do the above because you will lose your real-time AV protection that works well with MB. 

Edited December 10, 2017 by Porthos

[ICMCD]

Is there any necessity to have Malwarebytes and WD at the same, or would that be duplicating functions?

[dprout69]

11 hours ago, Porthos said:

Post #2 is all you need to do. I would not do the above because you will lose your real-time AV protection that works well with MB. 

Not true.  You don't lose anything no matter which way you set it up.  The only difference between register and not register is Malwarebytes doesn't try to fight for dominance if not registered.  Everything else still works the same way.  I run Avast as my primary, WD as my secondary and MB as my tertiary and MB still chimes in from time to time

Edited December 10, 2017 by dprout69

[dprout69]

1 hour ago, ICMCD said:

Is there any necessity to have Malwarebytes and WD at the same, or would that be duplicating functions?

It's not duplication... every AV has different signatures and different ways they handle scanning.  More is better, layers are better as long as you get them to work properly with each other.  Again, you cannot have two dominant at the same time but you can have them assist each other as I explained above.  Period scanning in WD is designed to run as a secondary when you have another AV present.

Edited December 10, 2017 by dprout69

[ICMCD]

Thanks dprout69. I've followed your instructions to have MB as the dominant one, with WD undertaking period scanning.

[Porthos]

3 hours ago, ICMCD said:

I've followed your instructions to have MB as the dominant one, with WD undertaking period scanning.

Period scanning is not the same as active protection. MB is not a true AV and turingWD to period "scanning" reduces your protection. 

 

4 hours ago, dprout69 said:

I run Avast as my primary, WD as my secondary and MB as my tertiary and MB still chimes in from time to time

You are running Avast, That is your AV which turns WD to periodic scanning only which is fine in your case. @ICMCD asked if WD would conflict. MB only detects or stops a bad file when it is either scanned or opened not when it is downloaded or when the folder in which resides is opened or even copied, A true AV will.

 

5 hours ago, ICMCD said:

Is there any necessity to have Malwarebytes and WD at the same, or would that be duplicating functions?

They do not duplicate functions, They work differently albeit have the same goal, to protect your computer. They may protect from some of the same threats but there are files that MB does not scan.

Malwarebytes does not target script files. That means MB will not target; JS, HTML, VBS, .CLASS, SWF, BAT, CMD, PDF, PHP, etc.

It also does not target documents such as; PDF, DOC, DOCx, XLS, XLSx, PPT, PPS, ODF, etc.

It also does not target media files;  MP3, WMV, JPG, GIF, etc.

AV programs like WD, Avast, etc do.

 

[bru]

On 12/9/2017 at 7:05 PM, Porthos said:

Post #2 is all you need to do. I would not do the above because you will lose your real-time AV protection that works well with MB. 

Use this setting, should fix it.

I had the same thing happen on all my systems recently.  I had not renewed anything.  I believe it was related to a Defender update.

Previously I had the top setting (Let Malwarebytes apply the best...) and Defender's Real-time protection was also on.  What I did was first turn on Defender from its UI (I use the old UI) and then on MBAM select the middle setting (Never register...), this turns on Defender's Real-time.  Then I go back and change to the top setting and Defender's Real-time remains on, as does MBAM's.  That's how I want it.

Edited December 11, 2017 by bru

[jacobtony]

Windows 10 Defender Security Center Features to Protect PC

Windows Defender is not a completely new feature to a Windows operating system, it was there before in previous Windows versions. One may remember that in earlier versions of Windows there was a Windows Defender application which is basically an Anti-Virus app built into the operating system. This app could notify it was active, whether the virus definitions were up to date and when the last scan was, that was it.

Windows Defender Security features have built in Antivirus protection in addition to the firewall and Network protection. Windows Family options give you more control on your portable devices and also you can keep an eye on device health with Device Performance and Health feature implemented on Windows 10 OS.

 

Edited December 12, 2017 by AdvancedSetup
Removed external link

[AdvancedSetup]

Original posting user has not returned to the post. The topic has been answered though so I will close and mark as resolved.

Thanks

 

[AdvancedSetup]

Closing this topic as it's been resolved.