Cannot disable Windows defender with Malwarebytes Premium.

[OrigamiSS]

So I noticed my Windows defender has been on and I want to disable it and only use Malwarebytes. The option to register with Windows security center is enabled but seems like Windows Defender does not see that I have another anti virus installed.

I am running Win 10 Pro 20H2 build on latest update. Same with Malwarebytes 4.3.0

I know WD should disable it self with other anti virus, is this by design that Malwarebytes doesn't disable WD?

[Malwarebytes]

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[Porthos]

Please do the following Uninstall and reinstall using the Malwarebytes Support Tool

Please have lots of patience with the tool.  The first phase is a cleanup and does require a Windows Restart.
After the Restart, it may take 2 - 3 - 4 minutes till the Support tool screen shows up.   Please be patient and have faith.  Wait for it, whatever it takes.
The 2nd phase is where it offers to do a new Install.

 Let me know if that clears up the issue or not.

[OrigamiSS]

4 hours ago, Porthos said:

Please do the following Uninstall and reinstall using the Malwarebytes Support Tool

 

Please have lots of patience with the tool.  The first phase is a cleanup and does require a Windows Restart.
After the Restart, it may take 2 - 3 - 4 minutes till the Support tool screen shows up.   Please be patient and have faith.  Wait for it, whatever it takes.
The 2nd phase is where it offers to do a new Install.

 

 Let me know if that clears up the issue or not.

 

I did the clean uninstall and reinstall, however did not change anything with windows defender, it is still running after Malwarebytes is installed.

[exile360]

Please open Malwarebytes and go to settings by clicking the small gear icon in the upper right, then select the Security tab and scroll down to the setting for Windows Security Center and toggle it off and then back on again and restart your system, then check to see if Malwarebytes is now registered with Security Center or not.

Please let us know how it goes.

Thanks

[OrigamiSS]

2 minutes ago, exile360 said:

Please open Malwarebytes and go to settings by clicking the small gear icon in the upper right, then select the Security tab and scroll down to the setting for Windows Security Center and toggle it off and then back on again and restart your system, then check to see if Malwarebytes is now registered with Security Center or not.

Please let us know how it goes.

Thanks

No luck  windows defender is still running like normal

[exile360]

What does it show if you open Windows Security and click on Virus & threat protection then click Manage settings under Virus threat protection settings?  Can you please provide a screenshot of that window?

Also, please do the following:

1. Download and run the Malwarebytes Support Tool
2. Accept the EULA and click Advanced tab on the left (not Start Repair)
3. Click the Gather Logs button, and once it completes, attach the zip file it creates on your desktop to your next reply
   

Thanks

[OrigamiSS]

2 minutes ago, exile360 said:

What does it show if you open Windows Security and click on Virus & threat protection then click Manage settings under Virus threat protection settings?  Can you please provide a screenshot of that window?

Also, please do the following:

 

1. Download and run the Malwarebytes Support Tool
2. Accept the EULA and click Advanced tab on the left (not Start Repair)
3. Click the Gather Logs button, and once it completes, attach the zip file it creates on your desktop to your next reply

 

Thanks

See screenshot, I'll upload the log once its done

[OrigamiSS]

mbst-grab-results.zip

[Porthos]

41 minutes ago, OrigamiSS said:

I did the clean uninstall and reinstall

Your latest log shows no sign of using the support tool to do the clean install.

[OrigamiSS]

Just now, Porthos said:

Your latest log shows no sign of using the support tool to do the clean install.

 

mbst-clean-results.txt

[Porthos]

Thanks, just making sure.

[exile360]

I believe I see the problem; Windows Security Center is reading Malwarebytes' as being disabled and also shows that Webroot SecureAnywhere is installed and active:

AntiVirus Information
==================================
Anti-Virus Product : 	Windows Defender
	Up To Date:	Yes	Enabled:	On
Anti-Virus Product : 	Malwarebytes
	Up To Date:	Yes	Enabled:	Off
Anti-Virus Product : 	Webroot SecureAnywhere
	Up To Date:	Yes	Enabled:	On

I also found errors in your MBAMService log file indicating issues with the service that controls protection loading its configuration files for some reason, thought that may be unrelated.

Please try following the instructions in this guide and restarting your system to see if that helps; hopefully it will clear out the obsolete data for Security Center and force it to read and display the correct info which should cause Defender to disable itself automatically.

[OrigamiSS]

6 minutes ago, exile360 said:

I believe I see the problem; Windows Security Center is reading Malwarebytes' as being disabled and also shows that Webroot SecureAnywhere is installed and active:

AntiVirus Information
==================================
Anti-Virus Product : 	Windows Defender
	Up To Date:	Yes	Enabled:	On
Anti-Virus Product : 	Malwarebytes
	Up To Date:	Yes	Enabled:	Off
Anti-Virus Product : 	Webroot SecureAnywhere
	Up To Date:	Yes	Enabled:	On

I also found errors in your MBAMService log file indicating issues with the service that controls protection loading its configuration files for some reason, thought that may be unrelated.

Please try following the instructions in this guide and restarting your system to see if that helps; hopefully it will clear out the obsolete data for Security Center and force it to read and display the correct info which should cause Defender to disable itself automatically.

Interesting... I haven't used Webroot for almost a year now its been uninstalled long time ago. I tried the Windows security center reset you linked and it did not help. In Security Providers it only shows Windows Defender and no webroot or malwarebytes.

[exile360]

The report reads the info directly from the registry, so for some reason the UI and the registry appear to be out of sync and Security Center isn't detecting Malwarebytes for some reason, though I'm not sure why.  Usually such issues are corrected either by a clean install of Malwarebytes, or by toggling the option for Malwarebytes registering in Security Center of and then on again, so I'm not sure what might be causing the problem.

Please try disabling the option for Malwarebytes to register with Security Center again, but this time leave the option disabled, then restart your system, check what it shows in Windows Security to make sure nothing has changed, then re-enable the option for Malwarebytes to register in Security Center and restart the system one more time and see if the issue still occurs or not.

Please let us know how it goes.

Thanks

[OrigamiSS]

11 minutes ago, exile360 said:

The report reads the info directly from the registry, so for some reason the UI and the registry appear to be out of sync and Security Center isn't detecting Malwarebytes for some reason, though I'm not sure why.  Usually such issues are corrected either by a clean install of Malwarebytes, or by toggling the option for Malwarebytes registering in Security Center of and then on again, so I'm not sure what might be causing the problem.

Please try disabling the option for Malwarebytes to register with Security Center again, but this time leave the option disabled, then restart your system, check what it shows in Windows Security to make sure nothing has changed, then re-enable the option for Malwarebytes to register in Security Center and restart the system one more time and see if the issue still occurs or not.

Please let us know how it goes.

Thanks

Just tried, did not change anything

[exile360]

I'm sorry to hear that.  My suspicion is that something is not right with Security Center and that's what is causing this issue, though it is likely that the tools and steps necessary to try and correct it would be beyond those we are authorized to use in this area of the forums.  If you would, please follow the instructions in this topic, skipping any steps you are unable to complete, then create a new topic in our malware removal area by clicking here and a malware removal specialist will guide you in checking the system and further diagnosing the issue.

I don't believe it is related to any infection, however they are able to dive deeper into issues there and use tools and repairs that we don't in the general areas of the forums, and hopefully they will be able to get the issue corrected.

I'm sorry that we were unable to get the issue corrected promptly for you.

[OrigamiSS]

8 minutes ago, exile360 said:

I'm sorry to hear that.  My suspicion is that something is not right with Security Center and that's what is causing this issue, though it is likely that the tools and steps necessary to try and correct it would be beyond those we are authorized to use in this area of the forums.  If you would, please follow the instructions in this topic, skipping any steps you are unable to complete, then create a new topic in our malware removal area by clicking here and a malware removal specialist will guide you in checking the system and further diagnosing the issue.

I don't believe it is related to any infection, however they are able to dive deeper into issues there and use tools and repairs that we don't in the general areas of the forums, and hopefully they will be able to get the issue corrected.

I'm sorry that we were unable to get the issue corrected promptly for you.

Thank you for helping! I have made a new thread in the other section hopefully they can help me with it 

[exile360]

You're welcome.  It could be down to some sort of permissions issue; some of the errors in the MBAMService log seemed to indicate that showing error code 5 which is 'access denied', so perhaps some permissions problem or some other software is causing the setting to be blocked from changing in the registry, resulting in this behavior, but I'd rather something that sensitive be worked on in that area as that would require more advanced tools and methods to diagnose and fix if so.

By the way, just one more thing to try while you await a response in the other thread, though it's not likely to fix it, there is an outside chance.  Try disabling the self-protection in Malwarebytes by going to settings and selecting the Security tab then clicking the Advanced link under the Windows startup and toggling the option for Enable self-protection module to off, then restarting the system and trying to toggle the setting for registering Malwarebytes with the Windows Security Center off and then on again to see if that has any effect.  I doubt it will change anything, but it's worth a try just in case it's some kind of quirk with self-protection causing it for some reason (though it definitely shouldn't be, of course).

[OrigamiSS]

7 minutes ago, exile360 said:

You're welcome.  It could be down to some sort of permissions issue; some of the errors in the MBAMService log seemed to indicate that showing error code 5 which is 'access denied', so perhaps some permissions problem or some other software is causing the setting to be blocked from changing in the registry, resulting in this behavior, but I'd rather something that sensitive be worked on in that area as that would require more advanced tools and methods to diagnose and fix if so.

By the way, just one more thing to try while you await a response in the other thread, though it's not likely to fix it, there is an outside chance.  Try disabling the self-protection in Malwarebytes by going to settings and selecting the Security tab then clicking the Advanced link under the Windows startup and toggling the option for Enable self-protection module to off, then restarting the system and trying to toggle the setting for registering Malwarebytes with the Windows Security Center off and then on again to see if that has any effect.  I doubt it will change anything, but it's worth a try just in case it's some kind of quirk with self-protection causing it for some reason (though it definitely shouldn't be, of course).

as you suspected, it did not do anything. Thanks for the help tonight, I'm off to bed now hopefully I get some replies when I wake up in the morning!

[exile360]

Yeah, that's what I figured.  Have a good rest, and I hope the issue is fixed quickly.

[Maurice Naggar]

@OrigamiSS   Hi.  Please see my replies to the Topic in malware-removal-help section.  Do all the things outlined there.  There are 2 there as of now.

The source of the current issue is a result of having had Webroot installed in the past.  It left policy restrictions that have kept you from doing what you want.

That said, it is not Malwarebytes for Windows that is the originator of the issue.  Also know that "disabling" Microsoft Windows Defender is not the goal.  Rather, it is being able to change it to NOT start automatically.

Please stick with the Topic in malware-removal section.