Windows Defender Turned off in Win8

[MrFreedom]

I have searched the forum for the answer to why Win8's Windows Defender is turned off by Malware Fighter Pro 2.0. I have ASC6 Pro 6.3 installed also, not ASCU6. Anyway, it seems that even though neither program has antivirus (or maybe I'm mistaken), when I installed MF 2.0 is when Windows defender was automatically turned off. My question is can MF 2.0 be used as a stand alone antivirus program to compliment ASC6 Pro or should I really have an antivirus program installed and running with the two? The only way I can turn Windows Defender back on is to uninstall MF Pro 2.0. and just use ASC6 Pro 6.3 alone. What are your recommendations. Thanks in advance.

[Scannan]

Hi MrFreedom

 

Welcome to the forum. Firstly, it is strange that MF is turning off Windows Defender. I have noticed that there have been issues with W8 and Windows Defender. I do not use W8, but hopefully another user may have an answer to the issue.

 

Malware Fighter is an Anti-Malware program and should not be confused with an anti-virus program. You should have an antivirus program on your pc, as it is extremely vulnerable to attack and or damage without one. You should make it a priority to install one asap.

 

iobit have ASCU which includes an antivirus program which is highly regarded. There are many other programs available also.

[MrFreedom]

Thanks for the quick reply Scannan. I uninstalled MF and turned Windows Defender back on. I'll just use it with ASC6 Pro. Thanks for the help.

[Scannan]

Glad to be of help. I looked a bit further and found that the reason Windows Defender was switched off by MF is because WD is a combination anti-Malware and Anti-Virus program on W8. Therefore MF switched it of to prevent realtime protection conflict. So it really boils down to deciding which program you feel gives you the best protection.

 

Rather than uninstalling MF, maybe you should keep it as an additional protection which you could run manually a few times a week which would give you additional security, as it may find malware that Defender misses. In the settings you can set MF not to load at startup, ( which should prevent it from switching Defender off) and just run it manually when you wish. You may have to switch defender back on after each manual run of MF.

 

Here is a good link explaining Windows Defender.

[MrFreedom]

Thanks for the info Scannan. I loaded Malwarebytes Pro and it runs without shutting Defender down. I read a recent review of Malware Fighter in PC Mag and it wasn't very complimentary at all. I'm going to stick with the setup I now have of ASC6 Pro, Malwarebytes Pro and Windows Defender all running and protecting my machine. I've read elsewhere this is a good security setup. So I'm good now. Thanks.

[Cicely]

Hi MrFreedom and Scannan,

 

MrFreedom, thanks for your feedback. Scannan has explained the issue clearly. As Scannan mentioned" It is because because WD is a combination anti-Malware and Anti-Virus program on W8. Therefore MF switched it of to prevent realtime protection conflict. " Thanks Scannan's timely reply.:wink:

 

We will look into the reason why Malwarebytes Pro as anti-malware software on your PC will not turn off WD. :-D

[scrd01]

W8

 

Hi ALL,

W8 seems to be totally abitrary in what it defines as an AV, i know IMF is solely an antimalware, i think IObit should advise MS of this.

 

Roy

[Scannan]

scrd01

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly. W8 seems to be incredibly buggy. It seems like MS just ignored all the great programs which worked on W7, and xp, and decided to reinvent the world according to MS.