Using RegEdit to disable Windows Defender in Windows 11

From what I've found, there is a few Windows Firewall services which are required for Windows to actually detect and install updates.

Thnk you Gemini, great post mate

Hey Folks. I just wanted to post an update on the results of my endeavor to fully eliminate Windows Defender FW in Win 11.

So, I tried the Toggle Defender batch file mentioned on page one by Spartan and it seemed to resolve the active/inactive conflict that I was experiencing in Windows Security under Providers as Windows FW now shows off instead of on. However, it did not disable the Windows Defender FW protected service in services, which is always running. I also applied the registry tweaks outlined by the OP, Alan Jr as running the Toggle Defender batch file did not set any of those registry keys to 4 for off/disabed, but they did not disable the protected service in services either after a reboot.

I managed to come across a piece of info that did work though and all it involved was going to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\mpssvc
and setting the DWORD start to 4 and then rebooting. Safe mode not required.

After the reboot, which went fine, the Windows Defender FW protected service now shows disabled and my PC was able to reach a CPU idle state even faster than before after the restart.

For anyone looking to use a 3rd party FW/AV program instead of Windows Defender AV/FW, I would recommend performing all three of Toggle Defender batch file, editing the OP recommended reg keys by setting the start to 4 and editing the mpssvc reg key start to 4. This appears to be the most effective and complete means of rendering Windows Defender FW moot in Win 11.

Additionally, I would like to mention that Windows Update seems to work fine, but I did decide to set the Windows Update service, wuauserv, to Auto (Delayed Start) just to be safe.

As it stands right now, with 4 browser pages open, along with task manager and services open, my CPU usage is sitting between 1 and 4 percent while my disk usage is at 0 percent and my memory usage is at 12% with all my startups including MWB Premium and Comodo FW running.

I hope others find this info useful in the future.

AlanJr said:

Using RegEdit to disable Windows Defender in Windows 11
An alternative way to disable Windows Defender in Windows 10 or 11 is to use the registry. For this, you will also need to boot into safe mode. Follow step 1 from the previous chapter to boot into safe mode.

Once booted in Safe Mode: (Win key + R,,select Boot tab and then select safe boot)

1. Press Windows key + R
2. Type regedit <enter> to open the registry
3. Use the "Find" feature and locate each folder below and click to change "start" from "3" to "4"
   • Sense
   • WdBoot
   • WdFilter
   • WdNisDrv
   • WdNisSvc
   • WinDefend
4. Exit out of Safe Mode

Revert the change
If you no longer want to disable Windows Defender you can easily revert the change. You will need to restart into safe mode again and give System and Trusted Installer full access permission on the Platform folder.

When you used the registry method, then restore the values to:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Sense\Start 3
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WdBoot\Start 0
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WdFilter\Start 0
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WdNisDrv\Start 3
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WdNisSvc\Start 3
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend\Start 2

Click to expand...

Why on earth would I want to disable Windows Defender? It's one of the most valuable security measures on my computers.

OldNavy said:

Sordum software also do a freebee called Defender Control along with other useful windows tweakers.

Click to expand...

though you will need to add an exception or add the defender control app onto the exclusion list first before windows defender or any other AV app (with their latest definition/detection updates) will detect and delete defender control

I removed Defender root and stem with NtLite. I have not ran an antivirus program nor had any issues with viruses/malware since the younger times of XP.

I would rather have as much of my processor/ram doing what I want it to do and not what is unnecessary. This goes for all the other windows stuff I don't need.

Windows Defender can Significantly Impact Intel CPU Performance, We have the Fix​

Second paragraph: "AMD processors are not affected."

Spartan said:

Why all this hassle??


1) Download ToggleDefender to fully disable Windows Defender and Smart Screen in one click

2) Download and run the Disable Defender.reg and all the services would be disabled

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

;Microsoft Defender Antivirus Service
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend]
"Start"=dword:00000004

;Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WdNisSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

;Windows Defender Antivirus Network Inspection System Driver
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WdNisDrv]
"Start"=dword:00000004

;Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Service
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Sense]
"Start"=dword:00000004

Click to expand...

thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu