Windows Defender in Windows 10 Won't run

I've upgraded from Windows 7 Home version where I used Microsoft Security essentials as my anti virus. Having upgraded Windows defender won't run. I get the notice 'Started then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs'. I guess there is some switch or other that Defender is checking to see if I have another anti virus running (which I haven't). Can anyone help me solve this problem. Please.

I've just discovered lurking in the background Microsoft security Essentials still running (though I couldn't find this via control panel). So, how do I turn off MS Sec Ess to allow Windows Defender to run ?

Thanks

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Answer
Answer

Unfortunately, at the moment I have bad news for you.

There have been several reports of the Windows 10 upgrade from Windows 7 with Microsoft Security Essentials installed has left MSE on the machine and disabled Defender. The uninstall procedures for MSE do not appear to work.

See this Wiki article:  Uninstalling Microsoft Security Essentials

In another thread, someone reported that they booted to safe mode and removed all registry keys related to Microsoft Security Essentials manually and disabled the startup service from services. While this worked, I suggest that you back up your data files and do a reset of Windows 10 which will turn your upgrade into a clean install. You will need to reinstall all programs and restore your data.

-steve

^_^

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Question Info

Last updated April 16, 2020 Views 31,055 Applies to: