Easy registry hack makes Windows Defender an adware killer

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by alexxf, Nov 28, 2015.

  1. xomniversex

    xomniversex MDL Member

    Sep 20, 2012
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    #21 xomniversex, Dec 1, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017
    From admin prompt issue:
    Code:
    REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine" /v MpEnablePus /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
     
  2. Jari

    Jari MDL Senior Member

    Jan 18, 2013
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    This is too strict policy (even might be good policy for enterprise). It removed new utorrent and freefilesync setup files. Well, it is like some other AV programs now, with false positives :p
     
  3. ultimate_live

    ultimate_live MDL Expert

    Mar 15, 2011
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  4. PaulDesmond

    PaulDesmond MDL Magnet

    Aug 6, 2009
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    tried it on one machine and all ad is eliminated:tasty:
     
  5. bjf2000

    bjf2000 MDL Expert

    Apr 11, 2008
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    I've come to the same conclusion. Having this enabled (which I actually had forgotten that I had enabled, leading me to be somewhat puzzled by Defender's change in behavior) reminds me of using AV circa 10 years ago, when whatever I was using back then would false-positive me to death. One of the hallmarks of Defender was that it didn't do that. Maybe that's because it wasn't very good, but no matter.

    This option is off by default for good reason.
     
  6. El_Heffe

    El_Heffe MDL Member

    Jul 16, 2007
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    I thought tweaks were what you do on Tweaker:eek:
     
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  7. Enthousiast

    Enthousiast MDL Tester

    Oct 30, 2009
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    You hack the registry to tweak windows defender ;):D
     
  8. bjf2000

    bjf2000 MDL Expert

    Apr 11, 2008
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    This Registry setting is re-enabled in recent Defender builds, so it appears to be the default now.

    The only new things in the Settings page for Defender relative to non-Insider builds are Enhanced notifications and Windows Defender Offline, so unless I'm missing it, if you don't want the feature you'll have to resort to the Registry.