Avast Turns Off Defender

VFN

Member
Updated to the new version of Avast a few days ago and Defender won't open. Instead I get a group policy message. Someone on the Avast forum said that this is how things work now. Does it matter if Defender is off if Avast is on?

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
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    Samsung 32" HDTV
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    1366 x 768
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    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
Creating group policy registry keys to prevent users from turning Windows Defender back on does seem rather drastic, but obviously Avast does not think it is a good idea to run Windows Defender alongside their antivirus. I'm surprised by all the opposition: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=189162.0.

Like you, I used the old Windows Defender antispyware along with a third-party antivirus for years without any major disaster. How many threats did Defender stop? Zero, but it made me feel more secure. Then one day, AVG antivirus detected something. I visited the old AVG Forums and found that many others were getting the same detection, and that it was a false positive caused by interaction with Defender. Not long after that, AVG released a program update that turned off Defender. (I gave up AVG two years ago and do not recommend it.)

Someone in the Avast thread suggested that using Defender should be harmless if you turn off the real-time protection and only use it for scanning. Well, after giving up AVG I tried Panda for a while. I got a false positive the very first time I ran a full scan with Defender! (For on-demand scanning it's hard to beat Malwarebytes Free, but there's also Microsoft Safety Scanner: https://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx.)

Now I'm using using Microsoft Security Essentials, which is much better than is generally believed. Installing MSE disables and replaces Defender, and I have not even attempted to turn Defender back on, having learned my lesson. The answer to your question is no: It does not matter if Defender is off. If you are going to place your faith in Avast, then you should trust their judgment regarding Defender.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Thanks. Very helpful.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    Sempron LE-1300
    Memory
    2GB DDR SDRAM 800MHZ-2X1GB DIM M
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200
    Sound Card
    VIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    320GB NCQ Serial ATA (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache
Don't have two antivirus programs running at the same time
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD
    1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp
    1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset.
    Only ever used a laptop.
    Also use USB Freeview TV Card
    Lenovo Docking Station
    External Speakers
    Other bits a pieces as needed
Don't have two antivirus programs running at the same time
Defenders of Defender might retort, "It's not antivirus, it's just antispyware" - a meaningless distinction perpetuated by Microsoft via Security Center. Strictly speaking, only a small percentage of online threats are viruses these days. The more serious threats are mostly trojans, while those who download freeware from third-party sites are plagued by potentially unwanted programs. The effectiveness of Malwarebytes against PUPs that antivirus products generally ignored gave rise to another retort, "It's not antivirus, it's antimalware." Well, all malicious software is "malware," so all security software is antimalware - in fact the term "antimalware" is slowly replacing "antivirus."
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
I still say and will always say anti-virus to mean any anti-malware solution for some reason. :D
But hey, Vistaar is right.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Packard Bell imedia s3210
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(tm) 7450 Dual Core Processor (2.40GHz)
    Memory
    2.00GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8200
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