I am using Windows 7 Home Premium x64 with SP 1, AVG Free (Real-Time protection) and MalwareBytes Free (On-Demand protection) are installed, and Defender is enabled (Real-Time protection).
After installing AVG Free in early July, I checked Windows Defender and it did disable automatically.
However, I checked Defender again in early Aug and it was enabled again so obviously it turned itself back on after an update.
1. Why doesn't Defender recognize that AVG is installed and disable itself automatically?
2a. Does AVG Free Anti-Virus provide Anti-Virus protection AND Anti-Spyware protection, AND Anti-Malware protection?
b. If the answer is yes, can Defender be turned off (since AVG provides this protection) and can MalwareBytes be uninstalled (since AVG provides this protection and the other two programs would conflict with it) OR should Defender be left enabled AND should AVG and MalwareBytes be left installed because all three programs WORK TOGETHER and provide DIFFERENT areas of protection?
c) Am I correct that Defender only provides Anti-Spyware protection AND Anti-Malware protection and MalwareBytes only provides Anti-Malware protection?
Rajarajan: You stated that Windows Defender' gets automatically disabled by AVG and gets automatically enabled only if AVG is not completely functional. '
1. My AVG is functioning and updating normally but Defender is still enabled. Should AVG be uninstalled and reinstalled and then Defender will become disabled again OR should I just disable Defender manually?
2. You state that Defender and MalwareBytes should be disabled but Alan states that MalwareBytes works together with AVG.
Hello Simon, We wish to keep you informed that 'Windows Defender' gets automatically disabled by AVG since it is always not recommended to use more than one Antivirus programs. 'Defender' gets automatically enabled only if AVG is not completely functional. What was the status of your AVG when 'Windows defender' was enabled automatically? Yes, we would like to confirm that AVG Anti-Virus Free provides Anti-Virus protection, Anti-Spyware protection and Anti-Malware protection. We would recommend you disabling Defender and MalwareBytes since using more than one AV programs could lead to conflicting issues. To know more information on the available features of 'Defender' and 'MalwareBytes', we suggest you to contact the respective support team. Thank you.
Hello Simon, We wish to keep you informed that 'Windows Defender' gets automatically disabled by AVG since it is always not recommended to use more than one Antivirus programs. 'Defender' gets automatically enabled only if AVG is not completely functional. What was the status of your AVG when 'Windows defender' was enabled automatically? Yes, we would like to confirm that AVG Anti-Virus Free provides Anti-Virus protection, Anti-Spyware protection and Anti-Malware protection. We would recommend you disabling Defender and MalwareBytes since using more than one AV programs could lead to conflicting issues. To know more information on the available features of 'Defender' and 'MalwareBytes', we suggest you to contact the respective support team. Thank you.
Simon, Windows Defender is a software product that attempts to detect and remove malware. It was first released as a free antispyware program download for Windows XP, shipped with Windows Vista and Windows 7 and made into a full antivirus program replacing Microsoft Security Essentials as part of Windows 8 and later versions. The Malwarebytes free version doesn't have residential protection so it's OK to use in addition to AVG. Have a look @ this AVG article (http://avgclick.me/ConflictingApps). AVG Guru
Simon, when AVG Antivirus is installed, Defender should turn off automatically. You can also try reinstalling AVG and check whether Defender is getting disabled automatically. Also you can have the MalwareBytes Free which only on-demand scanner, it won't conflict with AVG.
It is always not recommended to have two antivirus program running on the same PC. As suggested by Alan, Malwarebytes would not conflict with any antivirus program. We request you to uninstall Defender and have the AVG Antivirus program installed so that AVG antivirus can work perfectly without conflicting with Defender.