Disable Defender
Overview
This category contains privacy scripts for Windows.
These changes use Windows system commands to update your settings.
This category offers scripts to disable Windows security components related to Defender. Defender is also referred to as Microsoft Defender 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 or Windows Defender 3 6 7 8. Although designed to protect you, its features may compromise your privacy and decrease computer performance.
Privacy concerns include:
- Sending personal data to Microsoft for analysis 1 2 9. This allows Microsoft to collect and potentially access your sensitive information.
- Flagging attempts to block Microsoft's telemetry (data collection) as security threats 3 10. This prevents users from controlling what data Microsoft collects about them.
- Incorrectly identifying privacy-enhancing scripts from privacy.sexy as malicious software 4. This discourages users from using tools designed to protect their privacy.
- Defender itself may introduce vulnerabilities 11 12. This can potentially allow attackers to exploit Defender's own features or implementation flaws. Despite being a security product, it increases your system's attack surface.
Turning off Defender also improves your computer's speed by freeing up system resources 5.
However, disabling these features may result in:
- Potential program malfunctions 13, as these security features are integral to Windows 6.
- Lowered defenses against malware and other online threats.
These scripts mainly target the built-in Defender features. Most Defender services that come with Microsoft 365 subscriptions remain largely unaffected 7 8. However, the scripts may impact additional Defender products not included in the standard Windows installation, such as Defender for Endpoint.
These scripts may reduce your security and cause issues with software relying on them. Consider an alternative security solution or careful security practices to maintain protection.
Be careful running these scripts. This category includes scripts with high impact:
- 🔴 Some not recommended scripts. They should only be used by advanced users. They may break important functionality.
- 🟡 Some recommended scripts only if you understand its implications. Some non-critical or features may no longer function correctly after running this this category.
Implementation Details
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Language: batch
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Scripts Count: 212 scripts
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Subcategories: 50
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Required Privileges: Administrator rights
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Compatibility: Windows only
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Reversibility: All changes can be reverted
Apply now
These scripts are written using Batch (batchfile) scripting language.
Choose one of two ways to apply:
- Automatically via privacy.sexy: The easiest and safest option.
- Manually by downloading: Requires downloading a file.
Alternative 1. Apply with Privacy.sexy
privacy.sexy is free and open-source application that lets securely apply this action easily.
It allows selectively choose parts of this action to conduct. You can fully restore this action (revert back to the original behavior) using the application. Additionally, you can apply only the recommended scripts, instead of applying all of the scripts.
privacy.sexy instructions
- Open or download the desktop application
- Search for the category name:
Disable Defender. - Check the category by clicking on the checkbox of the category.
- Click on Run button at the bottom of the page.
Alternative 2. Download
You can choose to apply only scripts with less impact or also those with higher impact:
Strict
Recommended if you understand its implications. It may cause some non-critical features to no longer function correctly.
All
Not recommended for daily use as it breaks important functionality. It provides military-grade privacy, for special use-cases. Do not run it without having backups and system snapshots.
Consider restarting your computer for all changes to take affect.
This action is completely reversible, you can restore your changes to the initial/default state. The restore/revert methods provided here can help you fix issues.
If something goes wrong, use the Revert script provided above.
Strict
This script includes Standard and Strict recommendation levels.
This script is only recommended if you understand their implications of every single change. Some non-critical or features may no longer function correctly after running this script.
Download Strict scripts:
Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:
All
This script includes Standard, Strict recommendation levels along with unrecommended scripts.
This script should only be used by advanced users. Some of these changes are NOT recommended for daily use as it breaks important functionality. Do not run it without having backups and system snapshots.
Download all scripts:
Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:
Explore further
This category includes total of 212 scripts and 50 subcategories.
Explore its 9 subcategories:
Disable Defender data collection
This category features scripts designed to reduce or eliminate data collection by Defender. Disabling these features enhances privacy by limiting the information shared with Microsoft. Although Microsoft Defender offers security benefits, it also collects data for analysis, service improvement, and threat detection. However, this data collection may raise privacy concerns for users. The scripts in this category allow you to: 1. Minimize the data sent to Microsoft about your system and Defender u...
Disable system modification restrictions
This category disables features that restrict system modifications in Windows. This enables deeper system modifications, enhancing privacy by allowing the removal or disabling of data-collecting components like Defender. These features raise several concerns: Less user control: • Users can't fully control what software runs on their own machines. • It moves security control from device owners to hardware manufacturers and software vendors. • Vendor lock-in: • It restricts the ability to use,...
Disable Defender Antivirus
This category provides scripts to disable Defender Antivirus. Defender Antivirus, integrated into Windows, provides protection against viruses, ransomware, and other types of malware. Disabling Defender Antivirus may improve system performance and privacy by stopping related data collection However, disabling it may severely compromise your system's security if not complemented by proper security practices. Carefully consider the trade-off before proceeding. Defender Antivirus comes with fol...
Disable Defender Firewall
This category provides scripts to disable the Defender Firewall. This firewall serves as a security gate for your computer. It controls network traffic to and from a computer. It blocks all incoming traffic by default and allows outgoing traffic. It enables users to block connections. For enhanced security, users can require a VPN for all connections with IPSec rules. This can protect your computer from unauthorized access. Microsoft has renamed the firewall several times to reflect branding cha...
Disable Defender for Endpoint
This category provides scripts to disable Defender for Endpoint, a security platform that impacts user privacy. Defender for Endpoint is officially known as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. It was previously called Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). It is designed to protect enterprise networks from advanced threats. An advanced threat, also known as an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), is a type of cyber attack that uses continuous, covert, and sophisticated me...
Disable SmartScreen
This category focuses on disabling the SmartScreen and its features and components. SmartScreen is known also as "Windows SmartScreen", "Windows Defender SmartScreen", "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen", "Phishing Filter", and "SmartScreen Filter". It protects users from phishing attacks, malware websites, and potentially harmful downloads by assessing webpage safety and comparing sites and downloads against lists of known threats. However, it also sends URLs and file information to Microsoft serv...
Disable Windows Security interface
This category offers scripts to disable or modify different aspects of the Windows Security user interface, formerly known as Windows Defender Security Center. Windows Security is a centralized interface managing various Windows security features. It evolved from Windows Defender, initially a standalone antivirus with its own interface. Over time, Microsoft separated the management interface from the core antivirus component. The evolution of Windows Security: 1. With launch of W...
Disable Defender Exploit Guard
This category disables Defender Exploit Guard, potentially enhancing privacy and system performance. Exploit Guard is also called Windows Defender Exploit Guard or Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard. This component has been a built-in feature of Windows 10 since version 1709. It's the successor to the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET). Exploit Guard uses Microsoft Cloud for machine learning and to check websites and IP addresses. Disabling it may enhance privacy by preventi...
Disable outdated Defender Application Guard
This category provides scripts to disable the deprecated Defender Application Guard, a feature originally designed to protect business environments. Defender Application Guard is also referred to as Microsoft Defender Application Guard (MDAG). It was formerly known as Windows Defender Application Guard. It uses hardware isolation to protect against internet-based attacks. It creates Hyper-V-enabled containers to isolate potentially harmful content. MDAG consists of two main components: | Com...
Explore Categories
This action belongs to Privacy over security category. This category configures Windows using 254 scripts. These scripts are organized in 57 categories. The category includes 3 subcategories that include more scripts and categories. Read more on category page ▶
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