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Disable outdated Defender Application Guard

Overview​

About this category

This category contains privacy scripts for Windows.

These changes use Windows system commands to update your settings.

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) 1. It was formerly known as Windows Defender Application Guard 2. It uses hardware isolation to protect against internet-based attacks 1. It creates Hyper-V-enabled containers to isolate potentially harmful content 1.

MDAG consists of two main components:

ComponentDescription
Application Guard for Edge 3Isolates untrusted websites in a separate container 1
Application Guard for Office 3Opens untrusted Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files in an isolated environment 1

Microsoft deprecated MDAG in 2023 and no longer provides updates 1 3. Despite this, its components remain present in modern Windows computers 4.

Disabling MDAG can enhance privacy by reducing data collection associated with this feature. It can also improve system performance by eliminating the overhead of running isolated containers. Furthermore, it can increase security by removing outdated software and reducing your attack surface.

However, disabling MDAG may reduce some security protections, particularly for enterprise users. It may also affect functionality on work or school computers that rely on this feature.

Caution

Disabling this feature may decrease security in Edge and Office, and interfere with enterprise settings.

Caution: Mixed Risk Levels

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

  • Language: batch

  • Scripts Count: 3 scripts

  • Required Privileges: Administrator rights

  • Compatibility: Windows only

  • Reversibility: All changes can be reverted

Apply now​

These scripts are written using Batch (batchfile) scripting language.

Choose one of two ways to apply:

  1. Automatically via privacy.sexy: The easiest and safest option.
  2. 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.

Open privacy.sexy

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
  1. Open or download the desktop application
  2. Search for the category name: Disable outdated Defender Application Guard.
  3. Check the category by clicking on the checkbox of the category.
  4. 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.

Scroll

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.

Scroll

Consider restarting your computer for all changes to take affect.

Reversible

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.

Use with Caution

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:

Download script

Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:

Download restore script

All​

This script includes Standard, Strict recommendation levels along with unrecommended scripts.

Not Advised

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:

Download script

Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:

Download restore script

Explore further​

This category includes total of 3 scripts but no subcategories.

Explore its 3 scripts:

Disable Defender Application Guard isolation

This script disables the deprecated Defender Application Guard feature, which isolates applications to enhance security. Application Guard uses Windows Hypervisor to create a secure virtual environment for certain apps. This isolation protects the system kernel and other applications from threats due to improper user interactions or vulnerabilities in isolated apps. Microsoft deprecated the Application Guard feature in 2023 and no longer provides updates. Disabling this feature may improve p...

Disable Defender Application Guard remote configuration

This script disables Defender Application Guard's remote configuration capability. Defender Application Guard uses virtualization to isolate untrusted websites and files. As of 2023, Microsoft has discontinued support and updates for the Application Guard feature. This feature can be configured remotely using tools like Microsoft Intune. Remote management of this feature is done through Configuration Service Providers (CSPs). Disabling this feature enhances privacy by preventing remote modificat...

Explore Categories​

This action belongs to Disable Defender category. This category offers scripts to disable Windows security components related to Defender. Defender is also referred to as Microsoft Defender or Windows Defender. Although designed to protect you, its features may compromise your privacy and decrease computer performance. Privacy concerns... Read more on category page ▶

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