<p>If you ever had the need to disable Windows Defender on your Windows 10 system, you have probably found out that this was not an easy task to do.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2012" src="https://www.wincert.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/security.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" /></p>
<p>Basically, if you wanted to use a third-party anti-virus solution you should have used the <em>DisableAntiSpyware</em> registry key to completely shut down Windows integrated protection. As Microsoft pointed out, this key was intended for system builders and IT professionals that wanted to deploy other anti-virus solutions. Normally, many personal users have found out about this and have started using it to turn off Microsoft&#8217;s Windows Defender completely without using any third-party AV solution and therefore leaving the system unprotected.</p>
<p>Now, Microsoft decided to remove this key and also an option to disable Windows Defender with it. Windows can now automatically detect if a third-party antivirus solution is used on the system and in that case, the system will disable integrated Windows Defender protection. With this change, Microsoft won&#8217;t allow you to use Windows 10 OS without antivirus protection.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to watch where the Windows 10 operating system is going considering that along with this change, the control panel is going away, a new Microsoft Edge browser can&#8217;t be uninstalled, etc.</p>