How To Enable Windows Defender in 8.1

20Valve · Nov 3, 2014

Greetings Geeks -

Frustrated here. . . .

Believe it or not, I am having trouble enabling Windows Defender in 8.1. I search for "Defender" in the search box. I get a message explaining that Defender is turned off, go to the Action Center (should the search take me to Defender? Seems silly it does not). So, I go the the Action Center....

I don't see any options for Defender under "Security." I see that Avira is turned on and working, but nothing for Defender. Is there only one slot for protection to be used? For example, if I disable Avira will I have a Defender option? Or, is something else afoot?

I use Avira, maybe the best, but it has served well over the years especially for free. Do I even need Avira is I enable Defender? From what I understand Defender is pretty good.

Additionally, what specifically is "Network Access Protection ?" That is currently turned off. My questions might seem simple, but I am really new to Windows 8 party.

Thanks for any help.

chaslang · Nov 3, 2014

Windows Defender is automatically disabled when you install other 3rd part antivirus/antimalware software. Thus it was disabled when you installed Avira and this is exactly what should have happened.

See the below for info on Network Access Protection. You can ask about this in the Software Forum if you need more info:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa369712(v=vs.85).aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632818.aspx

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How To Enable Windows Defender in 8.1

20Valve Sergeant

chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member