Windows Defender Won't Update--Supposed Connection Issue

Windows Defender is giving me fits!! When I try to update, I get an error message informing me that I am not connected to the internet/check my internet connection, which I have done and AM connected. I am using dial-up (save the jokes/comments; I've heard most of them) due to a limited budget. My question is: can I safely disable Windows Defender and go with another anti-virus program? If so, what anti-virus would you recommend. This is the first time I have had this "issue." I even tried temporarily disabling my firewall to see if that would help, but it didn't.

I am using Windows 8 with 64-bit operating system/x64-based processor. I also have Advanced System Care 8 and IOBit Malware Fighter installed.

 

Defender is completely stable in 8/8.1 so something else has caused this. Did you install anything or make any changes just before this started, such as running Advanced System Care? If so, can you try a system restore?

 

I think we are experiencing Microsoft server overload! I have been milking down 12 updates, one at a time, for the past 2 hours.
Each one is taking about 20 minutes. Today, 2nd Tuesday of the month, is the usual day for monthly system updates. Added to this,
I am sure the the servers are being overloaded with Windows 10 upgrade processing. Normally, I could get this batch of monthly updates
downloaded and installed in about 20 minutes. So, I suggest you try later, tomorrow, or the next day. Your post here, clearly shows
your internet connection works. Besides the Defender update, you probably have a mess of Windows 8 updates in the queue, as well.