Avast Free and Windows Defender on Win8

[amccullg]

Howdy, all - Does Avast disable Windows Defender by default on Windows 8? They ran together just fine on my Windows 7 system, but on my new Win8 laptop, it seems like as soon as Avast is installed Windows Defender is deactivated and cannot be restarted, with Avast Free showing up in both the anti-virus and spyware sections of the Action Center.

Thanks
Anna

[DavidR]

No avast doesn't disable windows defender as isn't an anti-virus application.

I don't know (but I suspect this is the case) if windows 8 might disable/deactivate WD when an anti-virus application is installed.

[FastMiddle]

Starting on Windows 8 windows defender includes an AV engine, resembling with MSE. For that reason you cannot run WD and avast alongside when using win 8

[DavidR]

Starting on Windows 8 windows defender includes an AV engine, resembling with MSE. For that reason you cannot run WD and avast alongside when using win 8

That would be so that it has some form of AV protection on a new system with windows 8 pre-installed, once another full AV is installed my guess is that windows disables/deactivates WD so as not to get stung with any anti-competitive law suits again.

[ky331]

Windows Defender, on Win 7 and earlier, was "merely" anti-spyware.
Windows Defender, on Win 8, is a full-fledged anti-virus program... bascially, what used to be called MSE (in older windows) has been renamed "Defender" under windows 8.    [Great source of confusion!]

It is enabled by default under a new "virgin" Win8 system.   However, it's supposed to automatically monitor for the presence of another anti-virus program --- be it OEM installed or user installed --- and if found, automatically disable itself in favor of the alternative OEM/user program.

Defender is also supposed to re-enable itself if it "notices" that the alternative anti-virus program has either been uninstalled, or has become out-of-date (e.g., definitions over a month old).

As such, Win 8 will never be unprotected --- either the OEM/User choice is running, or else, it has default Defender protection.

[amccullg]

Thanks, all - I suspected it might be something like that but wasn't certain, as I hadn't really thought of AVAST as anti-SPYWARE, especially the free version! I hadn't realized that WD was turned off until I notice I wasn't downloading any definition updates for it - and then couldn't turn it on. I uninstalled AVAST and WD came back, and disappeared again when I reinstalled AVAST; your kind comments have confirmed it.

Thanks again!

[DavidR]

You're welcome.