Malwarebytes fixes Windows Defender deactivation bug in Windows 10 1903

[harlan4096]

Malwarebytes users who upgraded machines to Windows 10 version 1903 may have noticed that Windows Defender got deactivated after the upgrade automatically.

Malwarebytes is a popular security solution for Windows that played nice with other installed security solutions up until that update. Many used it as a second line of defense next to Windows Defender or another resident antivirus solution.

The approach is different to that by other antivirus solutions; these disable other security software, like Windows Defender, when they are installed on the computer system.

Günter Born published an analysis of the issue on this blog last week. The issue seems to affect Windows 10 version 1903, the most recent version of Windows 10, only. Users noticed that the Windows Defender entry in File Explorer was not there anymore, or that Windows Defender would show up as disabled when they launched Windows Security.

It appears that Malwarebytes registered as the installed antivirus solution and that Windows Defender was disabled as a consequence on the system.

A solution to change Malwarebytes behavior was suggested in early June. Malwarebytes includes Windows Action Center setting that determines if Malwarebytes registers with Windows Action Center.

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