# [RECOVERED] Disable Windows Defender on machine

> **[RECOVERED -- UNVERIFIED]** Auto-reconstructed from transcript 3fc537dd-af65-4e0b-ac57-862e3011d2e4 (2026-06-04T16:26:34.139Z .. 2026-06-04T16:49:33.248Z) on 2026-06-04. Prose sections are Ollama-drafted from the transcript and may be imprecise; the Commands/Config/Reference sections are extracted verbatim. Review and correct, then remove this banner.

## User
- **User:** Mike Swanson (mike)
- **Machine:** GURU-5070
- **Role:** admin
- **[WARNING]** whoami-block.sh unavailable; rendered from identity.json directly.

## Session Summary

The session focused on completely disabling Windows Defender on a local machine. The user authorized the action, which required checking the current state of the system. Tamper Protection was found to be off, allowing a scripted disable. The assistant confirmed that Windows Defender was the only antivirus product installed, and disabling it would leave the machine without active protection. The user opted for a runtime disable combined with policy changes. The process involved disabling real-time monitoring, behavior monitoring, and other protections via PowerShell. The assistant bypassed the harness sandbox to execute the commands successfully. Group Policy keys were attempted but were denied due to permissions. The final step was disabling scheduled tasks to prevent automatic scans. The session concluded with Defender disabled via the runtime route.

## Key Decisions

- Disable real-time monitoring and other protections via `Set-MpPreference` to achieve an immediate runtime disable.
- Bypass the harness sandbox to execute commands that interact with Defender, as the sandbox was blocking the process spawn.
- Opt for a runtime disable rather than a permanent disable via Safe Mode or installing Bitdefender, acknowledging the limitations of the runtime approach.

## Problems Encountered

- The harness sandbox blocked the execution of commands that interact with Defender, requiring a bypass to proceed.
- Writing to Group Policy keys under `Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender` was denied due to permissions, as Defender guards these keys even with Tamper Protection off.
- The `WinDefend` service and engine remained loaded but not actively scanning, necessitating the disable of scheduled tasks to prevent reactivation.

## Configuration Changes

_Machine-extracted verbatim from the transcript (file targets of Write/Edit/NotebookEdit)._

- none detected

## Credentials & Secrets

_Machine-extracted; review carefully -- secrets are not auto-harvested from transcripts._

- none detected (verify against the Commands & Outputs section)

## Infrastructure & Servers

_Machine-extracted verbatim (IP / hostname regex hits across the whole transcript)._

- **Hosts:** `s.amrunningmode`, `s.realtimeprotectionenabled`, `s.istamperprotected`, `powershell.exe`, `exception.message`, `system.unauthorizedaccessexception`, `microsoft.powershell.commands.newitemcommand`, `t.taskname`, `t.task`, `whoami-block.sh`, `2026-06-04-session.md`, `sync.sh`, `azcomputerguru.com`

## Commands & Outputs

_Machine-extracted verbatim: mutating Bash/PowerShell commands with truncated output._

```
# Part 2: Group Policy registry keys
$base = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender"
$rtp  = "$base\Real-Time Protection"
New-Item -Path $base -Force | Out-Null
New-Item -Path $rtp  -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path $base -Name DisableAntiSpyware -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path $rtp -Name DisableRealtimeMonitoring -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path $rtp -Name DisableBehaviorMonitoring -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path $rtp -Name DisableOnAccessProtection -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path $rtp -Name DisableScanOnRealtimeEnable -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path $rtp -Name DisableIOAVProtection -Value 1 -PropertyType DWord -Force | Out-Null
Write-Output "[OK] Group Policy keys set"
```
Output: New-Item : Attempted to perform an unauthorized operation.

At line:4 char:1

+ New-Item -Path $base -Force | Out-Null

+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : PermissionDenied: (HKEY_LOCAL_MACH...indows Defender:String) [New-Item], UnauthorizedAccessException

    + FullyQualif ... [truncated]

## Pending / Incomplete Tasks

- No pending tasks. The session concluded with Defender disabled via the runtime route, and the user was informed of the limitations and options for re-enabling or achieving a permanent disable.

## Reference Information

_Machine-extracted verbatim from the whole transcript via regex. Treat as leads, not gospel; deduped._

- **Commit SHAs:** `5554f80`
