YOU CAN (BUT DON'T) UNINSTALL DEFENDER FROM VISTA UPGRADE!

[Guest]

I would like to have someone please answere my questions and please supply
the appropriate customer service that microsoft can afford other than these
newsgroups. This problem has occurd to several people including me. If you
have the upgrade version of windows vista it is possible to uninstall windows
defender EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOULDN'T. I uninstalled it after i was instructed
to do so while trying to install windows live one-care, it said that i needed
to uninstall windows defender before one care would install. I did as it
instructed and it still would not let me install. i got ahold of customer
service and they kept running me in circles about why it would not install
and kept me doing the same things over and over to try and correct the
problem. i have sent logs and other things to them and none of them said
anything about or asked me about windows defender on my computer. i have
searched and searched and can find tons of requests for help with this issue
but only see people get told that it is not possible to uninstall defender
from vista. please stop with the run around on people and find a fix for the
problem and make sure that the set up in one care no longer instructs people
to uninstall defender from vista. also to any of you who say that it cant be
uninstalled i suggest you try it on your own computer but make sure its an
upgrade version of windows vista. it is true that it cant be uninstalled
fully it leaves traces on your computer that prevent you from reinstalling it
once you realize the mistake.

SOME BODY PLEASE HELP FIX THIS OR TELL ME WHERE TO FIND A FIX!

 

[Dave M]

I don't have Vista either as an upgrade or on a virgin install to test this
on, but it seems to me you have 4 options;

1) System restore from before you deleted Defender.

2) Doing a re-installation setup from the Vista DVD:
http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?s=f2d3f89ce4ba80d6667394409e7e4826&t=7025733) Highly dubious (at your own risk) but I suppose it's worth a look atthis regedit procedure: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=7024794) Contacting Defender support with one of your two allotted incidents:Free Limited Support - As a part of our commitment to the security of ourcustomers, Microsoft is offering two free support incidents relating toWindows Defender on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Examples of validsupport scenarios are installation, configuration, definition update,detection and removal errors. Please refer to the Windows Defender supportpolicy for more informationSo just how did you manage to un-install Defender from Vista anyway? Thatquestion has yet to be answered by anyone describing this problem, althoughfrom the number of reports, I do believe it's happening.--Regards, Davei am chad wrote:> I would like to have someone please answere my questions and pleasesupply> the appropriate customer service that microsoft can afford other thanthese> newsgroups. This problem has occurd to several people including me. Ifyou> have the upgrade version of windows vista it is possible to uninstallwindows> defender EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOULDN'T. I uninstalled it after i wasinstructed> to do so while trying to install windows live one-care, it said that ineeded> to uninstall windows defender before one care would install. I did as it> instructed and it still would not let me install. i got ahold of customer> service and they kept running me in circles about why it would notinstall> and kept me doing the same things over and over to try and correct the> problem. i have sent logs and other things to them and none of them said> anything about or asked me about windows defender on my computer. i have> searched and searched and can find tons of requests for help with thisissue> but only see people get told that it is not possible to uninstalldefender> from vista. please stop with the run around on people and find a fix forthe> problem and make sure that the set up in one care no longer instructspeople> to uninstall defender from vista. also to any of you who say that it cantbe> uninstalled i suggest you try it on your own computer but make sure itsan> upgrade version of windows vista. it is true that it cant be uninstalled> fully it leaves traces on your computer that prevent you fromreinstalling it> once you realize the mistake.>> SOME BODY PLEASE HELP FIX THIS OR TELL ME WHERE TO FIND A FIX!

 

[Dave M]

trying that post again, sorry it got jumbled...

I don't have Vista either as an upgrade or on a virgin install to test this
on, but it seems to me you have 4 options:

1- System restore from before you deleted Defender.

2- Doing a re-installation setup from the Vista DVD:
http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?s=f2d3f89ce4ba80d6667394409e7e4826&t=702573

3- Highly dubious (at your own risk) but I suppose it's worth a look at
this regedit procedure: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=702479

4- Contacting Defender support with one of your two allotted incidents:
Free Limited Support-
As a part of our commitment to the security of our customers, Microsoft is
offering two free support incidents relating to Windows Defender on Windows
XP and Windows Server 2003. Examples of valid support scenarios are
installation, configuration, definition update,detection and removal
errors. Please refer to the Windows Defender support policy for more
information.

So just how did you manage to un-install Defender from Vista anyway? That
question has yet to be answered by anyone I've seen describe this problem,
although from the number of reports, I do believe it's happening to more
people than just yourself.

 

[Guest]

Your problem is not that you are trying to uninstall Defender from Vista,
your problem is that you are trying to install Windows Live One Care that has
a Defender App in it. While trying to install One Care, the install process
is finding the complete version on your system and won't finish the install.

To install, uninstall, or do any modificatios to Defender, you must be
logged into the computer on an account with administration rights. If your
not then the process won't be completed properly and won't finish completely,
(leaves traces behind).

 

[Guest]

Hey dave sorry to sound so angry in that post just frustrated.
I was instructed to remove my version of defender by one-care during the
install.
I followed the instructions that they gave me on how to uninstall. Basically
i went in to add remove programs and it let me remove the program or parts of
it anyway. I was in administrator mode. Maybe this is just something can
happen in the upgrade version of vista im not sure. I did go to support and
they did nothing for me i sent the logs in to them and everything. I got
frustrated and then decided to just forget it and went with norton instead.
It has been a few months and i now have the problem that i can not install a
windows update that is for windows defender. This is when i noticed the
problem and started searching but because of the time it has been i dont have
the proper restore points in my computer now, they only go back to the
beginning of april. I have also done the defender cleanup and installation
cleanup utilities which one-care also told me to do. To answere your question
of how i uninstalled it again all i did was use the add/remove utility and it
let me uninstall it but it leaves residue on the computer that will not fully
uninstall. This might be due to protected vista files that wont delete it
leaves the folder in your programs and a few things inside the folder but
removes all other traces.

hope this helps

 

[Guest]

So just how did you manage to un-install Defender from Vista anyway? That
question has yet to be answered by anyone I've seen describe this problem,
although from the number of reports, I do believe it's happening to more
people than just yourself.
--

I am in the same boat as i am chad... as an answer to how Defender was
unistalled is very simple.... if you had IE 7.0 installed in WinXP and then
upgrade to Vista (bad idea stomp on any OS with a new one, NEVER works 100%
correct... starting from scratch is the best way... ) defender is still left
as an uninstall option in Progs and Settings in Vista... Remove it and its
gone... now updates try to install and fail for Defender and have not found a
resolve to put it back... Vista does not have a means to add or remove
"Windows Components" that I have found as in previous versions... from many
installs and tests I have done with Vista on various systems and
confiurations (new systems, upgrades over XP, wiping older systems) I find
that the OS is at best a Public ALPHA test that should not even have been
released.. it barely stands alone by itself let alone adding other
programs....

 

[Dave M]

Thanks to both of you for clearing up how this happens, you have every
right to be frustrated. I personally won't be saying, "can't uninstall
Defender from Vista". I'm totally amazed that this gaping hole was left in
the Vista OS. It's beginning to look like the only real option is a
complete Vista reinstall from the DVD, as dreadful as that sounds. Have
you both asked for an escalation of the problem report when and if you
filed an incident with Ms support? Getting past the initial Level 1
particularly if you've reached an off-shore support site can be the key to
getting a resolution. I'm not certain that Ms is even aware of this problem
let alone working on a fix. It would seem to me that the impetus to drive
a resolution at that level would have to come from higher up the Ms
corporate structure than originating with either the OneCare or the
Defender development teams.

I've spent some time chasing this online and wanted to post another forum
thread just to complete the thought and document any Defender directory
ownership considerations:
http://forums.microsoft.com/technet...3&siteid=17&sb=0&d=1&at=7&ft=11&tf=0&pageid=0

 

[Guest]

Thanks to both of you for clearing up how this happens, you have every
right to be frustrated. I personally won't be saying, "can't uninstall
Defender from Vista". I'm totally amazed that this gaping hole was left in
the Vista OS. It's beginning to look like the only real option is a
complete Vista reinstall from the DVD, as dreadful as that sounds. Have
you both asked for an escalation of the problem report when and if you
filed an incident with Ms support? Getting past the initial Level 1
particularly if you've reached an off-shore support site can be the key to
getting a resolution. I'm not certain that Ms is even aware of this problem
let alone working on a fix. It would seem to me that the impetus to drive
a resolution at that level would have to come from higher up the Ms
corporate structure than originating with either the OneCare or the
Defender development teams.

After reading all that I could find and comparing other functioning Vista
systems of my own I have found a simple resolve to get Defender working again
without reinstalling...

When you do uninstall defender it does not actually delete the:
C:\Program Files\Windows Defender folder or files so all that you need is
still there... what happens is it removes the necessary info from the
following registry key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend]

In another thread here somewhere I found someone that had this info posted
as a fix but needs to be elaborated on to work....

Assuming you have not actually deleted the C:\Program Files\Windows Defender
folder or any related registry keys do the following..... you must already
know how to get into regedit and understand what I say because if you don't
know how to "fill in the blanks" and get around windows you shouldn't be
doing this anyway..

1. Run regedit and export (backup) this registry key to a file on your hard
drive:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend]

2. Open notepad and copy and paste the info below only in between the
astericks...

******************************************

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend]

"DisplayName"="@%ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\MsMpRes.dll,-103"

"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001

"Group"="COM Infrastructure"

"ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\

74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\

00,76,00,63,00,68,00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2d,00,\

6b,00,20,00,73,00,65,00,63,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,73,00,00,00

"Start"=dword:00000002

"Type"=dword:00000020

"Description"="@%ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\MsMpRes.dll,-3068"

"DependOnService"=hex(7):52,00,70,00,63,00,53,00,73,00,00,00,00,00

"ObjectName"="LocalSystem"

"ServiceSidType"=dword:00000001

"RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,6f,\

00,6e,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,\

65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,42,00,61,00,63,00,6b,00,75,00,70,00,50,00,72,00,69,\

00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,52,00,65,00,73,00,\

74,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,\

00,00,00,53,00,65,00,44,00,65,00,62,00,75,00,67,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,\

69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,68,00,61,00,6e,00,67,\

00,65,00,4e,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,66,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,\

6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,65,00,63,00,75,00,72,00,69,\

00,74,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,\

00,00

"FailureActions"=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\

00,01,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,01,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend\Parameters]

"ServiceDllUnloadOnStop"=dword:00000001

"ServiceDll"=hex(2):25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,\

00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,73,00,\

20,00,44,00,65,00,66,00,65,00,6e,00,64,00,65,00,72,00,5c,00,6d,00,70,00,73,\

00,76,00,63,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend\Security]

"Security"=hex:01,00,14,80,04,01,00,00,10,01,00,00,14,00,00,00,30,00,00,00,02,\

00,1c,00,01,00,00,00,02,80,14,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,\

00,00,02,00,d4,00,07,00,00,00,00,00,28,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,06,00,00,00,00,00,\

05,50,00,00,00,b5,89,fb,38,19,84,c2,cb,5c,6c,23,6d,57,00,77,6e,c0,02,64,87,\

00,0b,28,00,00,00,00,10,01,06,00,00,00,00,00,05,50,00,00,00,b5,89,fb,38,19,\

84,c2,cb,5c,6c,23,6d,57,00,77,6e,c0,02,64,87,00,00,14,00,fd,01,02,00,01,01,\

00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,00,00,18,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,02,00,00,00,00,00,\

05,20,00,00,00,20,02,00,00,00,00,14,00,9d,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,\

04,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,8d,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,06,00,00,00,00,\

00,28,00,15,00,00,00,01,06,00,00,00,00,00,05,50,00,00,00,49,59,9d,77,91,56,\

e5,55,dc,f4,e2,0e,a7,8b,eb,ca,7b,42,13,56,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,\

00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend\Enum]

"0"="Root\\LEGACY_WINDEFEND\\0000"

"Count"=dword:00000001

"NextInstance"=dword:00000001

***************************************************

In notepad do file save and I would put it in the same folder as your
backup... then name the file whateveryouwant.reg and before hitting save you
MUST CHANGE THE ENCODING TO UNICODE....

3. After this is done find the .reg file you just made and double click it
to merge it with the registry... REBOOT

Now defender is back and working... all updates will/should work now.... it
may not be enabled as a service in services and shouldn't be if you have
Norton or some other Spy type scanner installed that disabled it... so if you
try to run it and the service isn't started it will give you an error that
the service is not running... turn the service on and you will see it works
but if you have something else turn it off because Defender is useless
anyway... either way you must have it in Vista or the updates won't ever
install for a program that you are forced to have....

Regards,
Mark L. Lee

 

[Guest]

Try this:
Set the PC to boot from the CD ROM drive. Place Vista CD in drive and
Restart. Select the Windows Vista Repair option. Your existing settings and
programs will not be altered and Vista will be an new.
Efrain

 

[Guest]

"as new"
Remember after completion to again correct the boot order, so as to have
your HD first.
Efrain

 

[Guest]

PLEASE USE THIS METHOD
IT IS WAY EASIER AND EFFECTIVE THAN MY PREVIOUS POST

REINSTALLING/FIXING WINDOWS VISTA DEFENDER SIMPLE SOLUTION
1. Click the Start button, Click All programs followed by Accessories

2. In the Accessories menu, Right Click on the Command Prompt option

3. From the drop down menu that appears, Click on the 'Run as administrator'
option

4. In the Command Prompt window, type: sfc /scannow and then press Enter

5. After the scan has completed (note the log file location) you may close
the Command Prompt window.

Now all necessary files and registry entries have been repaired for all of
Vista, Defender included, you can look at the log file to see what was done
(must take ownership of file before opening in notepad or open with admin
rights) by scrolling to the end and finding the starting date you ran the sfc
util.
Reboot and run windows update because the defender sigs will be the
original/old ones… after that Defender will update and run properly (I would
still disable the service if you have another solution to save resources, its
useless anyhow).

Regards,
Mark L. Lee

 

[Dave M]

Thanks again for experimenting with those options. We had a suggestion
back on 3/16 from "dean-dean" to use "sfc /scannow" for a repair of Vista
Defender but that never got acknowledged with either success or failure, so
I'm pleased to hear you confirm that it worked. I realize that you're not
a big fan of the product, but many are using it as their only AntiSpyware
protection so you've helped a lot of desperate people by sharing this.

 

[Guest]

Just to let you know this was one of the first things that i did to try and
fix the problem but to no success. The sfc/ scannow did not work for me. I
might try and do the regestry thing but i think in the end it will probably
just end up being a reformat reinstall.

 

[Guest]

what did you mean by that last post and how do i set my computer to boot from
cd i have not done that yet

 

[Alan]

You need to go into your BIOS and change the boot order settings so that the
machine attempts to boot from your optical drive FIRST, rather than the
usual order of booting from a floppy drive (if you have one), then the Hard
Drive and finally the optical (CD/DVD) drive.

If the PC detects the Windows installation disk in the optical drive as it's
booting up, it will boot from the Vista installation media and offer you the
opportunity to do what is called a 'repair installation.'

Alan