MSE behaves like any other antivirus software and can cause issues like blocking a process and giving false positives. You might want to disable it for these reasons or enable it for future protection. Whatever the reasons, here’s how you can enable or disable Microsoft Security Essentials Antivirus.
How to Enable or Disable Microsoft Security Essentials?
It is very easy to disable or enable MSE, and they basically follow the same steps. Here’s how you can do it from the MSE application and System Configuration.
Using the MSE Application
Follow the steps below to disable or enable this application from its settings.
Using System Configuration
Follow the steps below to disable or enable MSE from System Configuration. After a restart, the MSE application should have been disabled. However, as the Microsoft Security Essential is an important antivirus that protects your computer against viruses, malware, and other threats, it is not recommended to disable it. To check if the MSE is disabled, look for its icon in the system tray. If it is green, it is enabled. Red means disabled, and yellow means update.
How to Uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials?
The newer Windows versions (8, 10, & 11) have a different pre-installed antivirus, the Windows Defender. Furthermore, Windows Defender blocks the installation and uninstallation of MSE. So, if you upgrade your Windows with MSE to newer versions, these two applications may interfere with each other. Users have also experienced the issue of not being able to uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials while also not being able to use Windows Defender. Not every user has faced this issue, but it is pretty common. It is recommended to uninstall MSE before upgrading. Here’s how you can uninstall this application: If you’ve already updated and are facing the issue of not being able to uninstall MSE, roll back your Windows version. You can then delete MSE using the method above, and upgrade your Windows again.
How to Disable or Enable Windows Defender?
Windows Defender is basically the replacement of Microsoft Security Essentials. While not the same application, they perform the same function in Windows Furthermore, many users may not know that Windows Defender Security Center has been renamed to Windows Security Center. Here’s how you can disable or enable this antivirus:
