Windows Defender - Server 2016 or greater - Turning on

A

AusTech111222

Hi,
I'm wanting to switch to Defender however previously had a 3rd party AV and had the GPO "set to disable Defender.

I've removed the 3rd party AV, rebooted, Changed the GPO setting "
If you enable this policy setting, Windows Defender Antivirus does not run, and will not scan computers for malware or other potentially unwanted software.

If you disable this policy setting, Windows Defender Antivirus will run regardless of any other installed antivirus product.

If you do not configure this policy setting, Windows will internally manage Windows Defender Antivirus. If you install another antivirus program, Windows automatically disables Windows Defender Antivirus. Otherwise, Windows Defender Antivirus will scan your computers for malware and other potentially unwanted software.

Enabling or disabling this policy may lead to unexpected or unsupported behavior. It is recommended that you leave this policy setting unconfigured." gpmc_settingname="Turn off Windows Defender Antivirus" gpmc_settingpath="Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Defender Antivirus" gpmc_supported="At least Windows Vista" tabindex="0">When opening Windows Defender on any 2016 server Defender is disabled, the services won't start. The GUI presents like below. Clicking "Start Now" gets the Windows defender service up and running. But thats a very manual process to get a lot of servers up and running.

I also have the scenario of how can this be done on Server 2016+ servers that don't have the GUI e.g. command-line. Is there a command-line to start the service.

Windows Defender services can't be started manually. "WinDefend", errors with below. Event viewer "Windows Defender" doesnt record any errors. Tried also capturing what it's doing via "Start Now" button using process monitor and haven't been able to pinpoint how it can be started.


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