How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 7

There are 2 good articles from internet ( link 1 and link 2) about  turning off Windows Defender in Windows 7. I posted here as a good reference for who needs to know to turn off Windows Defender before installing other full complete anti-virus programs such as Windows Security Essentials.

Windows Defender isn't in Control Panel's list of uninstallers. Microsoft started bundling Windows Defender with Vista, and continues to do so with Windows 7. It's a real-time antivirus program, running in the background at all times and checking for malware as you download and open files. A quick note on definitions: Some people will argue that Windows Defender is an anti-spyware program, not an antivirus one. That once meant something, but not anymore. Today, any such program that doesn't look for all known types of malware is useless. Unfortunately, Windows Defender is completely built into Windows, and you’re not going to actually uninstall it. What we can do, however, is disable it. To do so, click Start, type defender, and click Windows Defender.

Open up Windows Defender, go to Tools on the top menu, and then click on Options.

Now click on Administrator on the left-hand pane, uncheck the box for “Use this program”, and click the Save button.

You will then be told that the program is turned off. Awesome!

If you really, really want to make sure that it never comes back, you can also open up the Services panel through Control Panel, or by typing services.msc into the Start Menu search or run boxes. Find Windows Defender in the list and double-click on it…

And then you can change Startup type to Disabled.

Now again, we’re not necessarily advocating that you get rid of Windows Defender. Make sure you keep yourself protected from malware!

Create or Delete A Service in Windows XP

Services in Windows XP are programs that run in the background and perform certain functions relative to the operating system or a program running on the operating system. If you are a fan of tweaking your system and disabling services, you might find that over time your Windows Services list becomes huge and unwieldy with a large number of services in the list that will never be enabled.

Instead of just disabling a service, you can alternatively completely delete the service. This technique can be especially helpful if you’ve installed some piece of software that doesn’t uninstall correctly, and leaves an item in the service list.
Important Note: Once you delete a service, it’s gone, and it’s going to be a pain to add it back. Use with caution.

Here is a good article from "The Elder Geek" about it. This is the link

Services are added from the Command Prompt. You need to know the actual service name as opposed to what Microsoft calls the Display Name. For example, if you wanted to create or delete the Help and Support service, the name used at the Command Prompt would be "helpsvc" rather than the Display Name of "Help and Support". The actual service name can be obtained by typing "services.msc" in Run on the Start Menu and then double clicking the Display Name of the service. Once you know the name;

To Create A Service

• Start | Run and type cmd in the Open: line. Click OK.
• Type: sc create "service name"
• Reboot the system

Fig. 01

To Delete A Service

• Start | Run and type cmd in the Open: line. Click OK.
• Type: sc delete "service name"
• Reboot the system

Fig. 02

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If you prefer to work in the registry rather than through the command prompt to delete services;

• Click Start | Run and type regedit in the Open: line. Click OK.
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
• Scroll down the left pane, locate the service name, right click it and select Delete.
• Reboot the system.

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