Definition Update for Windows Defender - KB2267602 (Definition 1.213.5087.0) - Error 0x80070643

I’m not really sure why this discussion is being up-voted like it is, but judging from the vote count, it must be mtcdnp’s report that the troubleshooter doesn’t work that’s responsible for generating all the enthusiasm. Of course I didn’t really want to spoil the party by finding something that actually does work, but I did just happen to stumble upon a method that appears to fix this problem completely, and in a heck of a hurry – without ever having to touch the registry or use some external download to do the dirty work for you.

I had just reproduced this issue for a third time in order to confirm that Windows Defender would actually start up if Avast was disabled, since this would allow Windows 8.1 users to turn off Windows Defender in the Settings tab and thus resolve the issue.

After reproducing the issue, I disabled the Avast shields “permanently” with the Avast shields control (right-click on the Avast icon, and select Avast shields control > Disable permanently), and I found that this did in fact allow me to turn on Defender.

Then I just left Windows Defender turned on and went back and enabled all of the Avast shields with the shields control – and this turned off Windows Defender as expected. But when I closed the Windows Defender UI and then tried to reopen it, I got the familiar “This app has been turned off and isn’t monitoring your computer” message. That message normally means that Windows Defender has been properly disabled. So I checked the registry, and sure enough, the DisableAntiSpyware and DisableAntiVirusDWORDs actually had been updated to the proper value of 1.

Then it suddenly dawned on me that I had just inadvertently replicated the fix proposed by hughie55 in the following windows discussion thread – but in a highly condensed form that didn’t even require rebooting between steps:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_10-update/definition-update-for-windows-defender-kb2267602/d4edd314-a438-4ac2-b7a9-dc1c45a1ef62

So now I’m fairly confident that we might be able to generalize this uber-simple fix to some other AV products as well. In my case, I was able to just turn off the third-party AV app (Avast Free); start Windows Defender; and then turn the third-party app back on while Windows Defender was still turned on. But in other cases, you might need to repeat this procedure a couple of times, or maybe reboot between steps. Anyhow, people who aren't really dead set on waiting for Microsoft to fix this issue might want to just go ahead and give this fix a try.

GreginMich

Yes sir. All secure and good to go.

Thank you very much.

Thanks. David appears to have taken care of it, but we weren't sure.

Don

Yes sir. All secure and good to go.

Thank you very much.

GreginMich

Also note that the links provided by Readhead\_Sailor are bad, and should be edited by a moderator.

@ GreginMich:

Has the "bad" link been taken care of?

Don

Taking a clue from the reply of Readhead\_Sailor in this thread:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect\_defender-protect\_updating/definition-update-for-windows-defender-error/6184a3e1-d60c-4c74-957e-6f7b80755cb5?page=6

I’ve just found some further corroboration for my analysis in these Norton Community threads – so if you folks ever manage to pull out of the tailspin that you’re in, then the information here might prove helpful:

Microsoft Defender Definition Update Failing:

https://community.norton.com/en/forums/microsoft-defender-definition-update-failing

Norton install does not set Defender keys to properly disable:

https://community.norton.com/en/forums/norton-install-does-not-set-defender-keys-properly-disable

Also note that the links provided by Readhead\_Sailor are bad, and should be edited by a moderator.

[Edit for update, 5/23/2016]

Norton users who are experiencing the Windows Defender definition update issue should definitely have a look at the solution brought to us by hughie55 in this Windows discussion thread:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_10-update/definition-update-for-windows-defender-kb2267602/d4edd314-a438-4ac2-b7a9-dc1c45a1ef62

This procedure appears to be resolving the issue by setting the correct values in the Windows Defender registry key – and thus avoiding the need for any direct editing of the registry.

[Edit for update, 5/30/2016]

So are we making any progess here, people? My apologies to McAfee users – I missed this one on my previous search:

https://community.mcafee.com/thread/89280?start=0&tstart=0

[Edit for update, 6/11/2016]

Short, non-technical explanation for the prospective fix:

Completely disabling your third-party AV app; starting Windows Defender; and then enabling the third-party app (while Window Defender is still turned on) should disable Windows Defender in exactly the same way that reinstalling the third-party app would:

1.)    Completely disable the third-party AV app in its interface.

2.)    Start Windows Defender

3.)    Enable the third-party AV app

So like it or not guys, we now have a potential solution that’s easy as 1-2-3; that completely resolves the issue, and that only takes a minute (more below).

GreginMich