Uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials in Windows 10: If you have recently upgraded to Windows 10 then you might want to uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) as Windows 10 already has Windows Defender by default but the problem is you cannot uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials, then don’t worry as today we are going to see how to fix this issue. Every time you try to remove Security Essentials it gives you an error code 0x8004FF6F with the error message “You don’t need to install Microsoft Security Essentials“.
Most people don’t pay attention to this as they think both have different functions but they wrong, as Microsoft Security Essentials is supposed to be replaced by Windows Defender in Windows 10. Running both of them causes conflict and your system is vulnerable to virus, malware or external attacks as neither of the security programs can work.
The main problem is that Windows Defender doesn’t let you install MSE or uninstall MSE, so if it’s come pre-installed with the previous version of Windows then you already know that you won’t be able to uninstall it with standard methods. So without wasn’t any time let’s see How to Uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials in Windows 10 with the help of the below-listed guide.
Uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials in Windows 10
Note: Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.
Method 1: Uninstall Microsoft Securit Essentials
1.Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc and hit Enter
2.From the list find the following services:
Windows Defender Service (WinDefend)
Microsoft Security Essentials
3.Right-click on each of them then select Stop.
4.Press Windows Key + Q to bring up the search then type control and click on Control Panel from the search result.
5.Click on Uninstall a program then find Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) on the list.
6.Right-click on MSE and select Uninstall.
7.This will successfully uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials in Windows 10 and as you have already stop Windows Defender service and hence it won’t interfere with the uninstallation.
Method 2: Run the Uninstaller in Compatibility Mode for Windows 7
Make sure you first stop Windows Defender services following the above method then continue:
1.Open Windows File Explorer then navigate to the following location:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\
2.Find Setup.exe then right-click on it and select Properties.
3.Switch to Compatibility tab then at the bottom click on “Change Settings for all users“.
4.Next, make sure to checkmark “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and from the drop-down choose Windows 7.
5.Click OK, then click Apply followed by OK.
6.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).
7.Type the following into cmd and hit Enter:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\setup.exe /x /disableoslimit
Note: If this doesn’t open the uninstall wizard, uninstall MSE from Control Panel.
8.Select Uninstall and once the process is complete reboot your PC.
9.After the computer reboots you may be able to successfully uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials in Windows 10.
Method 3: Uninstall MSE Via Command Prompt
1.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).
2.Type the following command into cmd and hit Enter:
MsiExec.exe /X{75812722-F85F-4E5B-BEAF-3B7DA97A40D5}
3.A dialog box will pop up asking you to continue, click Yes/Continue.
4.This will automatically uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials and enable Windows Defender on your PC.
Method 4: Run Hitman Pro and Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes is a powerful on-demand scanner which should remove browser hijackers, adware and other types of malware from your PC. It is important to note that Malwarebytes will run alongside antivirus software without conflicts. To install and run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, go to this article and follow each and every step.
1.Download HitmanPro from this link.
2.Once the download is complete, double-click on hitmanpro.exe file to run the program.
3.HitmanPro will open, click Next to scan for malicious software.
4.Now, wait for the HitmanPro to search for Trojans and Malware on your PC.
5.Once the scan is complete, click Next button in order to remove malware from your PC.
6.You need to Activate free license before you can remove malicious files from your computer.
7.To do this click on Activate free license and you are good to go.
8.Reboot your PC to save changes.
Method 5: Uninstall & Removal of Microsoft Security Essentials files and folders
1.Open Notepad then copy & paste the below code:
cd /d "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Security Client" TASKKILL /f /im MsMpEng.exe TASKKILL /f /im msseces.exe TASKKILL /f /im MpCmdRun.exe net stop MsMpSvc sc delete MsMpSvc REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\MsMpSvc" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Security Client" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Run\MSC" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\4C677A77F01DD614880F352F9DCD9D3B" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\4D880477777087D409D44E533B815F2D" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Microsoft Security Client" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{774088D4-0777-4D78-904D-E435B318F5D2}" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{77A776C4-D10F-416D-88F0-53F2D9DCD9B3}" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\UpgradeCodes\1F69ACF0D1CF2B7418F292F0E05EC20B" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\UpgradeCodes\11BB99F8B7FD53D4398442FBBAEF050F" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\UpgradeCodes\26D13F39948E1D546B0106B5539504D9" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\4C677A77F01DD614880F352F9DCD9D3B" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\4D880477777087D409D44E533B815F2D" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UpgradeCodes\11BB99F8B7FD53D4398442FBBAEF050F" /f REG DELETE "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UpgradeCodes\1F69ACF0D1CF2B7418F292F0E05EC20B" /f takeown /f "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware" /a /r takeown /f "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Microsoft Security Client" /a /r takeown /f "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Security Client" /a /r REM Delete the MSE folders. rmdir /s /q "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware" rmdir /s /q "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Microsoft Security Client" rmdir /s /q "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Security Client" REM Stop the WMI and its dependency services sc stop sharedaccess sc stop mpssvc sc stop wscsvc sc stop iphlpsvc sc stop winmgmt REM Delete the Repository folder. rmdir /s /q "C:\Windows\System32\wbem\Repository" sc stop PAUSE EXIT
2.Now in Notepad click on File from the Menu then click Save As.
3.From the Save as type drop-down select All Files.
4.In the File name section type mseremoval.bat (.bat extension is very important).
5.Navigate to where you want to save the file then click Save.
6.Right-click on the mseremoval.bat file then select Run as Administrator.
7.A command prompt window will open, let it run and as soon as it finishes processing you could close the cmd window by pressing any key on the keyboard.
8.Delete the mseremoval.bat file then reboot your PC to save changes.
Method 6: Remove Microsoft Security Essentials via Registry
1.Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2.Find msseces.exe, then right-click on it and select End Process.
3.Press Windows Key + R then type the following one by one and hit Enter:
net stop msmpsvc
sc config msmpsvc start= disabled
4.Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
5.Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Microsoft Security Essentials
6.Right-click on Microsoft Security Essentials registry key and select Delete.
7.Similarly, delete the Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft Antimalware registry keys from the following places:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Microsoft Security Essentials HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Security Essentials HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware
8.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).
9.Type the following command into cmd according to the architecture of your PC and hit Enter:
cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\Backup\x86 (for 32 bit Windows)
cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\Backup\amd64 (for 64 bit Windows)
10.Then type the following and hit Enter to uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials:
Setup.exe /x
11.MSE uninstaller will launch which will uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials in Windows 10, then reboot your PC to save changes.
Method 7: Use Microsoft Security Essentials Removal Tool
If nothing works till now then in order to remove Microsoft Security Essentials, you can download from this link.
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That’s it you have successfully Uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials in Windows 10 but if you still have any queries regarding this post then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.
After doing online research for 2 days for my issue, I found this site and used Method 5. It worked well for me. Thanks a lot!!