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Windows Defender cannot be started on Windows Server 2012/2016 - must be manually started
Hi all, Replacing Sophos AV with Defender ATP. Have a problem with defender service (via GPO or services mmc) is not automatically starting after uninstalling Sophos. I must go into Defender GUI...
SOLUTION FOUND: Remove Defender AV role on server. Add it again and the service starts.
Leon Laude thanks for your reply, but multiple reboots does not do any difference.
I've heard about this issue, but no real workaround, easiest is to script this, you can either turn on the Windows Defender with scripts, or you can change the registry entry for the service (which I wouldn't recommend).