How to Fix You're Using Other Antivirus Providers in Windows 11?

Some Windows 11/10 users report that they receive the “you're using other antivirus providers” error message when launching Windows Defender. This post from MiniTool introduces how to fix the issue.

You’re Using Other Antivirus Providers

When Windows Defender detects a third-party antivirus program running on your computer, it disables itself with a message saying “You’re using another antivirus provider”, usually accompanied by another message saying “Microsoft Defender Antivirus is snoozed”.

Sometimes, even if you don’t have installed any antivirus software, the error message also appears and tells you that “Real-time protection is turned off, making your device vulnerable”. This issue is usually caused by the corrupted Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) repository.

How to Fix You’re Using Other Antivirus Providers

Fix 1: Completely Remove the Third-Party Antivirus

You need to completely remove the third-party antivirus to fix the “you’re using other antivirus providers” issue. If you have installed Webroot, Bitdefender, or AVG, you can refer to the following posts to uninstall.

Fix 2: Rebuild/Reset the WMI Database

The WMI repository is a database that stores information about system settings and configuration data, including information about Windows Defender’s real-time protection. You can try to rebuild or reset the WMI Database to fix the “you’re using other antivirus providers” issue in Windows 10/11.

Step 1: Type cmd in the Search box and choose Run as administrator.

Step 2: To rebuild the WMI database, you should type the following command and press the Enter key.

winmgmt /salvagerepository

Step 3: To reset the WMI database, you should type the following command and press the Enter key.

winmgmt /resetrepository

Fix 3: Enable the Windows Defender Service

If the previously installed third-party antivirus interferes with the Windows Defender service, the “you’re using other antivirus providers” issue may appear. You can enable the Windows Defender service again.

Step 1: Type cmd in the Search box and choose Run as administrator.

Step 2: Next, run the following command and press Enter:

“C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\mpcmdrun.exe” -wdenable

Tip: You can replace C: with the drive where Windows is installed.

Fix 4: Delete Registry Entries

You may need to remove the Microsoft Defender or Endpoint Manager Policies. Before you begin, please back up your registry.

Step 1: Type cmd in the Search box and choose Run as administrator.

Step 2: Now, run the below command one by one and press Enter after each one:

reg delete “HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies” /f
reg delete “HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost” /f
reg delete “HKLM\Software\Policies” /f
reg delete “HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Policies” /f
reg delete “HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies” /f
reg delete “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender” /v DisableAntiSpyware
reg delete “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies” /f
reg delete “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost” /f
reg delete “HKCU\Software\Policies” /f
reg delete “HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Policies” /f

Tips:

Tip: Windows Defender isn’t enough to keep your PC safe. To keep your data secure, you had better back up your crucial files to a safe location to avoid data loss. You can use this free backup software to create scheduled backups based on the time point you have configured and make incremental or differential backups for the only changed data.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Final Words

Have you ever encountered the “you’re using other antivirus providers” issue? Take it easy and this post is helpful for you. Here, multiple ways are introduced to you. You can try them one by one until the issue gets fixed.

About The Author

Daisy Follow Us

Position: Columnist

Having been an editor at MiniTool since graduating college as an English major, Daisy specializes in writing about data backups, disk cloning, and file syncing as well as general computer knowledge and issues. In her free time, Daisy enjoys running and going with friends to the amusement park.