Windows defender won't run on my new pc

lonestarfan

PC - windows 8.1 with bing 64 bit.
I had a new pc as above which had McAfee free trial on it which has now expired. I don't want to buy McAfee. So I tried to download Microsoft essentials. I discovered that for windows 8.1 it isn't suitable for Microsoft essentials but instead has windows defender installed.
I found windows defender on the PC under the apps section and tried to launch it and run a scan. I got an error box that came up and said
"The service could not be started" the group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation. Click help for more info about this problem.
I clicked on help but I didn't find help to resolve it. It won't let me click on the tabs of update/scan/history/settings.
Can anyone advise me how to fix this as I'm concerned my PC has been unprotected for at least a week as I haven't been able to sort it out. Thanks a lot.

marty2be2000

You need to uninstall anything to do with McAfee and that should fix the problem.

RichardD1970

I had similar problems with McAfee.

Just using the uninstall option in Windows isn't enough, try here for full instructions for fully removing McAfee.

abibee

While you're at it, you may wish to install a different antivirus from Defender (which is pretty limited), such as Avast free, Avira free, Bitdefender free, or Panda free (to name just 4).

lonestarfan

Thanks everyone. It's now working after uninstalling McAfee. Cheers

pendragon_arther

Defender is part of Essentials for 8 and not separate.

AndyPix

pendragon_arther wrote: »

Defender is part of Essentials for 8 and not separate.

Yes - and it supersedes security essentials

bod1467

And it will still auto-disable if you install another AV programme, so no different than in Windows 7 SP1.