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How to close the Windowssecurity application

Anonymous
2025-04-19T11:31:52+00:00

I am planning to take a Cisco certification exam through Pearson exams. It is required to complete a system test, before taking the exam. When I run the system test provided by pearson, it shows that I cannot proceed to the exam if the "windowssecurity" application is open.

In Settings->Privacy & Security->Windows security, I have disabled everything under Firewall & Network protection, Virus & threat protection. After that I have restarted the laptop and then launched the pearson system test.

I have opened task manager, to close the "windowssecurity" application, which is displayed in the system test, but I am not able to find the application in task manager. Although everything is disabled under Privacy & Security, somehow the pearson system test is finding that the "windowssecurity" application is still open. How do I disable the windows security completely? Let me know, even if there is a UI or a command that need to run in the cmd prompt. I would like to stop the "windowssecurity" in order to complete the exam and then enable it, once the exam is completed.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Security and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-04-20T07:01:46+00:00

    Thank you for the reply. I am using Windows 11, your reply might work in Windows 10.

    Could not stop the service. It says there is no service running with that name.

    PS C:\Users\ravin> Stop-Service -Name SecurityHealthService -Force

    Stop-Service : Service 'Windows Security Service (SecurityHealthService)' cannot be stopped due to the following

    error: Cannot open SecurityHealthService service on computer '.'.

    Also could not open, gpedit.msc as it is only for Windows 10. I have disabled defender from Settings->Privacy & Security page on my laptop, as mentioned in my description above. Even after disabling virus protection and defender, still facing the issue.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-04-19T20:08:12+00:00

    Hello Amrutha,

    Thank you for posting your query in the community forum.

    As I can understand you want to close your Windows security because you can't proceed to take your exam. Here are few steps by which you may be able to fix it:

    1. Disable real-time protection and tamper protection in Windows Security: Open the Windows Security app -> Go to Virus & threat protection -> Manage settings -> Turn off Real-time protection -> Scroll down to Tamper Protection and disable it. (This stops most active monitoring but may not “close” the underlying Windows Security process.)
    2. Disable Microsoft Defender via Group Policy: Press Win+R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter >> Navigate to: Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Find Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus and set it to Enabled >> Apply the change and restart your computer. (This tells Windows not to run the Defender service, though Windows may still keep parts of its security infrastructure active.)
    3. Temporarily stop related service using PowerShell: Open PowerShell as Administrator >> Run the following command to stop the security health service: Stop-Service -Name "SecurityHealthService" -Force. (Note that Windows could restart the service immediately or on the next security trigger.)
    4. Restore your settings after the exam: For Group Policy: Open gpedit.msc again and set Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus back to Not Configured (or disabled). In Windows Security, re-enable Real-time protection and Tamper Protection Restart if necessary to ensure all changes take effect.

    I hope the above given solutions will help you to fix the issue.

    Thank you for your appreciation and understanding.

    Best Regards,

    Sam | Microsoft Community Moderator

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