Windows Defender offers good free protection against spyware with real-time protection. I generally would not recommend disabling Defender unless you already have another anti-spyware program on your system and want to save some system resource.
To disable Windows Defender in Vista:
- Go to “Start”
- Click on “Control Panel”
- Select “Security”
- Click on “Windows Defender” ( To get to Defender faster go to Start and type in Defender in the Search Field and hit Enter)
- In Windows Defender click on “Tools”
- Under Settings select “Options”
- Scroll down to the very bottom, under Administrative options un-check “Use Windows Defender” by clicking on it
- Hit “Save”
- If UAC pops up enter your admin password and “Continue”
