Yes, there are system requirements for using Windows Defender.
Windows Defender is the built-in antivirus and anti-malware protection included in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. To provide the best protection, Windows Defender requires certain hardware and software specifications on your computer.
Minimum Hardware Requirements:
• 1GHz processor or better
• 1GB of RAM or more
• 200MB of available hard disk space
Minimum Software Requirements:
• Windows 10 (all versions)
• Windows 8.1 (all versions)
• Windows 8 (all versions)
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows 7 (all versions)
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Vista (all versions)
Windows Defender can run on systems that do not meet all of these requirements (for example, Windows 7 with 512MB RAM). However, it is recommended that any system running Windows Defender should meet the above requirements for optimal performance.
In addition to these requirements, Windows Defender also requires an active Internet connection in order to download the latest virus and malware definitions. Without an internet connection, Windows Defender will not be able to protect you from the latest threats.
Finally, Windows Defender may not work properly if you have other third-party antivirus or antimalware programs installed on your machine. For optimal performance, it is best to completely uninstall any third-party anti-virus or antimalware programs prior to installing Windows Defender.