Error when I try to disable Windows Defender

[poskot2]

In Windows 11 Enterprise 26H1 28000.1896, when I try to disable Windows Defender, I get an error saying that bcdedit.exe can't be found, and the script stops running.
This is resolved by copying bcdedit.exe from %SystemRoot%\System32 to %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64.
Is it possible to prevent this error in the script and explicitly call bcdedit.exe from the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder?

[Lyverance]

Thanks for the repro. The SysWOW64 copy works, but it's a workaround, not a real fix: it'll likely break again on the next cumulative update.

Here's what's actually happening: the script calls bare bcdedit, and PATH resolution finds it. But bcdedit.exe only exists in native System32, there's no 32-bit build. If the PowerShell process running the script ends up 32-bit (WOW64), which can happen on enterprise-managed images with a customized PATH, Windows silently redirects any System32 reference to SysWOW64 for that process, and bcdedit isn't there. Copying it in "fixes" the lookup but doesn't explain why the process was 32-bit in the first place.

I don't have a test machine right now, so a proper fix will take a bit: planning to resolve bcdedit through Sysnative instead of relying on PATH, which bypasses the redirection regardless of process bitness. Will update here once it's in.