Automatic Windows Defender Updates with Manual Windows/Microsoft Updates

I've got Windows/Microsoft Update on my Windows 7 laptop set to notify me when updates are available but not to do anything automatically.

I also have Windows Defender running and it seems to have daily or semi-daily updates for its signature database but it uses Windows Update utility to get and install these updates.

Is there a way to automatically download and install the Windows Defender signature updates but leave the rest of Windows Updates set to manual?

The answer is yes.

With the Windows Update settings set to "Check for Updates but let me choose whether to download and install them", you may set the Windows Defender settings to check for new definitions before a "Windows Defender Scheduled Scan".

To automatically check for new definitions before Windows Defender scheduled scans (recommended):

1. Click to open Windows Defender by going to Control Panel > Windows Defender

2. Click Tools, and then click Options.

3. Under Automatic scanning, make sure the "Automatically scan my computer (recommended)" check box is selected.

4. Select the "Check for updated definitions before scanning" check box, and then click Save. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Source: Microsoft Support

I couldn't find this option on the version of Windows Defender bundled with Windows 8, but these commands in a .BAT file work for me:

pushd "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender"
MpCmdRun.exe -SignatureUpdate
popd

I then created a scheduled task to run this at 4am every morning.

(The pushd/popd are so I can also run it from the command line on demand.)