Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter

[David Baxter PhD]

Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter
Microsoft Support
Retrieved January 2014

Article ID: 2534555 Run the Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter The Diagnose and fix Windows security problems automatically troubleshooter may automatically fix the problem described in this article. This troubleshooter fixes many problems. learn more run now ​ Summary The Microsoft Malware Prevention trouble shooter is designed to scan your computer and make recommended changes based on your current settings to provide you with the most up to date security for your Windows operating system. Building up your computer?s defenses helps secure your computer against viruses and other malicious software. The Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter does the following: Turns on your Windows Firewall. Enabling your Windows Firewall will protect your computer by blocking communication to your PC that may be malicious software. Antivirus software: Checks your Antivirus protection status. You will be prompted to update your Antivirus program if it is not up to date or enable Real-time protection. If you don't have an anti-virus program installed it will offer you to use Microsoft Security Essentials or learn more about other security software partners. Turns on Automatic Update. Windows Update helps keep your PC current, secure and enhance performance by automatically downloading and installing the latest security and feature updates from Microsoft. This helps ensure that both Important and Recommended updates are downloaded. Pop-blocker: Enabling Pop-up Blocker will make browsing the web safer by helping prevent malicious or unsafe pop-ups from automatically appearing. Remote Registry: The Windows Remote Registry service enables remote users to modify registry settings on this computer. If this service is stopped the registry can be modified only by users on this computer as opposed to over the network. Internet Explorer: The package will inform you if you have the latest version of Internet Explorer installed. It will also modify your current privacy settings to ensure you have a safe browsing experience. The package will delete your internet cache and browsing history, which will help protect against malicious threats attempting to access your computer while you?re online. Enables User Account Control (UAC). User Account Control (UAC) will prevent malicious software from modifying your computer settings without your consent. Proxy Settings: If malicious software has modified your Internet Proxy settings, therefore making it difficult to get online, the package will reset your settings so you can browse the internet normally.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Note: This does not work with Windows 8

Free security tools from Microsoft
Fred Langa, Windows Secrets
January 2014

The Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter (site) is a standalone fixit that checks whether various Windows settings (Policy, User Account Control, Proxy, etc.) are configured for maximum safety. If anything's amiss, the troubleshooter can make changes for you automatically (Figure 2) ? or let you make them manually.

However, try to run the Malware Prevention tool on Win8.1, and you get the error message shown in Figure 3.


Figure 2. The Microsoft Malware Prevention troubleshooter can apply recommended system settings for you in XP, Vista, and Win7.


Figure 3. The Malware Prevention site gives no mention of, or warnings about, Windows 8, but the fixit fails when you try to run it on the new OS.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

But this does

Free security tools from Microsoft
Fred Langa, Windows Secrets
January 2014

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer Version 2.3 (site) reportedly supports Win8. It's an installable utility originally intended for use by IT professionals to scan one or more PCs. (It can work across a network.) The analyzer, shown in Figure 4, checks about 24 different security-related system settings, ensuring they're correctly configured. It checks, for example, that Windows Update is enabled, that all current Updates have been installed, that local system shares and passwords are correctly configured, and that macro security is enabled on installed MS Office products.


Figure 4. A professional-level tool, the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer can scan multiple systems across a network.