More threads by David Baxter PhD

David Baxter PhD

Late Founder
New Anti-virus Software from Microsoft is Free, Small and Capable
September 29, 2009

Keeping your Windows PC secure from viruses and spyware can be both difficult and expensive, and some of the popular security suites out there are known to slow down computers.

Yes, there are quite a few free antivirus software programs available on the web but they are often designed to convince you to purchase the professional edition and thus nag users with prompts to purchase the commercial version.

If you are looking for a non-bloated software that doesn’t nag you at anytime, try Security Essentials – it’s a new anti-virus and anti-malware program from Microsoft that is lightweight and absolutely free as long as you are running a genuine copy of Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 on your computers.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a capable software that has been streamlined to run efficiently even on netbooks or older computers with low resources. But even on a modern computer with multiple cores and several gigs of ram, a lightweight antivirus solution will definitely make your computer a bit speedier. Security Essentials is also ideal for running in virtual environments such as the new XP Mode for Windows 7.

Microsoft Security Essentials is not just lightweight but easy to use as well. After downloading the small installer (it’s less than 10 MB in size), installation takes less than a minute and it will immediately start protecting your computer from virus attacks. When Security Essentials is scanning your computer for problems, you can still work as normal as the software has been designed to use limited amount of system resources if a user is using the computer while a scan is in progress.

The software will automatically download new definition from the Internet through Windows Update, and these will be installed on the computer without requiring user intervention. Additionally, Security Essentials is the first product to make use of Microsoft’s Dynamic Signature Service that enables the program to get the latest definitions as soon as their computer suspects a threat.

Although viruses have traditionally been the main security concern in Windows PCs, the security landscape has changed and computers users now have to face threats of rootkits, malware, and spyware in addition to viruses. Windows Defender was designed to keep adware and spyware off your computer but Security Essentials works against most types of threats. The software has received favorable reviews and one of the testers noted that Security Essentials detected all of their sample threats correctly without giving any false positive reports.

You should be able to download the Microsoft Security Essentials installer from microsoft.com/security in the next few hours. The software replaces both Windows Live OneCare and Windows Defender.

Stay secure without sacrificing your computer’s speed or your hard-earned money.

Added: See below for my review. DJB.
 

David Baxter PhD

Late Founder
Review: Microsoft Security Essentials

Review: Microsoft Security Essentials
October 4, 2009

As I’ve noted previously (Basic Computer Security 2009 Part 2), I long ago became fed up with big commercial or freeware suites that hog computer resources in the name of security. I’ve been personally using Avast antivirus and recommending Avira as an alternative.

However, I decided to give Security Essentials a test drive. I installed it on a Dell Vostro desktop computer running Windows XP Pro SP3 with an Intel Core2 2.33 GHz processor and 4 gigs of ram, as well as a Toshiba laptop running Vista Home Premium SP2 with an AMD dual-core 2.4 GHz processor.

I found it was a little slower than Avast on the Vista laptop but tolerable, especially given that it scanned for spyware as well the virus family and Windows Defender isn’t available for Vista. My initial impression was uncertain but I was willing to work with Security Essentials for a while on the laptop.

On the desktop it was a very different story. It slowed my XP system to a crawl with almost constant activity that was using 20-50% of available RAM at any given time. I gave it a couple of hours in case this was just an initial scan but even following the Quick Scan I’d requested it continued to churn away. Even switching windows from email to my browser or to Word often took a few seconds.

I have reverted to Avast on both machines. Perhaps the fault lies with an imperfect release candidate (although this is supposed to be a debugged “gold” release) but I’m not willing to struggle with another resource hog when more efficient solutions are available.
 

Jackie

Member
Re: Microsoft Security Essentials

I used something called Secunia which checks for updates and vunerbilities in your software, and leads you too the correct sites for patches etc, its really good.
 

David Baxter PhD

Late Founder
Re: Microsoft Security Essentials

The Secunia utility isn't an antivirus scanner, though. It will just scan your system for software that may need patching for security vulnerabilities. It will not detect or remove viruses or other malware.
 

Jackie

Member
Re: Microsoft Security Essentials

I use Kaspersky for virus checking, its not free, but its pretty good.
 

David Baxter PhD

Late Founder
The thing is that Windiws Essentials is built on the Windows Defender, which I had also been finding was becoming slower and slower on my system. I've unsinstalled that as well in favor of alternatives.

I used to be quite happy with Windows Defender. I'm not sure what has changed but if has really become a resource hog, especially on my XP system.
 

Retired

Member
One year later, has anyone had any recent experiences with Windows Security Essentials? What's it like for performance now cmpared to reports of sluggish activity one year ago?

Considering that it is provided free by Microsoft, with automatic updates, is it a worthwhile alternative to the usual Norton, McAfee etc offerings that cost bundles of money?
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
Considering that it is provided free by Microsoft, with automatic updates, is it a worthwhile alternative to the usual Norton, McAfee etc offerings that cost bundles of money?

Everyone in my family uses it without a problem. The only time I experienced sluggishness was when it was installed on a computer with only 256 MB of RAM (running Windows XP).
 

Retired

Member
I'm glad to hear MSE offers an option worth considering. It's being highly touted by Microsoft, along with Windows Live products, based on some recent presentations I recently attended given by Microsoft.

The important caveat they mentioned was that registry entries from previous installations of McAfee and/or Norton products need to be removed before Security Essentials is installed.
 

Retired

Member
In fact Daniel, they gave away a nifty holder for photos. The goal of Microsoft is to gain popular support for their Live services in conducting these seminars, and they include sessions on choosing a PC, security issues (to promote Security Essentials), phtot editing, and movie making.

The seminars are geared for entry level users, providing basic direction to try to reduce their anxiety and confusion in learning how to use that new PC.
 
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