Microsoft Security Essentials – get yours today @ AskWoody.com

Microsoft Security Essentials – get yours today

Posted on September 29th, 2009 at 16:06 woody 30 comments

I’ve been using Microsoft Security Essentials (code-name Morro) on a dozen computers for more than a month.

I like it. I bet you’ll like it too.

I like it so much that I’ve thrown away my old antivirus programs and replaced them. All of them.

MSE is free. It works, and works well. I’ve written about it several times on this site, and cover it extensively in my new Windows 7 book.

According to a Microsoft Press Release, it will be widely available today.

Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft Corp.’s new no-cost, core anti-malware service that helps protect consumers against viruses, spyware and other malicious software, will be available tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 29. Microsoft Security Essentials, independently certified by West Coast Labs, is backed by the company’s global security response team and is built on the same award-winning core security technology found in the company’s security solutions for businesses. It requires no registration, trials or renewals and will be available for download directly from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials.

There may be some glitches, so I don’t yet recommend that you throw caution to the wind and change immediately. But you should certainly watch closely.

UPDATE: It’s up.

Windows Patches/Security Microsoft Security Essentials, Morro
30 responses to “Microsoft Security Essentials – get yours today”
1. Jerry September 30th, 2009 at 00:01
  
  How well does this fair against Eset products? Have you heard of them? When Eset scans there’s lag in my sys performance.
  
  Does Essentials slow your system down?
2. zerosprite September 30th, 2009 at 01:16
  
  would you confirm this means that you have ditched AVG??? PLMK
3. woody September 30th, 2009 at 06:58
  
  Yep, that’s exactly what it means. On a dozen machines.
4. woody September 30th, 2009 at 06:59
  
  Jerry -
  
  I’ve used Eset, Avira and (especially) AVG for years.
  
  MSE, right now, works much better than all of them for one simple reason: MSE doesn’t nag me or try to scare me into spending money.
  
  I won’t say MSE is the fastest, the most thorough or complete. I will say that it does its job, best I can tell, and it shuts up.
5. Colin K September 30th, 2009 at 08:39
  
  I think I remember you saying once in your book that the one of the reasons Windows Live Security Essentials didn’t work was because virus makers could easily follow what Microsoft was doing. Is that not the same case here?
6. Brian Williams September 30th, 2009 at 18:54
  
  Good news Woody, but would it be churlish to ask why it’s taken them 19 years to bring it out?
7. john October 1st, 2009 at 00:31
  
  well i trust woody downloaded it on three of my six machines. i think my xp machines are actually running faster than they did with avg. could be microsoft finally got something right?
8. JohnM October 1st, 2009 at 08:03
  
  Woody,
  
  As always, thanks for the good advice. A question about other related products – I’ve been running RUBotted along with Avira AV. Will MSE catch bots too?
9. Upton October 1st, 2009 at 19:43
  
  If I use MSE, that means I’m stuck with the firewall that comes with Vista….is that sufficient protection? Or should I go with one of the free downloads such as ZoneAlarm?
10. john October 1st, 2009 at 20:13
  
  hi woody if i was to get mse what would be a good fire wall with it to use?
11. Harry F Pea October 1st, 2009 at 21:39
  
  Hi Woody
  
  So I am giving it a go and have uninstalled AVG 8.
  
  I note there is nothing with Morro that states it checks E Mail as it comes/out which AVG 8 did.
  
  Comment?
  
  HFP
12. woody October 2nd, 2009 at 21:39
  
  Colin -
  
  Not exactly. The bad guys do follow what the AV makers are doing, but focus has shifted away from writing different variants of the same old viruses.
  
  More next week in Windows Secrets Newsletter.
13. woody October 2nd, 2009 at 21:40
  
  Heh heh heh. Good point…
14. woody October 2nd, 2009 at 21:42
  
  John -
  
  I’m still surprised that MSE seems to do exactly what I want. I’ll be writing an article about it next week in Windows Secrets Newsletter. A few minor surprises, but by and large it’s amazingly good for a “version 1.0″ Microsoft product.
15. woody October 2nd, 2009 at 21:43
  
  JohnM -
  
  MSE does a very good job of catching bots. AV-Test.org says it can detect more than 98% of the samples it fed to MSE.
16. woody October 2nd, 2009 at 21:45
  
  Upton -
  
  I’m something of an outcast for saying this, but I don’t run any firewall other than Windows’ built-in firewall, and I see very little reason for most people to bother.
  
  I’ll expound on that theme in the next Windows Secrets Newsletter. My colleagues are already pounding me with brickbats. Heh heh heh.
17. woody October 2nd, 2009 at 21:45
  
  Harry -
  
  Yep, MSE scans email. Very well.
18. john October 2nd, 2009 at 22:22
  
  here is a good review on microsoft security essentials http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD1WfImw97E&feature=PlayList&p=C0DA731E782AFDFD&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=89
19. Mark C October 3rd, 2009 at 07:28
  
  Woody
  I’m confused. (nothing new)
  
  SANS says and I quote “MSE replaces the Onecare offering and the free Defender installation standard on Vista installations. It will provide you with malware detection and removal ONLY”
  
  Is it to be assumed that “MALWARE” is virus protection?
  
  Link : http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=7204
20. Mark C October 3rd, 2009 at 07:41
  
  Woody
  
  Better question than before is
  
  “What is the difference (mainly) between MSE and Windows Malicious Software Removal tool”??
  
  Both appear to be a “virus detection” but MSE removal too???
21. woody October 4th, 2009 at 19:51
  
  Mark -
  
  MSE is both antivirus and anticrapware.
  
  As an AV product, it replaces the only marginally useful part of OneCare, which was a marketing nightmare. (”What? I have to PAY MICROSOFT to fix holes in their software?”)
  
  It replaces Windows Defender – a move that I predicted in “Windows 7 All-In-One For Dummies” that came true. You can read the details there.
22. Bekka October 5th, 2009 at 04:11
  
  I assume that like all else Microsoft I use IE to download? Will MSE work with firefox and other browsers, and will it only update through IE?
23. woody October 5th, 2009 at 07:39
  
  You can use any browser you like to download it, and yes it works fine with Firefox. Updates come through the usual Microsoft update mechanism, although you’re asked if you want to install major upgrades. Virus definition file updates are invisible and occur frequently.
24. Martyn October 6th, 2009 at 05:00
  
  Hi Woody,
  
  This is looking good but, on the basis that there is no such thing as a free lunch, just what information does this thing phone home with?
  
  Looking at the youtube thing it appears to be very simple to operate which is brilliant, because Norton confuses the hell out of me as well as raiding my credit card.
25. Steen October 6th, 2009 at 18:43
  
  Hi Woody,
  
  Skipped AVG, Spywaredoctor, Search and Detstroy, TrendRubot and installed MSE. Just be aware that it immediately turns on Automatic Updates. Typical Microsoft, I think!
26. woody October 7th, 2009 at 04:57
  
  Steen -
  
  Are you sure?
  
  I watched carefully for that exact behavior when installing MSE on several Win7 and Vista machines. The MSE install didn’t turn on Automatic Updates. Not sure about XP.
  
  MSE seems to update itself regardless of the Auto Update setting. I have Auto Updates turned off on all of my machines (of course), and MSE is updating itself just fine.
  
  Weird.
27. Steen October 7th, 2009 at 09:05
  
  Woody-
  Yes. I am 100% sure. I am running XP Service Pack 3and I have never had Automatic Updates on, but right after installing MSE I was advised there was an update available for installation. When I checked Security Center Automatic Updates were changed to ON. Checking Windows Updates my Windows Defender had already been updated and the latest patch for Active Kill Bits downloaded, but not installed.
  I turned off Automatic Updates (and it seems they stay OFF) and checked whether MSE could still update. No problem.
  By the way, with MSE on is it ok to uninstall Windows Defender too?
  
  Steen
28. Dave October 8th, 2009 at 00:22
  
  Martyn,
  
  The Privacy Statement page has a phone home list: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/privacy.aspx
  
  Woody,
  
  That page also states that “Microsoft Security Essentials turns on automatic updating from Windows Update and Microsoft Update….”
  
  According to the license terms: “If you do not enlist in the Microsoft Update center, you will not be able to install and operate the software.”
  
  Also note that MSE conducts “validation checks of your operating system software from time to time” and if you fail, the software “may be disabled, or the functionality of the operating system software may be affected”. Thus placing profit above security.
  
  Some things never change.
29. woody October 8th, 2009 at 06:32
  
  Dave -
  
  Yep, I wrote about those clauses in my original Windows Secrets Newsletter article. What I found, though, was that – at least with Windows 7 and Vista – Automatic Updates is NOT turned on when you install MSE. I haven’t had a chance to check a WinXP machine, but it looks like MSE does turn it on.
  
  Hmmmm… there’s one subtlety here. All of my Vista and Win7 machines use Microsoft Update, not Windows Update (it’s just that they notify, but don’t download). I wonder if Auto Updates gets turned on if you have only Windows Update enabled? I’ll try to check that out today.
  
  Scary note about continued validation checks. That would be even harder to check – you’d have to find a Windows crack that works well enough now to get MSE going, but poorly enough that MS catches it in the future.
30. woody October 10th, 2009 at 20:48
  
  You can use any browser to download MSE, and it works fine with all of the major browsers.
  
  It updates itself – no IE required – using the same mechanism as Microsoft Update (but working independently of MS Update).
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