Updating MSE signatures

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I can’t find where to set the update frequency for MS Security Essentials. I can update signatures manually but there appears to be no facility to update automatically. Does MSE rely on Windows Update being turned on to do this?

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I can’t find where to set the update frequency for MS Security Essentials. I can update signatures manually but there appears to be no facility to update automatically. Does MSE rely on Windows Update being turned on to do this?

I think so, Paul.
( I’m still battling the ability of MSE to work properly along with my other apps, so I haven’t really dug into all the options yet ) Appointment with MS senior techs this Tuesday, where they have asked to TRY some changes, via Remote Desktop Access. Said, “Sure, why not”.
Stay tuned, maybe I’ll get a chance to ask them about Updates?

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It relies on the Automatic Updates service (but are not offered via that UI (AU)).

At the moment it seems to be a “once per 24 hour” check, and as you have found, there is no setting for time or update frequency. But it will also check within some 10 minutes after start or wake up, if definitions are older than 24 hours (though there are some problems with that; see link below).

See this FAQ: MSE Definitions/Signatures Update FAQ.

And this: Microsoft Security Essentials signature updates may not occur when resuming from sleep/hibernation.

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I can’t find where to set the update frequency for MS Security Essentials. I can update signatures manually but there appears to be no facility to update automatically. Does MSE rely on Windows Update being turned on to do this?

If you’d like to do a bit of LONG reading, check http://lounge.windowssecrets.com/index.php?/topic/766901-microsoft-security-essentials/page__hl__mse__fromsearch__1′%5Dthis%5B/url%5D thread. It never satisfied me, so I went back to Avast. Do a bit of Googling and you also see that it’s a very hot topic. I found more than one place handing out registry hacks to modify the default 24 hour setting but I thought that if it wasn’t working AT ALL for me, I wasn’t gonna try hacking the registry to make it do so.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do, Paul.

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I can’t find where to set the update frequency for MS Security Essentials. I can update signatures manually but there appears to be no facility to update automatically. Does MSE rely on Windows Update being turned on to do this?

If the default update period is not sufficient for you or MSE appears to be not updating because of the issue Argus posted, see Updating Microsoft Security Essentials Using Command-Line – The Winhelponline Blog[/url].

Joe

--Joe

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Woody in his blog today recommended MSE and even told his followers to uninstall other antivirus apps. I’m not comfortable with that yet. I like choosing when Microsoft or Windows Update runs. If that’s how MSE updates, sounds like that would leave me wide open between when I turned on the updates. Odd recommendation, IMHO.

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[snip] I like choosing when Microsoft or Windows Update runs. If that’s how MSE updates, sounds like that would leave me wide open between when I turned on the updates. Odd recommendation, IMHO.

I’ve not tested this on Windows XP; but remember that it’s a big difference between having the Automatic Updates service running (set to start automatically) and having AU in automatic mode or semi-automatic mode. At this moment I have the service running in Windows XP, but AU disabled.

I quote from the FAQ I mentioned:

It is recommended, however, that you at least allow Automatic Updates to notify you about critical and important updates so that you can choose to download and install them as soon as possible and help keep your operating system secure with the latest patches from Microsoft.

But as I said, I’ve not tested this (MSE on Windows XP).

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Woody in his blog today recommended MSE and even told his followers to uninstall other antivirus apps. I’m not comfortable with that yet. I like choosing when Microsoft or Windows Update runs. If that’s how MSE updates, sounds like that would leave me wide open between when I turned on the updates. Odd recommendation, IMHO.

Read the FAQ whose link Argus posted above. MSE only uses the WU pipe not the AU settings.

Joe

--Joe

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Thanks for all the links and info on MSE. I will continue to experiment with it and see if it suits my purposes. It does seem though that you have to be a lawyer to interpret the conditions under which MSE updates itself (or does not)…

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