MSE 4.0 is out of beta

[joro]

Thanks, Bruce. Why didn't I see that help button?

I have MSE2 and the Windows updates up to this moment don't show an update for MSE.

I can wait for it to arrive.

I've tried just about every AV program out there, starting with Norton many years ago, then Zone Alarm, Kaspersy, Avast, Avira, McAfee, Antimalwarebytes and now MSE, and this last one is the least intrusive, seems to be as efficient as most others, updates often, and the price is right. But I still run scan with other programs as a fail-safe. So far, MSE does it well..

[curiousclive]

I guess my key concern would be an AV package that doesn't consult me before deleting what it considers a dangerous file.
Does MSE 4 use a quarantine function that allows me to recover something it mistook for a problem?

The link quotes Microsoft on what has changed:

"This update to Microsoft Security Essentials is part of the standard product update release cycle. This service update contains product enhancements to improve performance and user experience. We have improved on Microsoft Security Essentials’ Automatic Remediation, which will automatically quarantine highly harmful threats without prompting the user to take action as well as minor bug fixes in set up, malware remediation and other areas".
Copied from Ruiribs post which shows it does indeed quarantine problem files and has a History tab which allows you to restore anything in the quarantine box.

[curiousclive]

It's an improvement for me. I had, in the past, posted a question about my MSSE tray icon always showing "red" after I booted up my desktop. The consensus was that my older, Dell 4600 was probably slightly under-powered, and
that it would eventually turn "green."

MSSE 4 starts right up now on my machine, and always shows "green" for me on a reboot.


Dick

If there is a problem i.e definitions out of date or not scanned for a long time then icon will change colour normally to orange. If it is red that means it did not launch properly and is not protecting your computer. But yes as long as the definitions are kept up to date and a scan run once a month the icon will always start on green. As for disk activity I found this to be far less than AVG or Avast when scanning files. I can't see how it can not be using disk activity when scanning files as the files are on your hard disk.

[curiousclive]

All I can tell you is that my experience running the beta was completely uneventful. The beta worked pretty much as any previous MSE version.

I ended up ditching it, though. I think MSE, in all its incarnations, is a bit heavy on disk access. When I performed certain operations, the file checking by MSE slowed down things a bit too much.

As for disk activity I found this to be far less than AVG or Avast when scanning files.
I can't see how it can not be using disk activity when scanning files as the files are on your hard disk.

[bobprimak]

Interestingly Win 8 CP updated this morning with Version SIX of Defender!
Attachment 31113

Windows Defender for Windows 8 has always listed itself as Version 6. I think that was intended to allow some wiggle room for MSE versions. The "Version" in question is only the user GUI version. The Scanning Engines are identical between MSE 2, MSE 4 and Windows Defender.

As for MSE 4 vs. 2, in my Windows XP laptop, I have very limited resources, especially RAM. So the reduced load on system resources, especially at boot time, is much appreciated there. In my modern Toshiba Satellite, I like the reduced resources load, but the main difference seems to be in the settings controls. If I dig deeply enough, most of the Version 2 settings are still there, but some have been rearranged to different context menus, or have slightly different names. Scanning seems to be comparable on deep file scans, and a bit faster on quick scans on both laptops. Updating definitions is about the same as Version 2.

The upgrade itself is reported to have some installation issues for some folks, but mine on both laptops went quickly and smoothly. I upgraded from the latest Version 2 to a freshly downloaded installer of Version 4. Both 64-bit and 32-bit went smoothly with no errors. I did the upgrade before applying the MS Updates April 2012 patches.

[RetiredGeek]

Bob,

Thanks for the clarifications and other info!

[rlosey]

I guess I'm one of the unlucky ones; I saw the updated, thought "Great" and attempted to install it -- machine hung. Did a fresh reboot and tried again... machine hangs. Downloaded v4 separately and attempted to install -- Machine hangs. I was running v2 and it was working well for me. Now I've abandoned it for another anti-virus checker that will at least, install. The only "troubleshooting" tip I get is to make sure other anti-virus programs are uninstalled or not running... duh!? Hello!?!? I was running THEIR PREVIOUS VERSION.

*sigh*


On another topic, when I started using MS security client, it dragged down my system until I excluded its own directories -- is this still necessary under 4.0? Seems like a half-smart app would know to exclude itself.

[curiousclive]

Thanks, Bruce. Why didn't I see that help button?

I have MSE2 and the Windows updates up to this moment don't show an update for MSE.

I can wait for it to arrive.

I've tried just about every AV program out there, starting with Norton many years ago, then Zone Alarm, Kaspersy, Avast, Avira, McAfee, Antimalwarebytes and now MSE, and this last one is the least intrusive, seems to be as efficient as most others, updates often, and the price is right. But I still run scan with other programs as a fail-safe. So far, MSE does it well..

You could go to Microsoft download site and download the latest version from there if you want (may need to uninstall version 2 first though before installing version 4). If you haven't already been offered it automatically by now not likely to get it .

[Medico]

I did find yesterday that my mother's version of MSE on Vista did not update to V4 correctly. For some reason MSE was not running at all and Windows Defender had re-enabled. Also Malwarebytes AM would not start. I uninstalled and reinstalled both apps, ran full scans without finding any errors. It seems her system was uninfected. I did a full system cleanup (she does run CCleaner fairly regularly and Spybot Search and Destroy regularly). I guess these plus my other security layers I had put in place for her protected her PC during the time until I could get there and fix everything else. Now she does have MSE V4 and Malwarebytes installed again.