MSRT - Microsoft's Malicious software removal Tool. It gets updated every patch Tuesday. Is it of any value to you?
I let it run as I never hide any updates - I let every update install. I see no harm in letting it run.
I let it run each month. Yeah but since it only gets updated once a month it is pointless. If you want to run a M$ scanner you better of with Microsoft Safety Scanner, or with Win10 now, WD Limited Periodic Scanning.
I block it. It is mainly focused on people, who do not use WD and just to gather statistics about PCs. reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\MRT" /v DontOfferThroughWUAU /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
You might not have noticed but if you Hide MSRT from August and you run Windows update again, it ll display the one from July and on and on. Thats how that works in W7. You gain nothing hiding it. I haven't run MSRT in many years but I think its OK for people that get infected. Bo
Yes each month there is separate update and you have to hide them all, one by one. I will try a registry trick and see if it hides all future MSRT updates.
Just for info, MSRT is no longer compatible on XP and the tool cannot be downloaded from Microsoft downloads.
A new twist ... Telemetry gathering in MSRT http://www.ghacks.net/2016/10/20/di...us-software-removal-tool-heartbeat-telemetry/ I was not aware that MSRT scans after you install windows updates. News to me. On Windows 8.1 it runs automatically during maintenance, while on Windows 7 it runs only when it is “installed” or manually started. I wondered why it had its own EULA too. I opened the log on my W7 system and it did call home. Hmmm.
Good decision. I have been blindly installing MSRT every time it was offered. In that ghacks article I just linked to, posters say that MSRT arbitrarily deletes whatever it considers malicious without involving the user. AVs and AMs always identify what has been quarantined on a scan and gives the user the opportunity to restore or delete. MSRT just zaps it - not good.
Yes it's tool for masses where user doesn't have to decide about anything. It only identifies specific malware or malware families, so I don't see much benefit using it. I prefer to run other on-demand scanners that cover much more malware and give you an option to decide what to do with detected files.
Is there a way to permanently stop it on Windows 7? I hide it but then the very next month it's back up for download.