MSE; Does Anyone Still Use It?

I wonder how this impacts MSE?

 

If your running Win 7, have you tried the shortcut to MSE Updates? I still have it on my desktop when I used MSE a long time ago. But it's still a PITA to manually update all the time.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...curity-essentials-update-create-shortcut.html

 

OK, thanks for that, it looks interesting.

 

The defs do update themselves if you have Windows Update set to Install Updates Automatically, not an acceptable solution for the mainstream Ultra Extreme Wilders Power Poser. But it's perfect for cousin Bob's laptop.

There are two "let me choose" options where you can check the update and install.

You can also create a task in Task Scheduler using MpCmdRun.exe with the arguments -SignatureUpdate -MMPC. (If you need any more info on all that, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Mr. Google.) The same command is valid for all flavors of MSE and Defender. I have one set to check every four hours. Overkill, maybe...

 

@haakon --- just as a point of information. AU has to be running but whatever your selection there, MSE will still auto-update. Windows 8 Defender is different.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...date-faq/096ed345-2669-4143-9d45-d6ca0e03ac4f

 

As of right now I don't use an A/V program in real time. I have used MSE in the past and never had a problem with it and it did update automatically. Right now I use Sandboxie and use MBAM and Hitman pro for on demand scans. If I were to not use Sandboxie anymore (fat chance ) I would use MSE and MBAM pro in real time as I do have a license for it. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

 

Although I have noticed the slowdowns while downloading files etc I haven't encountered any other problems effecting the speed of my usage..If Panda are encountering a lot of complaints about this surely they will tweak its core or whatever is causing the problems. I'm sticking to it before I look elsewhere, it is very light on the system and its biggest plus for me is not having to fight it and go through a number of steps to stop it flagging a false positive all the time...I cite Avira as a royal PIA.

 

OK thanks. I think I'll survive manually updating it lol. I don't usually let any MS updates download until I can see what they are.

 

Panda 2016 seemed fine at first, I didn't notice any performance problems, although the downloading thing is noticeable. People have been reporting odd quarantining behaviour though. I opened FotoSketcher yesterday and it informed me of an update. So I downloaded the installer and even scanned it with Panda. All was fine until I tried to run the installer and Panda queried it. I tried to allow it to run but Panda quarantined it anyway and then the fun started. After my blood pressure went into warp drive as I struggled with my computer going all HAL 9000 *Open the pod bay doors HAL* with a succession of weird pop-ups informing over and over again that it couldn't perform this operation because the program didn't exist or something, I decided to uninstall both Panda and FotoSketcher, after rebooting of course because the computer was having a nervous breakdown.

So, I should avoid Avira right?

I reinstalled FotoSketcher ... works fine.

"My God, it's full of borks ... " ~ Last reported message of Daveski as he disappeared into the Panda monolith orbiting the cloud during 2016 A Cyberspace Odyssey.

 

I don't let anything MS update automatically, on principle.

 

I did not know that - thanks for the info. I had MSE running on a well-locked-down Windows 7 system for a few months a while back. I had BITS disabled which is why I didn't see the auto updates and benefited from the scheduled task.

 

Thanks, that's encouraging at least. Yeah, I suppose I'll have to get used to manual updating again. It's not so bad! *sighs*

 

Doesn't matter, AV will always just stay one layer of defence.
If you want better protection then look at a complete system lockdown and an IDS/IPS solution.

 

I just want to know how MSE protects me to be honest.

 

That's pretty good! Maybe MSE will eventually get its good reputation back. OK, I'm being optimistic there lol!

 

The level of protection offered by MSE has always been 'basic' and I do not think that anything will change this very soon. The level of protection that you can get depends on the amount of effort (and money) that you are willing to spend on it. I am not going to recommend other products, but most people agree that almost everything is better than MSE.

 

That's not strictly true, MSE was once considered a very good solution. What's changed is MS effectively bundling it (as Defender) in post 7 OS's. This has caused AV vendors some consternation, anxiety and has led to anti-trust issues. I also don't accept that good protection boils down to how much money you want to spend. As I stated earlier, in 2009 I stopped using the AV my ISP provided me because it was heavy and sought alternatives. From 2009 until only a few months ago (4-5 years) I ran MSE on more than one machine and in that time I didn't have a single infection or case of malware.

 

OK, thanks.

 

Here are some tests of AV-Test: https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-7/april-2015/
Almost all vendors almost always provide better protection then MSE.
Furthermore, the fact that you didn't have a single infection in years does not have to mean that MSE offers great protection, but can also mean that your software is up-to-date and that you didn't run any random executable.

 

Per the thread title, I still use MSE on Win 7, and also just use Defender in Win 10. The others are too much hassle... I like to keep it simple.

 

Valid argument. MSE is lightweight and fine if you know what you're doing.

 

Well - Ropchain, you where properly the last person in this forum that I would have expected to post marketing propaganda in an attempt badmouth a security product

That's a odd surprise.

Windows Defender/MSE does a fine job protecting tons of people.
Why is that fact SO hard for some people to accept ??

In threads where users post that they use whatever kind of third-party security, then nobody ever raises an eyebrow.

But every time there's a thread regarding MSE/Defender, then users of other products feel they simply MUST pour out some bile in those threads.

Really strange.