microsoft baseline security analazer

hi
can anyone tell me about this analyzer and if anyone should download and run it?i have the setup for it but was wondering if there is any reason to run it before i do?thanks
rita

 

It is a useful security tool to have. I use it occasionally to double-check my XP settings.

Nick

 

hi nick
thanks for replying,think i'll go ahead and do it and see what it finds
rita

 

i'll try and post results

 

now i'll try to post other results

what does this second part mean--cannot access?thanks

 

Ritaann,

I don't know about your second post, but on the first one (post #4) it says you have 2 administrator accounts. If you want to have more control with what is installed, system configuration changes, etc. You could change the other admin account into a power user or regular user that would have restricted permissions. This is useful if you have kids and just one computer. That is done in the User Accounts in Control Panel.

 

Devinco
i checked and only have one account.so i dont know what that means that it said two.no one uses the computer but me so i didnt set up but one--thanks
rita

 

one account fits "no more than two account"

Gerard

 

The "cannot access" part refers to the fact that MBSA must connect to an online source for an XML file which contains the database of current security patch information. So, for example, it couldn't tell if your PC was up-to-date on "Microsoft VM Security Updates" because it didn't have access to the file which would tell it what current updates/patches have been issued for the Microsoft VM. This patch checking is really the core of MBSA, so you are missing most of the functionality of the program.

Now, why did you not have access to the online XML file? I'm not sure. It could be that you simply weren't connected to the internet for whatever reason when you ran the program, or it could be that the online source of the XML file was down/not-available for some reason, or it could be that you have a software or hardware firewall which denied MBSA access to the internet.

 

hi gerard
true,never thought of that--thanks
rita

 

hi alec
i may not have been connected to internet when i ran the scan-cant remember -so i'm going to do it again and see--thanks
rita

here is the scan--it was the firewall wouldnt allow access--thanks so much

 

i stopped using it awhile ago because it never works. i might download it later a and show you