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Larry Dignan, Jason Perlow, Tom Steinert-Threlkeld
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Windows Defender annoyances

By | March 1, 2006, 7:19pm PST

Summary: I blogged last week about Windows Defender and complained about PCMag.com’s review. I said I’d test Defender against some real spyware, not just 6 commercial keyloggers. The next day I started to install Windows Defender on one of my virtual machines. It was a no go because… my VM is running Windows XP with no service packs and Windows Defender requires Service Pack 2.

I blogged last week about Windows Defender and complained about PCMag.com’s review. I said I’d test Defender against some real spyware, not just 6 commercial keyloggers. The next day I started to install Windows Defender on one of my virtual machines. It was a no go because… my VM is running Windows XP with no service packs and Windows Defender requires Service Pack 2. I have currently have no VMs with Service Pack 2 since it interferes with spyware research. Service Pack 2 is definitely good for users, but not for malware research. 

Now that I’m back home after being away for almost 3 weeks, I’ll have time to create a new VM for XP with Service Pack 2 to test Defender. I do have Defender on my laptop, but even though I turned it off and was not using the real time protection features, it tries periodically to add a new task to the Windows Task Scheduler for a daily scan, which I find annoying. Thanks to WinPatrol’s Scotty for keeping watch on such things. 

My other gripe is I can’t seem to find a way to check for updates from within the program. The definition updates come through Windows Update and depending on your update settings, notify you, or download and install automatically. I suppose its good for the masses to have WD automatically update and automatically scan, but I prefer to manually update all my apps except my AV. At any rate, I still have plans to test Windows Defender against real world spyware and blog the results.

Update March 6, 2006:  See how Windows Defender Beta 2 did against real spyware here.

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Biography

Suzi Turner is webmaster and owner of SpywareWarrior.com, a comprehensive site that includes a spyware help forum, spyware blog and reviews of anti-spyware software by noted spyware expert Eric L. Howes. Suzi became angry about spyware in 2002 after being infected by a drive-by-download of a browser hijacker and unwanted adware/spyware and decided to help others in the same predicament. In April 2005, Microsoft awarded Suzi its MVP (Most Valued Professional) Award in recognition of her work to help internet users protect their privacy by removing and preventing spyware. Suzi is also a nurse for a national disability management company.

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Where did Tracks Eraser go?
JPatrick 29th Mar 2006
The older "AntiSpyware Beta1" has a really useful tool called Tracks Eraser. Not only is is a nice one-stop service to clear out a lot of past history, temp files, etc., it also cleans out some past histories in programs for which I have no idea how to remove, such as the recently used file lists in many programs. This was also a nice easy privacy enhancer, and I'm sad to see it disappear. I'll be keeping the old version on my PCs for as long as it continues working (which appears to be only until July 31).

I wonder why Microsoft took it out? Perhaps they didn't want their own staff hiding their tracks.
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0 Votes
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Windows Defender
jimc3000@... 2nd Mar 2006
It's not intuitive, but you can manually check for updates as follows:

1. Click on the down facing triangle for Help Options
2. Click on About Windows Defender
3. Click Check for Updates

A word about this behavior: Interactive update information is not reported in the application window but in a bubble that attaches itself to the system tray icon (the icon only becoming visible for this operation).

4. Click OK to finish (whether there was an update or not).

I was told (rumor!) that this lack of obvious control is because better controls would be available in the final (sale) release of OneCare.
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Isn't it Still Beta
willytay 3rd Mar 2006
I would consider your gripes valid if it were not Beta.....
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Yes
Suzi_z 3rd Mar 2006
It is still in beta, but beta 2 was supposed to be in improvement over beta 1, but so far it doesn't seem like an improvement to me. Beta 1 was more intuitive and easier to use IMO.
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thanks
Suzi_z 3rd Mar 2006
You are right - it's not intuitive. Thanks for that tip.
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That's it?
thunderdome1 2nd Mar 2006
Those are the annoyances? -- That WD requires SP2 and automatically updates?

I rarely find myself defending Microsoft (no pun intended), but here I think they got it right on both counts. I completely understand the validity of requiring SP2 - it is to establish a baseline for end-user protection. (IE security and firewall enhancements, Security Center, etc...) And the automatic updates and scans - do you think it is better to leave this off by default and rely on the user to manually update themselves? I would vote "no."

All in all, I feel this to be a welcome upgrade to the original iterations of their anti-spyware product.
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OK how about this?
RStiennon 2nd Mar 2006
Why does Microsoft get to ignore the platforms used by well over half their customers while any other software vendor that provides desktop defense has to support Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2000, WinXP/SP1/SP2, etc??

*That's* annoying.

-Stiennon
0 Votes
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Agreed
Suzi_z 3rd Mar 2006
Yes, I agree with you there, except I don't know about Windows 95 - do other vendors actually support Win95 still? I know quite a few Windows 98 die-hards though.
0 Votes
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minor
Suzi_z 3rd Mar 2006
It's not that the auto updates and scans are on by default, but there seems to be an attempt to make it harder for users to control those features. While I can't think of many reasons to not upgrade to SP2, I have seen a few places where certain apps that people need won't work with SP2. Why leave those people out in the cold?
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Manual Update
rasmith_z 3rd Mar 2006
Manual update is simple, as described in the help file:
click the arrow beside "help"
Select "About....."
Click "Check for Updates"
0 Votes
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Or in Beta 1
Anton Philidor 3rd Mar 2006
Check for Updates is under File.

Beta 1 says I have the latest software(?).
0 Votes
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Updating through firewall
twpret 15th Mar 2006
Hi, I recently installed windows defender but since I am sitting behind a firewall on a LAN I cannot get the thing to update.

How do I tell it to use my proxy settings?

Thanks
0 Votes
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Pulitzer on the way?
broper 8th Mar 2006
Another unbiased assessment of Microsoft technology from GoogleNet, er, CNet Networks.
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Windows Defender Annoyance
Zaw Zaw Aung 9th Mar 2006
Previously I got an alert like "Your computer is effected" from Windows too often. I am also using Norton Internet Security, and so I downloaded Windows Defender.It does well but although it remove spyware absolutely, windows alert is popping up again and again although no spyware left in my PC. This alert only goes only when I restart my PC. It is really annoying popping up alert again and again very very frequently. Sometime it is difficult for me to reboot as I m running some software. I can't find any setting to disable this alert and getting angry ! Really Bad!
0 Votes
+ -
Where did Tracks Eraser go?
JPatrick 29th Mar 2006
The older "AntiSpyware Beta1" has a really useful tool called Tracks Eraser. Not only is is a nice one-stop service to clear out a lot of past history, temp files, etc., it also cleans out some past histories in programs for which I have no idea how to remove, such as the recently used file lists in many programs. This was also a nice easy privacy enhancer, and I'm sad to see it disappear. I'll be keeping the old version on my PCs for as long as it continues working (which appears to be only until July 31).

I wonder why Microsoft took it out? Perhaps they didn't want their own staff hiding their tracks.

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