Microsoft Security Essentials 4.1

[malbky]

MSE is pretty decent. It does well in keeping a non infected PC safe. For most users MSE+w7 Firewall+SBIE and Traffic light for their browsers is sufficient enough. Occasional scans with MBAM removes any left overs. Problem with MSE for that matter Windows defdender is the removal time is too much.
Other than that is good and can be used by noobs with extra layers.

 

[Exterminator]

I think its pretty good for novice home users and can be much better when paired with other things.

 

[Littlebits]

I think its pretty good for novice home users and can be much better when paired with other things.

Totally agree it is excellent for most novice users who don't know how to configure an AV because it is so simple to use. If they just watch what they download and install, MSE pretty much fully protects them at default configuration. Along with some browser security extensions and Malwarebytes is all most users need.

More advanced users who like to test remote malware samples downloaded from forums and other sources which are not widespread may want to give MSE a poor rating but if they would just use MSE for its intended purpose they would see that it is very effective protecting end users.

Of coarse paid AV vendors are always trying to discredit MSE because it hurts their sales of their products. I have read so many articles published by paid AV vendors which are complete lies and have no proof to backup their claims. The paid vendors are loosing sales and are doing everything in the book to get them back including using false advertising, fake AV tests, fake malware reports, etc. (don't believe them)

I only trust VirusBulletin because they only use malware samples verified to be in the wild and have reported infections in the last 3 months. I don't trust them completely. Other testing sites use bad malware samples (some don't even have one single reported infection ever). Why use samples like this? To prove to us what we already know that no AV will detect every single malware sample?

More advanced users also like to tweak settings on AV's whether it actually helps them or not. There is not much to tweak on MSE because they will give it a poor rating.

Good day.

 

[HeffeD]

Totally agree it is excellent for most novice users who don't know how to configure an AV because it is so simple to use. If they just watch what they download and install, MSE pretty much fully protects them at default configuration. Along with some browser security extensions and Malwarebytes is all most users need.

Emphasis added. I personally don't think MSE is the greatest for novices all by itself.

My IT professional brother in law uses MSE on their computers, (anything else is overkill, he says...) and my sister keeps getting her machine infected. And no, she doesn't visit questionable sites on purpose. She's just one of those people that click before they think. She's not stupid, just an extreme novice.

I think he's re-installed the OS at least 8 times in the past few years. Twice this year alone. This isn't counting the times he's been able to clean up the infection without needing to re-install.

I've told him more than once that I could set her up so she doesn't have any more problems, but he knows better than I do. So I just shake my head and smile each time this happens.

 

[Ramblin]

I've told him more than once that I could set her up so she doesn't have any more problems, but he knows better than I do. So I just shake my head and smile each time this happens.

....wise move jefe.

Bo

 

[Littlebits]

Totally agree it is excellent for most novice users who don't know how to configure an AV because it is so simple to use. If they just watch what they download and install, MSE pretty much fully protects them at default configuration. Along with some browser security extensions and Malwarebytes is all most users need.

Emphasis added. I personally don't think MSE is the greatest for novices all by itself.

My IT professional brother in law uses MSE on their computers, (anything else is overkill, he says...) and my sister keeps getting her machine infected. And no, she doesn't visit questionable sites on purpose. She's just one of those people that click before they think. She's not stupid, just an extreme novice.

I think he's re-installed the OS at least 8 times in the past few years. Twice this year alone. This isn't counting the times he's been able to clean up the infection without needing to re-install.

I've told him more than once that I could set her up so she doesn't have any more problems, but he knows better than I do. So I just shake my head and smile each time this happens.

This story reminds me of one of my customers (husband and wife).
The wife does the same thing clicks before thinking, we have went through about every AV both paid and free and she still infects their computer. Finally we resolved the issue by going back to MSE which the husband likes and doesn't want to pay for AV. Then we set her up with a limited user account. Only the husband has an Admin account and the wife doesn't know the password.

Problem solved, no more infections. There went some of my business, they only bring in their computer for maintenance and cleaning now.

When people click before thinking it doesn't matter what solution they use, they will still get infections. I have a few other customers that also click before thinking, no solution has worked for them since they refuse to listen and learn. But for novice users that will listen, learn and think before clicking, actually care about their computers, watch about downloading files, etc. MSE protects them very well.

Thanks.

 

[Overkill]

When people click before thinking it doesn't matter what solution they use, they will still get infections.

No disrespect intended...How so, as long as you have a good security config you are protected but nothing is 100%.

Do you ever install sandboxie or timefreeze type programs on customers pc's?

 

[Littlebits]

When people click before thinking it doesn't matter what solution they use, they will still get infections.

No disrespect intended...How so, as long as you have a good security config you are protected but nothing is 100%.

Do you ever install sandboxie or timefreeze type programs on customers pc's?

Most of my customers are too novice to understand how to use sandboxie, Time Freeze, HIPS, etc. because those type of products would not benefit them. I have tried these type of products with a few customers and it ended up becoming a disaster.

It is really sad that the best protection products are too complicated for most novice users, the ones that need the protection the most.

Many of the more advanced users really don't need these type of products because they know what to do to avoid malware.

Setting up limited user accounts on shared computer is the most effective means to block malware infections when one user knows better then to do the wrong actions but when none of the users don't know how to avoid malware, it doesn't work. There really isn't any solution for those kind of users except for to take their computer to the shop to have the malware removed or Windows re-installed when they get infected.

Some users will leave my shop and within a few minutes already have another infection despite of all of my efforts to add products to protect them. (That is the customers that refuse to listen and learn), you can't help those who just don't want to learn.

Thanks.

 

[Overkill]

When people click before thinking it doesn't matter what solution they use, they will still get infections.

No disrespect intended...How so, as long as you have a good security config you are protected but nothing is 100%.

Do you ever install sandboxie or timefreeze type programs on customers pc's?

Most of my customers are too novice to understand how to use sandboxie, Time Freeze, HIPS, etc. because those type of products would not benefit them. I have tried these type of products with a few customers and it ended up becoming a disaster.

It is really sad that the best protection products are too complicated for most novice users, the ones that need the protection the most.

Many of the more advanced users really don't need these type of products because they know what to do to avoid malware.

Setting up limited user accounts on shared computer is the most effective means to block malware infections when one user knows better then to do the wrong actions but when none of the users don't know how to avoid malware, it doesn't work. There really isn't any solution for those kind of users except for to take their computer to the shop to have the malware removed or Windows re-installed when they get infected.

Some users will leave my shop and within a few minutes already have another infection despite of all of my efforts to add products to protect them. (That is the customers that refuse to listen and learn), you can't help those who just don't want to learn.

Thanks.

Wow, that quick?
Do they tell you how they got infected cause i'm very curious...How about wot or trafficlight or dns services, do you install those on their pc's?

 

[KelvinW4]

The most effective anti-malware is the user:biggrin:
IMO users that often gets malware should get stronger AVs
But I the thing I like most is the transparency of the product but it's detection has a lot to be desired.

 

[acme]

Alright, After getting into so many arguments about MSE, I decided to do a more up to date test.

Download and Install was easy.
Memory usage was very low.

MSE has a simple to use interface, However little custom settings for us Advanced users like to play with but great for the Normal/Average user.

Link test:
It detected 4/10 links
It let a Fake AV, Rootkit, Adwares, and a couple of trojans.
Thanks to the rootkit, This part took a lot longer than usual. So I had no choice to dig out TDSS Killer and get rid of that for me. Kill Switch took care of the fake AV for me.

I did a full scan with MSE and it found a trojan.Banker which took about 2 minutes to remove. I also noticed the CPU spike.

I ran CCleaner to get rid of the temp files.
Malwarebytes detected 16 infections minus the 2 false postives by detecting RKill and a VMware service and it detected the FakeAV.
Hitman Pro found a rootkit and a trojan.
I did a restart and the system seemed to be clean according to KillSwitch.

File Detection Test:
100 Pack
It detected 20/100 - 20% and the pack was almost 48 hours (2 days) old.
I took about 6 peices and MSE did not prevent any of them running due to its lack of prevention features.
They were all trojans.
Malwarebytes detected 4 Infections which were all Trojans and hitman pro found 3 trojans.

I Grabbed a Ransom which was the FBI CP scare and MSE did not detect it and I was unabled to boot into safe mode or anything.

So its safe to say, MSE did NOT protect the system.


For another MSE review, Take a look at Biozfear review here:
http://malwaretips.com/Thread-Review-Microsoft-Security-Essentials-version-4

I use MSE with Win 7 64bit with Win 7 firewall/Tiny Wall and my son has been on the X rated and XXX rated sites and he ran into some Trojans, Spyware, Viruses you name it, he flushed them out and MSE caught and flagged them I was surprised and that was before I used MalwareBytes in real time. I read when you use MSE with Win 7 the protection is much better and more accurate. I use Hit Man Pro for 2nd opinion, it never showed any problems yet....
You can adjust how many updates you get in a day, I changed mine to every hour. Not hard to do. Scan time is about 1 1/2 minutes for quick time and 1 hour 10 minutes for Full.
Nobody should be afraid of MSE.

 

[malbky]

I would like applaud Little Bits for emphasizing the importance of a Limited User Account. This what I do on all my customers PC. The other important role is played by UAC. Many find it nagging but in reality it prevents many odd viruses from running. So I request all my customers to keep it on. If a small occasional pop up can save you then you should tolerate it.
To me Sandboxie seems the only simple sandbox solution. But most novices dont know how to use it correctly or how to even retrieve files out of it.

 

[illumination]

Irony defined= a bunch of advanced users trying to figure out how to secure a novice user!

Seriously folks, it's simple.. Most novice users will not, let alone can not use anything more then a set it and forget it security/anti virus.. I need to put emphases on the "WILL NOT" part.. 90% of the time i have worked on a novice users computer, they are not concerned with the "Hows" of an infection, they just want it gone so they can get on back to the internet.. Most of them see the "TRAY ICON" telling them they need updates, and even dismiss this, as they do not want to mess with any of that, they simply want online, no fuss no muss...

This is the mentality you will come across.. Now try explaining to them that what they are doing is causing the problems, or better yet, try to teach them to use a program like sandboxie, bet you wont even make it two minutes into the explanation.. Most will not let you set up a LUA because it will cause them problems when and if they go to download something.. Matter of fact, a lot of them, if it requires anything more then hitting the power button and clicking the browser icon, will get frustrated..

So personally, i think MSE is just right for these "novice" users.. It is enough to help, but as littlebits stated, most likely they will become infected again, for lack of learning/listening and of course being click happy..

 

[Deleted member 178]

exactly, for most of them it is useless to teach them, if they dont wish to learn, just let them pay for their mistakes.

 

[Littlebits]

When people click before thinking it doesn't matter what solution they use, they will still get infections.

No disrespect intended...How so, as long as you have a good security config you are protected but nothing is 100%.

Do you ever install sandboxie or timefreeze type programs on customers pc's?

Most of my customers are too novice to understand how to use sandboxie, Time Freeze, HIPS, etc. because those type of products would not benefit them. I have tried these type of products with a few customers and it ended up becoming a disaster.

It is really sad that the best protection products are too complicated for most novice users, the ones that need the protection the most.

Many of the more advanced users really don't need these type of products because they know what to do to avoid malware.

Setting up limited user accounts on shared computer is the most effective means to block malware infections when one user knows better then to do the wrong actions but when none of the users don't know how to avoid malware, it doesn't work. There really isn't any solution for those kind of users except for to take their computer to the shop to have the malware removed or Windows re-installed when they get infected.

Some users will leave my shop and within a few minutes already have another infection despite of all of my efforts to add products to protect them. (That is the customers that refuse to listen and learn), you can't help those who just don't want to learn.

Thanks.

Wow, that quick?
Do they tell you how they got infected cause i'm very curious...How about wot or trafficlight or dns services, do you install those on their pc's?

Most of them don't even remember what they did. A lot of times it is those fake alert websites that convince them to download and run files.
I have installed many different browser extensions including, WOT, McAfee Site Adviser, Webutation, OpenDNS, Norton DNS, HostsMan with MVPS host blocklist and many others. But you can give them all the tools that they could ever need to protect themselves, but you can not make them use them. Most novice users don't even care that they have several infections until one of them prevents them from doing something they want to do and then they will bring their system back in for removal procedure again. As long as the malware infections don't stop the novice user from doing what they want to do, they could care less about their system being infected with several malware.

Most of us here would not rest in peace if we knew our system had an infection. Most users however really don't care.

Enjoy!!

 

[Littlebits]

So personally, i think MSE is just right for these "novice" users.. It is enough to help, but as littlebits stated, most likely they will become infected again, for lack of learning/listening and of course being click happy..

My point exactly, MSE is an excellent product whether advanced users want to acknowledge it or not. It is the best Microsoft can do, when most users simply don't care if their system gets infected or not, refuse to listen, learn and continue to make the same exact mistakes which causes their systems to get infections. It makes no different how powerful the protection could be, these users will always get infections.

Sometimes it is hard for advanced users to understand how most novice users think. Microsoft has did their best to address this issue by giving these users something simple that will protect the users who are concerned and want to learn that will not limit their abilities to do most functions.

Most of them see the "TRAY ICON" telling them they need updates, and even dismiss this, as they do not want to mess with any of that, they simply want online, no fuss no muss...

Exactly, they actually get mad when Windows has to reboot to apply Windows Updates, AV updates, etc. because it takes time away from them to install more malware.

I have even seen users who had no telling how many fake AV's running at the same time that kept popping up fake alerts and they act like this is a normal everyday thing. I ever had one customer that get mad at me because her fake Green Antivirus was missing when I cleaned up her system. She just couldn't understand it was malware.

Believe me MSE is perfect for these kind of users.

Thanks.

 

[Overkill]

I ever had one customer that get mad at me because her fake Green Antivirus was missing when I cleaned up her system. She just couldn't understand it was malware.

All I can say is WOW!