Bring back MS Antispyware

[Guest]

I have diligently followed all the update patches and workarounds that Bill
Sanderson and others have suggested, but they only work brielfy and Defender
then fails to update again. This morning the last straw was when I ran the
signatures uninstall, then went to the Help/About Defender check for updates,
only to be told that there was no new update even when I had used the
recommended Run command to delete the existing signatures. Enough is enough,
and I have uninstalled defender and gone back to the excellent and reliable
MS Antispyware. No doubt we will be forced away from it in July, but although
Defender is a Beta it is just not acceptable that even a Beta of an
Antispyware system cannot reliably update or even report when it is not up to
date properly!

 

[Guest]

I agree. I had no problems with MS Antispyware, other than it expiring all
the time.

I've had nothing but problems with Windows Defender.

I'm currently getting the "No updates for 14 days" error, and WD simply
refuses to update. I've tried all the advice given on these newsgroups and
it STILL doesn't work.

At least make a manual download of the updates available instead of making
us beat our heads against the wall trying to use an auto-updater that DOESN'T
WORK. I'm about ready to give up and buy something.

 

[Guest]

yes , i agree with it , beta 1 was less problematic dan beta 2

i combined norton 2005 with beta 1 , no problems

now i have norton 2006 with beta 2 , always problems....

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

There are definitely update problems--I've seen them myself, but only on a
minority of the machines I have it installed on--of about 50, I think I've
seen update issues on perhaps 3 or 4--different machines at different times,
none consistently over time.

When you say it can't be depended on to report accurately that definitions
are out of date--do you mean that the balloon messages will say that it is
up to date, when it is clear from the home page that it isn't? I think that
is accurate. The home page does appear to me to always accurately reflect
the definitions in place.

 

[Guest]

Bill, Thanks for your reasoned response and for your sustained attempts to
help people deal with these update issues. In answer to your specific query,
no it goes beyond any discrepancy in the baloon reporting (I rapidly learned
to ignore those!). Even after the signatures had been deleted using the
recommended KB article, the Home Page still reported the old signatures even
when Defender had been closed and reopened, and as usual it did not show the
updated signatures if ever you did manage to download the updates. This is of
course in addition to the usual problems frequently reported of repeated
updates reported as successful but not then recorded by Defender. The KB
workarounds would typically work once (which was why you always get the
initial thanks from people who see the signatures updated), but the same
problems would then recur, and when you repeated the workaround it was not
always successful and any updates achieved are not then reported. Anyway,
thanks again for trying....................... MS Antispyware is now back and
working beautifully in the background, with automatic updates.

 

[Guest]

Yes Windows Defender has too many bugs even for a beta. MS AntiSpyware was
more reliable, and easier to use. I currently use two Anti-Spyware programs
and the scan time for Windows Defender is much longer than the other one I
use. What good is it if it won't even update? I reinstalled the program and
only have the original signature, even after running the recommended msiex
fix.

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

If you have 1.0.0 definitions, I would not recommend the KB fix.

Go to Windows Update, do an express scan, and accept all offered updates.

In terms of the scan time--is this a full scan, or a quick scan? Have you
tried unchecking the option to scan within archives? Microsoft Antispyware
did not scan within archives.

--