Configuration: not able to click box to show icon in sys tray

[Guest]

Usually a setup program allows you to click a box to show the program icon in
the system tray. The Beta does not have that facility. I had thought this
must mean that once it is installed (quite simply) I am protected and so an
icon in the tray does not matter, so that is why there is no such facility.
Is that the case? If so, does the 'protection' mean real-time protection,
and that only, and does 'close' the program not close that protection, just
what you see on tghe screen?

When I minimise the program I get a 'Microsoft Antispyware' thing in the
system tray, hogging it, which is not acceptable, sometimes I get just the
icon, which is ok. Just a point that may be considered relevant for the new
Beta.

 

[Guest]

V.2005 apparently had this systray function. V.2006 apparently does not. The
systry appears in the lower right corner with the clock in it. The place
where the icon now appears upon minimizing is the Task Bar. If you click on
the TaskBar with your right mouse button, go up to the TaskManager command
and click on it, you will see what progs are running...there it is! So, even
if it is not in the SysTray it is still functioning. BUT, I prefer to see an
icon, like you, in the SysTray. It saves time to look there for us who are
paranoic and can't be bothered wasting time going the other route.

 

[Guest]

If you don`t see an icon in your system tray it could be due to a number of
reasons not necessarily attributed to Windows Antispyware. There is an option
to have it displayed or not (as the case may be) under Options>Settings

General. Have you checked this? Otherwise there have been many reports

posted about the icon missing issue.

One way to check if your realtime protection is working is to open the Task
Manager (Ctl+Alt+Del or Ctrl+Shift+Esc) or right click an empty space on the
task bar and select Task Manager. Select the Processes Tab and look for
GcasServ.exe. If it is there then real time protection is enabled and
working. Closing the program on your screen does not close real time
protection as these are two different processes.

Stu

 

[Guest]

hanks, Su. I don't see the option you describe, which I why I posted.
Please be specific. As to whether RT is working, I take your, but my point,
which I am not making clear, I suppose, is that if there were an Antispyware
icon in the system tray |(at your discretion), I would know immediately it is
working. Put this another way, if I close Antispyware, I lose the program
and all notification of it in the tray, yet I understand (from you) real-time
is still working. A simple icon (not the 'Microsoft Antispyware' thing,
hogging a third of my tray) would surely be best. It is that I syggest to MS
they put into Beta 2

 

[Guest]

Grey Panther, thanks for this. As you will see in my post to Stu, it is not
an 'icon', as you say, that appears, but a ****** great 'Microsoft
Antispyware' thing that appears in the sys tray. A straightforward icon as
such is best, clearly. It is best not only for the reason I have given, i.e.
it takes up less space in the sys tray, which as we all know is an ever
expanding piece of string these days, but also for the reason that it is
telling the reader at a glance, as with 100% of the other programs I have (if
I choose to have their icons in the sys tray), that it is operating. The
whole configuration here is not usual and I for one find it disconcerting, as
without the usual icon on its own, I have this instinctive fear that in its
absence, the program can't be running. I do not mean to sound nerdish, but I
believe this matters, and it spoils what is otherwise another MS triumph.

 

[Guest]

Now that I've read the other posts here, it is abudantly clear that I am far
from alone in complaining about the lack of the icon in the sys tray!!! So
MS, please fix!!!

 

[Guest]

The release notes now say that the missing icon is "an intended behavior." I
like it when a company has trouble fixing something, so they take away the
option to display and call it a feature. Perhaps I an being cynical, but it
sure seems like that.

It's an absurd "feature" to be sure. The release notes say that the icon
will not appear in the systray if no action is needed. However, they neglect
to say that the icon will also not appear in the systray if malware manages
to hack it and prevent it from running. So, if you don't see the icon, then
(A) it's fine or (B) it's not fine.

It's like taking roll by asking students who are absent to raise their hands.

 

[Bill Sanderson]

There are three major executables associated with Windows Defender.

One is the Windows Defender service. This is a system service, and provides
Real Time Protection.

Another is a command line user-mode program which provides both signature
updates and scanning services.

Neither of these programs is associated with the icon---that is associated
with the MSASCUI.exe which provides user interface to communicate with the
other two.

So--whether or not the presence of the icon signifies that real-time
protection is in effect is not necessarily clear.

The UI program will put up a fuss if you start it after stopping the
service. I'm not sure how quickly it responds, if at all, when it is
running already and the service is stopped.



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