Version Update Question

[Larry]

WD tells me there's a new version available for download. I currently have
WD Version 1.1.1347.0. Is this download something I should do? I'm set for
Microsoft Update to download and install. As far as I can remember, MS
Update has always updated WD for me in the past. The fact that this one
didn't upgrade automatically makes me pause, and that's why I'm asking
here. Thanks.
Larry

 

[Dave M]

Hi Larry;

This is an upgrade to the final Ms supported release of Defender that
you've only had in Beta Test form previously, which is only supported
through this newsgroup. That upgrade includes up to two free telephone
support calls to Microsoft in support of it. So I'd suggest you do the
upgrade. The updates you've been getting are only to the signature and
scan engine versions of the product, all upgrades to the product user
interface itself are, and probably will remain, manual downloads directly
from the Microsoft web site which are not automatic.

 

[Larry]

Thanks for the quick response. Has the upgrade been going well for those who
have upgraded? Or, are there problems which I might avoid by waiting a while
to upgrade? Are there any tricks to get a trouble free install? Or, are
things going smoothly, and it's safe to go ahead and upgrade now? Thanks.
Larry

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

You'll go to the web site and have to hit a couple of buttons to do the
download. The version you are downloading has been tested by some of us for
quite some time--it won't be jarringly different or untested. As long as
you are on Windows XP, I'd proceed. There are always some issues with the
installer at times like this, but they will hit a small fraction of users.

--

 

[Guest]

Has the upgrade been going well for those who
have upgraded? Or, are there problems which I might avoid by waiting a while
to upgrade? Are there any tricks to get a trouble free install?

Hi Larry. I upgraded mine a few days ago, and everything went smoothly. I
followed the combined advice of people like Dave M and Robin who'd been there
before me - so you might like to have my summary of what I did:
(Please note that I did NOT uninstall the beta version first. I installed
the final version on top of it, as recommended, letting it look after the
uninstallation.)

1. Downloaded the setup program to my desktop.
2. Disconnected from the internet.
3. Closed down the various components of my AVG internet security suite
(antivirus real time protection, firewall etc - I deactivated everything that
would let me deactivate it.
4. Switched off Defender's real time protection.
5. Right clicked the Defender icon in the system tray (lower right) and
chose 'exit'.
6. Selected Start ->Run -> and entered "net stop windefend" into the panel
(omitting the quote marks) which I think shuts down some other aspect of
Defender (Dave will maybe tell us just what it does.)
7. Ran the setup program.
8. Reactivated everything, reconnected to the internet, and did a manual
update (it will nag you to do this). Then a quick scan, just to check it was
working OK.

Good luck!

 

[Larry]

Thanks Bill. And Alan, thanks for the details. I'll try to follow precisely
as specified. Appreciate your taking the time to provide these details.
Larry

 

[Dave M]

Sure enough... it terminates the WD system service if it's already running.
The opposite is to startup the service if it's shut down which would be:

net start windefend

But that should happen automagically at re-boot time, if things are working
as intended.

 

[Guest]

Sure enough... it terminates the WD system service if it's already running.
The opposite is to startup the service if it's shut down which would be:
net start windefend
But that should happen automagically at re-boot time, if things are working
as intended.

Thanks Dave.

Let us know how you get on, Larry.

 

[Guest]

Hi Larry;

This is an upgrade to the final Ms supported release of Defender that
you've only had in Beta Test form previously, which is only supported
through this newsgroup. That upgrade includes up to two free telephone
support calls to Microsoft in support of it. So I'd suggest you do the
upgrade. The updates you've been getting are only to the signature and
scan engine versions of the product, all upgrades to the product user
interface itself are, and probably will remain, manual downloads directly
from the Microsoft web site which are not automatic.

 

[Guest]

Hello Dave,
I have been using Win Defender for some time. If I see it correctly, my
version is 1.1.1347.0, and my engine is 1.1.1804.0. WD is set to run at 5.00
p.m. daily, and did so today, using definitions ver. 1.14.1929.4. My problem
is that I responses to the icon calling for me to upgrade, and that caused my
computer to run VERY slowly (e.g., 9 min to boot up, a few min for programs
to load and run that generally go almost instantly, etc.) I checked the
Add/Remove on the XP Home Control Panel, and it shows a WD dated earlier, and
not used since Nov. (remember, I run it successfully every day, including
yesterday and today). When I try to delete the old program, it refuses to
allow me to do so because the fild WindowsDefender.msi is in the wrong place.
(I originally downloaded to a drive that I have since moved to another
computer and have copied the file back to my current computer.) I have tried
placing it where I think MS might normally put it, such as Temp, but no luck.
I spent 2 hours today with a tech from India on the phone, with her having me
do all sorts of things, none of which helped.

My primary concern now is how to get my computer back to normal speed. I
suspect that one way to do that is to remove the old Win Def from my hard
drive, but it won't let me remove it.

I sure hope you or others can help be get this back to normal, which
included a current WD running properly and the computer running properly at
normal speed.

Forrest

 

[Dave M]

Hi Forrest;
I don't have a great suggestion for when this happens, although I do have a
fix. The Windows Installer Cleanup Utility pretty much takes care of these
kind of problems with un-installs and bad installs, but it has the nasty
possible side "benefit" of breaking the ability to update Ms Office... as
well as other reported third party products. So while I can tell you that
Ms offers it... they also offer the caution "provided as is". Here are a
few posts in regard to this and a possible repair for any damage WICU might
have done. I have not attempted any of this myself, but have seen the use
of the utility successfully repair WD installs as mentioned previously in
this forum. I'd not enter into any of this lightly, at least you should
re-check for your ability to update office if you have it installed after
you attempt to use the utility. You could also try a cleanup with your
favorite disk/registry cleaner before trying this last ditch attempt to see
if that helps first in a safer way. CCleaner is popular in this bunch and
others may want to weigh in with alternative suggestions for you.


http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=8361

and xquzamoi's repair of the repair:

http://www.anetforums.com/posts.aspx?ThreadIndex=23379

and the repair utility:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/

and CCleaner (slim build is sufficient):

http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds.aspx

 

[Guest]

Thank you, Dave. I'll proceed with great caution if the problem continues.
--Forrest

 

[Larry]

Alan, I followed your script and my trial quick-scan ran fine.....except it
took 3 minutes compared to the 2 minutes the previous version took. Is a 50%
scan time increase the norm? Seems excessive to me. PS, my options seem to
work fine, unlike MaDonna's. I set an auto scan for tomorrow. We'll see how
that goes. Thanks.
Larry

 

[Guest]

Alan, I followed your script and my trial quick-scan ran fine.....except it
took 3 minutes compared to the 2 minutes the previous version took. Is a 50%
scan time increase the norm? Seems excessive to me.

Glad it worked out Larry. A quick scan typically takes slightly less than 3
minutes for me (I'm sure the time will vary from one machine to another
depending on the system, and how much stuff you've installed, etc) so I doubt
if the change in time you observed is very significant.

What I found interesting was to open Task Manager and watch the processes
while Defender is scanning. My antivirus program (AVG) follows its behaviour
VERY anxiously, notching up maybe 50% of CPU usage, whereas Defender itself
only uses 10-20%. Precisely what's going on in there I don't know, but
presumably it won't be speeding up Defender's performance. Oddly enough, I
found that when I switched from Norton to AVG a few months ago, Defender's
quick scan time increased noticeably, from 2 minutes to about 3 minutes -
perhaps because of this effect. I don't think there's a fixed standard for
these things, and if I were in your position I wouldn't be even slightly
worried about it.

But then, what do I know?!

 

[Larry]

Alan, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess my upgrade
didn't go without a hiccup. When the Wizard finished installing 1593, it
asked if I wanted to check for updates and run a quick scan. Sounded like a
good idea, so I clicked yes. Then it came back with an error message, "The
program can't check for definition updates. Error found code 0x8024402c". So
I thought to myself, shoot. Then I read your step 8, reconnect to the
internet. Then I thought to myself, dummy. Then I reconnected to the
internet and restarted all my security services and then WD was able to find
the signature file and ran a quick scan without incident.
I was initially concerned by the 3 minute scan time, but today's regularly
scheduled quick scan ran in 2:20, so it's right there where the previous
version was. In fact, I went back to event viewer and checked quick scan
times for the last week or so and found times ranging from 2:10 to 3:20, so
the initial 3 minute time is right in the range that it's been. I just
hadn't noticed that some times had been in excess of 3 minutes in the past.
Bottom line, everything with the new WD (1593) is working great. Thanks for
your help in making it go so smoothly. I appreciate it.
Larry

 

[Guest]

Thanks for
your help in making it go so smoothly. I appreciate it.
Larry

I've had so much help from the other guys in this newsgroup that it's a real
pleasure to be able actually to smooth someone else's passage! (I liked the
attempt to update with no internet connection, by the way. That's typical of
my kind of innocent head-scratching obstacle.)

 

[Guest]

Hi Guys, I am having a lot of problems here partly because I am no computer
buff. I seem to have WD definition 1.1.137.0 Engine is 1.1.1804.0 and
Definition 1.14.1929.4.
Getting up the message to Download. Get the webpage up and validation goes
fine. Try to download and am getting told something about M.S. Installer
might not be installed correctly. Other times Beta has gone through no
problems. Now WD is not even scanning at its set time.

Can you help in simple terms please.