Windows Defender and Windows Firewall

[Guest]

I have Windows Live OneCare (Trial Version 1.5.1890.16) and Windows Defender
(Version 1.1.1593.0). When I start my computer, Windows Defender shows in
the system tray with a yellow exclamation, says it is not turned on and that
I should turn it on. I have been reading that Windows Defender is not needed
if you use Windows Live OneCare. Is this true?

Also, I have read that you should always have your Windows Firewall on, and
I would like to do that, but it is not an option when I go to control panel,
Windows Firewall. "On" and "Off" are light gray, but "Off" is marked. How
can I turn on Windows Firewall?

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help me with these two questions.

 

[Dave M]

Hello Patti;
Windows Live OneCare at the 1.5 version actually includes a subset of
Windows Defender and disables the separate standalone operation of WD if it
is present. However, there are several reasons you might wish to keep WD
installed but disabled by default, particularly in a trial version:

1. Software Explorer as implemented in the standalone WD is not available
at all in the version contained within WLOC 1.5.
2. Should you ever decide to remove the WLOC trial, Defender will
automatically be re-enabled and available for anti-spyware protection.

Correct, you always should have a Firewall on while connected to the net,
but not necessarily the Windows Firewall as distributed along with the
operating system. WLOC comes with it's own more sophisticated firewall
that shuts off the Windows Firewall when it's present, as do other third
party security suites. Having an inbound and outbound protection firewall
like that in WLOC is more secure than the basic firewall you got along with
Windows. Be aware that you should generally only run one firewall and one
real time active anti-virus at any time on any one system to prevent
potential conflict. Hope that helps clarify the issues...

 

[Guest]

Thank you so much for you answer Dave. I have just one more question for
you, if you don't mind. Should I decide not to keep WLOC and uninstall it,
should I assume I will be able to turn on the Windows Firewall again? What
are your thoughts on WLOC? I was using (and still have, but not enabled)
Fix-It Utilities 7 Professional.

 

[Dave M]

Hi again Patti;
Yes, following removal of WLOC the Windows Firewall will again be
available, but as I said it's a weak firewall, and you probably want
something more robust even if that's not the firewall within WLOC.

I'm not a big fan of WLOC, I still consider it a work in progress, and when
it by default was about to disable my standalone Defender it was off my
system. Throughout the Beta, there were issues of it wiping out Outlook
Express email which was belatedly rectified, now judging by the numerous
comments on the WLOC newsgroups it's currently wiping out users
Outlook.PST.

http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsOneCare/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1150100&SiteID=2

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

I can attest to the issue with outlook PST's--happened to one of my users
last week.

It quarantines the PST, and you can get it back from the quarantine--but
there's no obvious sign to the user that this has happened--just outlook
telling them that the mail store is gone......

Definitely a work in progress. On the whole, my preference in antivirus
apps is the "corporate line"--Microsoft's Forefront, or Symantec's corporate
managed antivirus clients. These are nearly invisible on the client end,
and not resource hungry. I mostly like how OneCare works, but my experience
with it is that when anything goes wrong, uninstalling and reinstalling is
the most likely path to a successful repair, and sometimes this is a pain.
I have not been impressed with the level of technical support, but I'm
usually pretty exasperated by the time I call on them, so I'm probably not a
fair judge!


So--in terms of Patti's questions, if OneCare is working fine for you, I'd
stick with it--give it a good trial if that's the situation. If you have a
paid subscription, I think you spent your money well--I believe it is a good
bargain. I believe that I would uninstall Windows Defender, given the
symptoms--and be prepared to reinstall it if you remove OneCare at some
future time.


--

 

[Guest]

I was told before that I should not have more than one firewall and more than
one active real time anti-spyware resident at the same time. But MS Windows
Defender support says that it is ok to run another real time spyware program
with Windows Defender. Do they just mean there is no software
incompatability without addressing how the computer operations may be slow by
the extra program resident in memory? I already am runnning Lavasoft's
Ad-Watch spyware monitor and Symantec's Norton Internet Security virus
prrotection. I use the Norton Internet Security firewall only. I seem to
also have 2 or 3 popup blockers operating simultaneously: Noton Internet
Security's, the browser's built in blocker, and perhaps one I don't recognize
but audibly pauses all other operations intermittingly while it is doing
something, perhaps blocking a popup. (Despite all the blockers the popup
creators are finding ways to get through anyhow.)

 

[Robinb]

You can only have one antivirus on your computer because they will fight
with each other.
You can only run one firewall also. If you are running any of the third
party firewalls they will most of the time automatically shut off windows
firewall in xp and some configurations in vista.
As for antispyware, you can have 20 or more.
Not that I would tell you to do this but that is just an example
Windows Defender runs as a service in the backround and really doesn't
compete with other antispyware programs.
I suggest you set it up to scan at a different time then the others or you
will really slow down your computer and then you also might find things lock
up.
As for a popupblocker, If Norton's is actually working then you can turn off
the others.
Having more than one stop the popup could slow or cause a crash in the
computer because they are fighting each other.
As in who gets there first.

I am running (I have 7 computers) superantispyware, spywareblaster, avg
antispyware (in real time), ad-aware se, spybot, windows defender. AVG
antispyware is running in resiident shield mode (real time) and so is WD. I
have WD to scan at 3pm, AVG antispyware to scan at 3am, I am also running
AVG FREE and AVG Pro with firewall and i have that scanning at 9am so they
do not "hit" each other. The other ones I do a manual scan in between.

robin

 

[conraddmb118]

Hi Dave:
I am having the same problem as Patti did with the grayed out firewall and I
have WLOC. But WLOC is red stating that my firewall is off and it is urgent
that I turn it on. Does this mean that WLOC's own firewall is not up also?
What should i do?

Thanks

 

[Dave M]

I wish I could give you a more definitive answer, but I quit using WLOC a
year ago, when it first began to disable Windows Defender. I know that
they've recently had very many update issues with the new release of
Version 2.0, and the current situation is at a minimum confusing although I
still irregularly watch their forums. I suggest you post your question to
the WLOC forums for their expert opinion, which unfortunately often seems
necessary in order to use the product. Sorry, but I don't want to give you
bad information, and I'm just not familiar enough with the current product.
The good news is that they have some high quality knowledgeable
peer-to-peer expertise over there, which I would go to first and before
hitting Microsoft's official support channels.

http://forums.microsoft.com/windowsonecare/default.aspx?siteid=2