Microsoft unveiled the final version for it’s free anti virus software Microsoft Security Essentianls ,which was in beta for several months. According Microsoft this will replace its defunct OneCare suite.
MSE or formerly codenamed Morro,will be free of charge and provides real-time protection against viruses, spyware, rootkit, and Trojans for Windows XP 32-bit, Windows Vista/7 32-bit, and Windows Vista/7 64-bit systems.
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After Downloading MSE, When you run the installer for the first time it makes sure your PC is genuine and then installs . On first install, the product will run a quick scan by default,this could take several minutes depending on your system status.
Coming to GUI and other details, MSE has simplest, clearest GUI and it is small, fast, light and effective. MSE consumes around 46 MB CPU memory and updates itself very quietly in the background.Although it lacks the personal firewall, backup and PC tuning features,according to PCWorld in their tests MSE has performed quite well similar to other Security suites in the present market.
The final build number is 1.0.1611.0.,which is around 8.6 MB in size for XP 32 bit and 4.7 MB in size for Windows Vista/7 OS.
Download: Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 Final
Minimum system requirements for Microsoft Security Essentials :
- Operating System: Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3); Windows Vista; Windows 7
- For Windows XP
CPU with clock speed of 500 MHz or higher
Memory: 256 MB RAM or higher - For Windows Vista and Windows 7
CPU with clock speed of 1.0 GHz or higher
Memory: 1 GB RAM or higher - VGA (Display): 800 x 600 or higher
- Storage: 140 MB of available hard-disk space
- An Internet connection is required for installation and to download the latest virus and spyware definitions for Microsoft Microsoft Security Essentials.
- Internet Browser:
Windows Internet Explorer 6.0 or later
Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later.
Note : Microsoft Security Essentials requires genuine validation, If you are using pirated Windows operating system you cannot install it.
Nice detailed review. Positive reviews of this PC security software is found all across the web.
can it be used along with other Av’s like avira etc??
@ vishnu: yes you can,but Microsoft warns that MSE should not be installed alongside any other antimalware application. Indeed, MSE’s installer disables Windows Defender completely, which makes sense as it is a sort of superset to Windows Defender.
Installed fine on Win7 Ultimate build 7100-running w/Avira Antivir-though a little unstable,no crash or BSOD.Major gripe-no control of utility from notification icon-“open” is the only option here.Update,exit(shutdown),start scan, should be included here
MSE is a optimum security solution. In terms of detection & false positives it is quite decent. According to AV Comparatives its detection improves day by day & it always produces least false positive.
But i found some problem in it.
1) It has no automatic or scheduled update option. But you can do a scheduled scan & there is an option in MSE that it will check for updates before scan.
2) There is no option to automatically manage the threats found in real time guard.
3) It has a very weak self protection feature. it can be easily removed from startup with any startup manager. Also the running processes of MSE can be stopped from task-manager. I think this is the major drawback of MSE.
But it is truely most simple AV solutions available.