MSE vs. Defender

[Panic]

I have Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP-1 with Microsoft Security Essentials
(MSE) installed. Today I did a Windows Update and installed an MSE update.
Near the end of the installation I saw a note that Windows Defender was OFF.
I opened it and tried to turn in on. No luck. Wouldn't turn on. Figuring
that maybe the install wasn't complete I rebooted. Defender was still OFF
and couldn't be turned on. I contacted a Sony Tech who took control of my
computer and found the same problem. He worked on it for nearly an hour
ending up using System Restore to return the system to just before the
download and telling me to reboot and if that didn't cure the problem to
contact him.

The problem remained. I finally Googled "does MSE replace Defender?" and
found that it does do that in Win 7 and it deactivates Defender but doesn't
remove it (can't figure out why). MS says
"Depends on your operating system, if using XP it should be uninstalled, if
Win 7 or Vista it is automatically disabled upon installation of Microsoft
Security Essentials."

Just thought you all would like to know this info.

 

[Bruce Hagen]

I have Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP-1 with Microsoft Security Essentials
(MSE) installed. Today I did a Windows Update and installed an MSE
update. Near the end of the installation I saw a note that Windows
Defender was OFF. I opened it and tried to turn in on. No luck.
Wouldn't turn on. Figuring that maybe the install wasn't complete I
rebooted. Defender was still OFF and couldn't be turned on. I contacted
a Sony Tech who took control of my computer and found the same problem.
He worked on it for nearly an hour ending up using System Restore to
return the system to just before the download and telling me to reboot
and if that didn't cure the problem to contact him.

The problem remained. I finally Googled "does MSE replace Defender?"
and found that it does do that in Win 7 and it deactivates Defender but
doesn't remove it (can't figure out why). MS says
"Depends on your operating system, if using XP it should be uninstalled,
if Win 7 or Vista it is automatically disabled upon installation of
Microsoft Security Essentials."

Just thought you all would like to know this info.

Windows Defender is a part of the Vista & Win7 OS so it can't be removed.
It wasn't around when XP was built so that is why it WD is turned off in
Vista & 7 and removed in XP.

MSE is not the only program that has this effect on WD. Any security
program that includes the same properties as WD will do the same. Norton,
McAfee and AVG security programs shut down WD as well as many more.

I hope Sony Support didn't charge you for this.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Panic.

As Bruce said, in Win7, MSE disables Windows Defender.

Now, WHY couldn't Microsoft say it as clearly as that?

In MSE, the Help button is confusing, at least - you might say it is
deceptive. On MSE's Home screen there are 3 symbols close together in the
upper right. There's a question mark in a circle, the word "Help", and a
down-triangle. Clicking either Help or the question mark takes you to
ONLINE Help
(http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/Support.aspx ). But if
you click the down-pointing triangle, you get several options, including
"Get offline help". If you Search for "defender", you can find the FAQ,
which includes the paragraph, "What's the difference between Microsoft
Security Essentials and Windows Defender?" But this still does not say that
MSE disable Defender - and has a link to the Defender web site, which STILL
doesn't mention that fact. :>(

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"Panic" wrote in message
I have Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP-1 with Microsoft Security Essentials
(MSE) installed. Today I did a Windows Update and installed an MSE update.
Near the end of the installation I saw a note that Windows Defender was OFF.
I opened it and tried to turn in on. No luck. Wouldn't turn on. Figuring
that maybe the install wasn't complete I rebooted. Defender was still OFF
and couldn't be turned on. I contacted a Sony Tech who took control of my
computer and found the same problem. He worked on it for nearly an hour
ending up using System Restore to return the system to just before the
download and telling me to reboot and if that didn't cure the problem to
contact him.

The problem remained. I finally Googled "does MSE replace Defender?" and
found that it does do that in Win 7 and it deactivates Defender but doesn't
remove it (can't figure out why). MS says
"Depends on your operating system, if using XP it should be uninstalled, if
Win 7 or Vista it is automatically disabled upon installation of Microsoft
Security Essentials."

Just thought you all would like to know this info.