Safe Internet Browsing How to safely operate on the internet and stay free from malware infections
Introduction
Information
Microsoft created Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) to address a very simple problem: Too many PCs today are unprotected with either out-of-date anti-malware products or no anti-malware product at all.
Microsoft says there are a number of reasons for this:
First, because many new PCs come with only a 30/60/90 day trial security solutions, some users believe they're protected even though the initial subscription period may have ended.
Some don't even activate the free, bundled solutions at all.
Some--especially those in emerging markets--can't or won't pay for security suites, most of which need to be renewed every year.
This tutorial will show you how to download, install, and configure this new free anti-malware option from Microsoft - Security Essentials
Note
The release of the Microsoft Safety Scanner has resulted in confusion about the available anti-malware tools provided by Microsoft and questions about when they should be used.
There's been a lot of interest in Microsoft Security Essentials and I think it will prove quite a hit with users. It's free, effective, lightweight, and quiet and is, in other words, exactly what I'm looking for in a security solution. And it comes with no strings at all. As long as you're running a genuine Windows version, you can install this product without worrying about up-sell advertisements, yearly renewals, or other silliness. And you can do so on as many Windows-based PCs as you own. I'd like to see it just included with Windows, but what the heck: Free and easy is the next best thing. Microsoft Security Essentials is highly recommended, to all Windows users.
--Paul Thurrott
September 29, 2009
Installation
First visit Microsoft's site devoted to all Security Essentials related material: http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ That link may fizzle out over time, as MS likes to meddle with their websites often, if it dies... you can always google security essentials!
Once you arrive at the MS Security Essentials webpage, look for the "Download" button, and click it to start the download. See below:
Once your download starts you will be presented with the infamous; "what do you want to do with me now" dialog box. You can Run, Save, or Cancel. For the purpose of this tutorial, I'm hitting the easy button and going with RUN. See below:
Information
On my PC's I always choose SAVE first, and save to the built in downloads directory before I RUN and install any app. That way, I have an easy backup of any additional apps that I've ever been installed. Then if needed I don't have to search all over the Internet to reinstall them!
Now you will see the first of several install screens, as always click Next to continue.
Don't forget the 500 word legal mumbojumbo we never read... click Next to continue.
Warning
Part of the installation involves MS validating your copy of Windows 7 as Genuine, so if you have a hacked, cracked, or jacked copy... sorry no free anti-malware for you!
This is the part of the install where your Windows 7 install will be validated, choose Validate to continue.
This portion of the installation is where you are warned that other anti-malware may interfere with the operation of MSE. Click Install to continue...
That's it... well almost! Once you click Finish, MSE will automatically connect to the MSE server and download the latest definitions...
Note
If you leave the check mark in the box marked Scan my computer for... MSE will also run a Scan when it completes the definition updates
Warning
It is always advised that you run a scan after installing any anti-malware!
Below is a screenshot of the Update Install process:
And the automatic scan after update completed:
Scan nearly complete after 8 minutes below:
Scan complete:
Your New MSE Interface
As we saw in the image above, when you are on the Home page of MSE, you have the option of scanning the PC in either Quick, Full, or Custom modes.
Naturally, the Update tab contains all the tools you need to keep your anti-malware definitions up to date.
The History tab will show you any detected and/or potentially harmful items, and the action taken on each item. It will also give you the name, alert level, and date.
The Settings tab is where you can change the way MSE works for you. You can schedule scans, change defaults, or turn real-time protection on or off. You can also exclude locations, types, and processes, etc. We will discuss the various changes you can make in the Configuration section below:
Configuration
The following section outlines the various configuration pages available in MSE, and what settings those contain.
Note
For most users, the default settings for MSE are recommended!
On the image above you see the first page of many MSE configuration pages. It contains all the settings you need to change anything scan related... these screenshots depict MSE in it's outta the box or default mode.
Below you see the Default Actions settings page where you can change what MSE does when it detects a possible malware.
Here we see the Real-time protection settings... it;s on by default for a reason!
If you wish to exclude certain files or locations you can do so here:
Warning
You are advised that while this may speed up scans it may leave your PC less protected.
Similar to the above settings this section below allows you to exclude certain file types from a scan.
And this page lets you exclude processes such as: .cmd, .bat, .pif, .scf, .exe, and .scr
The Advanced section allows you to scan archive files like .zip and .cab files, scan removable drives, create restore points automatically, and give you access to the History.
SpyNet is Microsofts online community that helps you choose how to respond to potential threats and helps prevent the spread of new malicious software. The last page allows you to choose your level of participation in this community.
Oh yes, when you have installed MSE it places an icon on your desktop and an icon in the notification area as shown below. You can access any of the configuration pages by double clicking on either icon.
System Manufacturer/Model Number Samsung NP530U4B-S02IN OS Windows® 8 Pro (64-bit) CPU Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 2467M (1.60GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) Motherboard Samsung Electronics Memory 6GB DDR3 System Memory at 1,333MHz (on BD 4GB + 2GB x 1) Graphics Card AMD Radeon™ HD7550M 1GB DDR3 (Ext. Graphic) Sound Card Realtek High Definition Audio Monitor(s) Displays 35.56cm (14.0) SuperBright 300nit HD LED Display Screen Resolution 1366x768
Hard Drives 1TB S-ATA II Hard Drive (5400RPM) with ExpressCache 16GB SSD Internet Speed sucks Antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials Browser Google Chrome (Sync enabled)
System Manufacturer/Model Number Homebrew PC - "Alpha_Dawg" OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Steve Ballmer Signature Edition CPU Intel Core 2 Quad - Q9550 - 2.83GHz stock - OC'd to 3.6GHz Motherboard Gigabyte EP45-UD3P Memory 4GB DDR2 800MHz (PC6400) OCZ Reaper Graphics Card Nvidia GE Force 8800 GTS Sound Card Asus Xonar DX Monitor(s) Displays Samsung SyncMaster 2333HD Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080
Keyboard MS Natural Wireless KB Mouse MS Wireless Mouse PSU PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Case Gigabyte 3D Aurora Cooling Case is Air - 5ea. 120mm fans (mix of Arctic and Xigmatec) Hard Drives WD Caviar Black 750GB - 7200RPM - 32MB cache
WD Caviar Green 1.5TB - 5400RPM - 64MB cache
WD Caviar Green 2.0TB - 5400RPM - 64MB cache Internet Speed 50 mbps down/5 mbps up Other Info AVerMedia - AVerTVHD G2 Dual Tuner Card
System Manufacturer/Model Number Samsung NP530U4B-S02IN OS Windows® 8 Pro (64-bit) CPU Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 2467M (1.60GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) Motherboard Samsung Electronics Memory 6GB DDR3 System Memory at 1,333MHz (on BD 4GB + 2GB x 1) Graphics Card AMD Radeon™ HD7550M 1GB DDR3 (Ext. Graphic) Sound Card Realtek High Definition Audio Monitor(s) Displays 35.56cm (14.0) SuperBright 300nit HD LED Display Screen Resolution 1366x768
Hard Drives 1TB S-ATA II Hard Drive (5400RPM) with ExpressCache 16GB SSD Internet Speed sucks Antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials Browser Google Chrome (Sync enabled)
System Manufacturer/Model Number Compal JFT02 (Custom Build Laptop) OS Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - Mac OS X 10.6.4 x64 CPU Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 2.5 GHz Motherboard JFT02 Memory 4GB Kingston DDR2-800 Graphics Card NVIDIA Geforce 8600M GT (512MB Model) Sound Card Realtek HD Audio Monitor(s) Displays WUXGA Standard Laptop Display Screen Resolution 1680*1050
Keyboard Standard Laptop 105 Key-Keyboard Mouse Synaptics Touchpad PSU Standard Laptop Power Supply Case Standard Laptop Case Cooling Standard Laptop Cooling Hard Drives Toshiba 320GB 5400RPM Laptop HD Internet Speed Verizion Online DSL 3360/864 kbs (dl/up)
You can set Windows Update to install updates automatically with steps 1 and 8 in the tutorial below. This will allow Windows Update to automatically download and install MSE updates as well.
thanks for the tutorial, been using it for the pass two months and its pretty damn good.
One question though, is there any way to make it so it auto updates its definitions?
Yes, MSE can be set to update the malware definitions automatically and that's the default setting... I will finish the confiuration portion of the tutorial this evening!
AS you can see in the above image, if you have your MSE set at the default perform a scan automatically, it will first update definitions before doing so.
Last edited by Darryl Licht; 16 Nov 2009 at 09:14 PM..
System Manufacturer/Model Number Homebrew PC - "Alpha_Dawg" OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Steve Ballmer Signature Edition CPU Intel Core 2 Quad - Q9550 - 2.83GHz stock - OC'd to 3.6GHz Motherboard Gigabyte EP45-UD3P Memory 4GB DDR2 800MHz (PC6400) OCZ Reaper Graphics Card Nvidia GE Force 8800 GTS Sound Card Asus Xonar DX Monitor(s) Displays Samsung SyncMaster 2333HD Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080
Keyboard MS Natural Wireless KB Mouse MS Wireless Mouse PSU PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Case Gigabyte 3D Aurora Cooling Case is Air - 5ea. 120mm fans (mix of Arctic and Xigmatec) Hard Drives WD Caviar Black 750GB - 7200RPM - 32MB cache
WD Caviar Green 1.5TB - 5400RPM - 64MB cache
WD Caviar Green 2.0TB - 5400RPM - 64MB cache Internet Speed 50 mbps down/5 mbps up Other Info AVerMedia - AVerTVHD G2 Dual Tuner Card
System Manufacturer/Model Number NC684AA-ABA a6750y HP-Pavilion OS Windows 7 64 bit CPU 2300 Mhz clock speed - AMD Phenom 9650 Quad-Core Motherboard Phoenix Technologies, LTD )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v Memory 2048+2048+2048+2048;DIMM Unknown Synchronous Graphics Card ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics Monitor(s) Displays HP w2007 Wide LCD Monitor Screen Resolution 1680 x 1050 pixels
Keyboard Enhanced Multimedia PS/2 Keyboard Mouse HID-compliant mouse Cooling heat sinks + fans Hard Drives 700 G + 1T ext.Drive Internet Speed 20000 mbps dwn 5000 up verizon Fios Other Info only medium skills....just a hack
System Manufacturer/Model Number Airbot 2.0 OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 CPU Core i7 920 (D0) @ 4Ghz, *26c idle *65c full load on air Motherboard Asus P6X58D Premium - Sata 6Gb/s - USB 3.0 Memory 12GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator -CMD12GX3M6A1600C8 at 1600MHz Graphics Card EVGA GeForce GTX 480 -Aftermaket Accelero Xtreme Plus cooler Sound Card ASUS Xonar D2X Monitor(s) Displays 1 LG 24" Flatron W2453V-PF 1 Samsung 24" P2450H both 2ms RT Screen Resolution 1920x1080@60hz
Keyboard Logitech Wireless MK700 Mouse Logitech Wireless MK700 PSU Corsair HX1000W Case Cooler Master HAF 932 Cooling Case Fans *3 230mm, *1 140mm/CPU - *Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme Hard Drives 1 OCZ Vertex2 180GB SSD
1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200RPM 32MB cache
2 500GB WD Caviar Blacks 7200RPM 32MB cache (WD5001AALS)
Pioneer DVD Burner DVR-S18M Internet Speed DL 15 Mbps UL 0.98 Mbps Antivirus None Browser Firefox Nightly Other Info Processor-7.7 *RAM- 7.9 *Graphics-7.9 *Gaming Graphics- 7.9 *SSD- 7.8 W.E.I final score= 7.7
*Phone- Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Information
Note
and going with RUN. See below: 
Warning
Quote: Originally Posted by Dinesh 
Is Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Firewall enough Security? 
