Microsoft Security Essentials may stop XP virus signature updates in April

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http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-may-end-antivirus-updates-on-xp-in-april-7000022645/

Time to switch your AV if you plan to continue to run XP.

Jerry

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Good advice, however, horrible listing of “best practices” (they have a place but none are top 5) by a Microsoft spokesperson that amounts to nothing more than agenda-based prattle. It seems to be getting every bit as bad as listening to a politician.

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Good advice, however, horrible listing of “best practices” (they have a place but none are top 5)

What five protection practices come before applying security updates and updating antivirus for you?

Bruce

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Hardware firewall, never click on attachments, never click on links in unsolicited email, never click on unsolicited popups, especially out of date warnings from browsers, disable Java if not needed, install WOT if an equivalent is not already in place and pay laser attention to freeware utility and update installs, the latter not so much for virus prevention but to prevent toolbars and other antivirus utilities and such from installing and causing conflicts and slowdowns and possibly leading to weak points for malware ingress.
Then some of the second line defense is called for, up to date programs and current and [hopefully] effective anti-virus, etc. I would add virtualization in ahead as well if it were called for…but I don’t think things are so bad that they call for widespread use, and seemingly would be just as ineffective as anti-virus in the zero-day case of a data encryption virus.

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I don’t understand this. There is only one 32 bit version of MSE covering both Windows XP and Windows 7. There is only one virus definition file for both OS’s. I suppose it is possible that changes could be made to either or both that might make them incompatible with XP, although that seems a little unlikely.

Is this just a scare to get folk to update?

Chris

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Is this just a scare to get folk to update?

Chris

No, as Dr Who mentions an example of, there are plenty of anti-virus products compatible with XP. Windows updates and XP antivirus support are a couple of the last few (maybe last two?) commitments Microsoft has to XP. They want out-out (really out!) since XP hasn’t made them a retail dime since August of 2008.

Seems completely understandable to me, it would be a story if Microsoft were thinking about not supporting a Windows 7 antivirus product.

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Duh!
MS has already admitted, that their AV/AS protection is at the bottom of the heap. (very worse AV program) They have even gone so far as to suggest that Windows users, seek better AV protection elsewhere.
What more can we say? MS has already said it all.
Obviously, they really don’t want to be in the AV/AS business.

What do I use, you may well ask, well….. AVG 2014 FREE!
Been using AVG since it first came out, years ago, and I’ve never had a virus infection.

Good Luck Y’all !
The Doctor 😎

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MS has already admitted, that their AV/AS protection is at the bottom of the heap. (very worse AV program) They have even gone so far as to suggest that Windows users, seek better AV protection elsewhere.
What more can we say? MS has already said it all.
Obviously, they really don’t want to be in the AV/AS business.

Microsoft didn’t say that.

The original quote was; “Baseline does not equal bad. We provide a high-quality, high-performing service to our customers and if they choose not to buy [antivirus] on Windows 8… we want to get those people protected.”

And since then, they also said; “We are fully committed to protecting our consumer and business customers from malware. Our strong solutions provide the comprehensive defense needed against malicious code and attacks. We are proud of the protection capabilities we provide for well over 150 million computers worldwide with our real-time antimalware products. We believe in Microsoft antimalware products and strongly recommend them to our customers, to our friends, and to our families”.
Our commitment to Microsoft antimalware

Bruce

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Well; all you die-hard XP holdout guys and dolls, the writing is on the wall IMHO. And everybody who believes in AVG or any of the others will wake up hard when after 4/8/14 (end of XP extended support) they will laconically say “XP systems are not being supported any longer”.
Gosh, haven’t we seen in the past how fast third parties followed suit when MS finally cut off Win 95, 98, ME and 2k?
History will repeat itself.

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Re MSSE, I use it, Woody Leonhard of Windows Secrets recommends it, and so far, I haven’t seen a situation where it didn’t work, if combined with a good spyware protector like Malwarebytes or SuperAntiSpyware. If MS is taking a back seat for MSSE on XP, Ill go to another free vendor, but so far, what Ive read is that they aren’t backing off. But is does make sense to me that if they get out of XP support, their products would no longer support it either.

I support systems in an adult only community and I would bet that 90% or more of the systems I see are still XP based. Most of these people are on fixed budgets and what they have (in terms of a PC) suits them fine – they have limited needs and really don’t need to upgrade unless something breaks and the cost of repair is more than the cost of a new machine. Also, most of them are very allergic to CHANGE – think of technically supporting your 70+ mother, father, etc. Its a challenge, but one that I like because the personal rewards are great.

Many businesses will also be in the same boat, from what Ive read, XP is still the prevalent OS at business, regardless of the upgrade warnings that MS has been making over the last 3 years to upgrade. Win 7 Enterprise is gaining ground but still has a long way to go to be the dominant OS for business.

April 2014 end of support for XP WILL cause them a problem. Has anyone heard of a startup or established company that will be offering free or fee based XP patch updates? I have to believe that this will be available somewhere, and by a reputable organization.

Im too weary to consider doing it myself and honestly dont have that level of ambition any longer. 😉

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This might sound like a silly question; I am running XP Pro SP-3 with McAfee. Should I be OK?

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This might sound like a silly question; I am running XP Pro SP-3 with McAfee. Should I be OK?

I think most members here don’t like McAfee, it usually is not among the best ranked products in comparatives.

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Rui,

It comes with my Internet provider and I like it over Norton.

Still; Do you think McAfee will keep updating the database after Microsoft bites the bullet on XP support?

Ken

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Ken,

I don’t know. I think there will be a good market AV apps for remaining XP users, at least for a while. How long that will be maintained, I can’t tell. I also don’t know about any manufacturers’s plans for XP. I am sure some will keep providing updates. For Microsoft, I suppose it makes sense to stop, even more so considering theirs is rather basic offering.

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