Replies

H Fred. I was surprised to read that Windows Defender Offline (WDO) won’t work with Windows 8.1. I use WDO on my Windows 8.1 laptop. It seems to work just fine. I installed WDO on a Flash drive using my Windows 7 desktop machine and then use the Flash drive to boot the Windows 8.1 laptop and run the scan.

Dave Anderson

Yes you can run Windows Defender Offline from a thumbdrive. It works fine. Just be sure you are using the correct version, i.e. 32 bit vs 64 bit.

I was surprised to read about someone having issues with Microsoft Security Essentials. I’ve been using it since it was still in Beta and have never had any startup or performance issues. My usage experience has been on XP, Vista and Win 7. It’s on all my personal PC’s and I’m not even sure how many customer machines I’ve installed it on. I’m quite confident that when used together with Malwarebytes Antimalware a Windows computer is as protected as it can get. It’s a good idea to enter the MBAM executables in the MSE Excluded processes list. The MBAM forums show how that is done.

In Canada, Scotiabank (Bank of Nova Scotia) offers Rapport and recommends its use. I use Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Antimalware on my Windows 7 machines. As I see it, Rapport is another layer of security to protect my online banking sessions. It is designed to complement your existing security software. I have been using it for awhile now and haven’t noticed any negative issues. I don’t use Windows XP any more so I can’t comment on any issues with that O/S. My bank’s website describes it like this:

Rapport is a complement to anti-virus software and firewalls you may already have in place. It creates a protective security layer around your browser while you are signed on to the Scotia OnLine website and helps to:
Ensure you are genuinely on our site – versus a fake site – even if your computer has a virus
Prevent your login ID, passwords, and other sensitive information from being stolen by malware and fraudulent websites
Protect your browser when communicating with our website and prevent malware from tampering with your transactions

I repair computers for a living and have always felt that a layered approach to PC security is a good idea. Also, most of my customers are quite casual, even careless about their malware protection. That’s why I feel Rapport is a good thing for the average PC user who makes use of online banking.

I guess I could add that I have also allowed Rapport to protect other non-bank websites where I need to enter a username and password to access the site. Again, no negative issues. I only use IE however, so I can’t comment of the use of Rapport in other browsers.

I had this issue and spend quite a bit of time trying to figure it out. Funny thing was, everything worked, so I wasn’t too worried about it. But it did bug me. So I kept trying to correct the issue. I read somewhere that in some cases this problem can be fixed by just unplugging and reinserting all USB devices. That’s all it took in my case. All is good now.