Windows Defender v.s. Microsoft Security Essentials

Hello all,

I have a LapTop running Windows 10 Home, using Windows Defender. When I start the computer, WD checks for updates even if only a few hours have passed since the previous shutdown. (It seems like Windows Update also checks for updates on each start. The current time stamp is 12:49 compared to 12:50 for WD and the last shutdown was ~2 hours earlier.)

I have a DeskTop running Windows 7 Professional, using Microsoft Security Essentials. When I start the computer, MSE checks for updates only if more than 24 hours have passed since the previous shutdown. 23 hours and 59 minutes doesn't trigger a check. (Windows Update checks more often and may offer updates to MSE but no automatic download and installation.)

There is no setting for this in neither WD nor MSE but I read about a regedit in some complicated way to get MSE to update more frequently.

I also read somewhere that MSE is cloudbased and doesn't need more frequent updates but if that's true, why isn't it true for WD?

 

I understand that WD, compared to MSE, is more "integrated" with the OS and updating WD is possibly managed by Windows Update. The question is why MSE is not since the "cloudbased and doesn't need more frequent updates" is not totally true. When not online, the sky is cloud free ... ... and if you use a borrowed USB-stick, your system may be less protected with an outdated local database.

 

I used Comodo Internet Security until I had to restore (using Image for Linux) my LapTop. (No viral infection but Firefox crashed and was impossible to fix or even uninstall.) After the restore, since some people claim that Windows Defender (WD) is as good as the competition, I decided to try it. That's why I have noticed differences between WD and Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) which I use on my DeskTop.

I have tried to find the article that discussed why MSE doesn't download updates as frequently as expected. I didn't find it but it said that only a proportion of the database gets downloaded to the local computers, most of it is "in the cloud". They didn't say that the engine was "in the cloud", only most of the database.

Well, english isn't my first language ... ... but I do the best I can. What I mean is why updating MSE is not managed by Windows Update like updating WD seems to be (another assumption on my part)? I have set Windows Update (WU) to notify and get prompted to let WU download the updates to MSE but it doesn't happen automatically.

Have I finally found a benefit to Windows 10 forcing all updates onto the users ... ... ?

That was based on my assumption that most of the database is cloudbased. If I work on a computer that hasn't been automatically updated for over 24 hours and not having the complete database "on board", if I disconnect from the internet and use a borrowed USB-stick, then there's a risk of infection and scanning the stick with an "outdated" and "incomplete" database wouldn't make it 100% safe.

Since I misunderstood the meaning of "cloudbased", most of my questions and thoughts are irrelevant but the one that remains is why the update intervals/behaviour differ between WD and MSE?

I never keep my computers runnig 24/7 and don't know if MSE ever downloads updates with a certain interval. I only know that after a shutdown and restart, MSE doesn't search for update unless 24 hours have passed since the last check. (Of course, I can initiate a search for updates manually but shouldn't have to.)

 

retiredlearner,

I found no way to make a quote from your post but I agree with what you say, especially: "It is not a 'resource hog' that some 3rd. party AV's were renowned for."

 

Surely Windows XP had Windows Update! It had several cathegories, just like Windows 7 but the structure was different.

I have been running Windows Update set to "notify but not download anything until I choose to do so" on XP as well as on W7. I don't have that option on W10 and I think that's the reason for the difference. Had I been running Windows Update on W7 in "automatic", then MSE would get the updates automatically, just like WD on W10. I will TEMPORARILY change the setting to find out if my assumption is right.

In the user interface of MSE and of WD there is a possibility to get definition updates and I believe also through Windows Update on both OS. On W10 it isn't possible to tell from which the updates get downloaded and installed.

 

You misunderstood, what I mean is that I have no way of telling whether the update was done through Windows Update or through Windows Defender itself. I didn't want to choose which definition updates I want to install.

 

Correct, no updates listed in the update history on W10 for WD but on W7 for MSE there are several even though all of them have been downloaded and installed through MSE itself. I am sure (?) of that because on W7, the updates for MSE are among the optional updates and I have never checked the box to get any of them.

Even after changing the settings by choosing "automatic" and check the box to "include recommended updates", I still had to choose the one for MSE manually. We'll find out in a day or two how it behaves.

 

Checking the "about" tab in both, it's easy to get the impression that they are basically the same. See the attached screenshots. The "definitions" obviously differ since the two weren't udpated at exactly the same time but other than that, the client version (user interface?) differ, the rest is the same.



And yes ... ... I feel secure!

 

Well, I had been away all day and returned home late this afternoon. The last run of MSE was at 9 PM last night, at which time it was updated. I didn't expect it to check for updates since less than 24 hours had passed and that was according to plan to find out what Windows Update (Windows 7) would acchieve. It listed an optional update for MSE but even though every box had been ticked to make it automatic, it didn't install. I had to manually tick the box next to the update and click install.

At the same time, I started the LapTop and the corresponding update to WD installed automatically, either through Windows Update (Windows 10) or by the update function in WD itself. (It's impossible to tell which unless I find and dig through a number of logfiles.)

The simple solution may be to elevate the "optional" status of the update to MSE to the "important" status but ... ... maybe not.

 

I'm sorry to ask but isn't it obvious? WD on W10 gets updates almost as and when they are released. MSE on W7 does not, no matter what setting I use to "leave it to Windows 7 to manage the updates automatically, the same way as in Windows 10" (like you among others recommend). I have to do it manually or have it done "automatically" with 24+ hours delay in some cases, depending on when my computer was last updated and restarted. That delay is a problem and the question is why do WD and MSE differ? (As I mentioned earlier, I never leave my computers running 24/7 and don't know how MSE manages the updates under those conditions.)