Resolved Windows Defender Updates?

Not that I mind a backup security system staying up to date, but it seems as if Windows Defender is updating its virus definitions at an alarming frequency. I don't believe there has been a day pass by that it doesn't update... and I believe it has even updated more than once on some days. Is Win7 that vulnerable or is it some other reason?

By the way, I am running Win7 Ultimate with Zonealarm Extreme as my security suite. Is everyone else with Windows Defender updating their AV definitions so frequently? When I check the update history, the number of the various AF defs is different, but before I went from Vista to Win7, I don't believe the updates came so fast and furiously. My two WinXP Pro machines don't even update the resident Win AV, as far as I know. And, as far as security setups, they are the same as the Win7 machine, since ZA sells a 3 machine coverage for the same price as a single machine.
Thanks...

 

I have only had two with Vista HP this month (01/01/2010, KB915597 Definition 1.71.1568.0 & 05/01/2010 KB915597 Definition 1.71.1705.0). Seems about normal to me.

 

By the way, I'm using Win7, not that it would be much different than Vista, but I did want to mention it for clarity.

Well, now that you mention it... THIS month is a bit lean, since the fifth... but there were two in five days... and I posted this question fairly soon after that second update. I was in the middle of something, so the update was delayed by that... and I posted shortly after I installed it. But I was mostly talking about last month... I had THIRTEEN updates, and the month before that it was TWELVE. My new machine has only been working since October, so that's my frame of reference with it. On my XP machines, updates number ten in the month of December and seven in the month of November. Pretty good difference in update numbers, in my opinion.

Since I don't use Defender, I just thought it was a bit excessive for updating signatures, plus, it's always seeming to want to update when I'm in the middle of doing something. Maybe that makes it seem like more than usual. But then again, the numbers don't lie.

 

Yeah, I could do that... and I usually do manually update, when I'm notified... that's why it was so noticeable. I would like to know when there's an update, without having to think about it and go looking for it. Maybe the last two months were an anomaly, and from this month on will be more normal. I just was wondering if anyone else was noticing the frequency, or not. A dozen or more per month over two consecutive months just seemed pretty extreme, to me. But I've only had computers since 1995, and couldn't remember that many, before.
Thanks

 

I had nine last month (first one on ~ 01/12/09 & the last one on ~ 29/12/09). Maybe Win 7 needs more updates. I find that you can have quiet months sometimes & sometimes months with more updates. I think they update when they have to rather than a fixed routine.

I just noticed that I got a Defender update (08/01/2010 10:22 am GMT), they are mostly 'silent' updates though. I use Defender, although I have other anti-malware apps. Maybe the Defender team at MS have discovered a lot of malware threats recently. At least they're on the ball then!

 

We tend to get them Wednesday morning in England.

 

Well... yesterday was another update for Defender. Luckily, I wasn't in the middle of a relatively large video project, like usual. Maybe the attacks on Win7 are just more ubiquitous, since it seems to be so much more popular than previous release versions. Honestly, the only problems I have had were some intermittent network connectivity problems, and some 64 bit compatibility stuff that didn't cause any serious problems.

Normally, I'm not a new release OS kinda guy. I only installed WinXP for the first time since a year after Vista was released. I did try Vista for two weeks on the new build before installing Win7. I just couldn't stand to wait two weeks for the free Win7 disk to arrive.

 

I've been running Vista for nearly two years now & I'm used to it. As far as I know all of the main bugs that plagued the original US release were fixed by the time it came to the UK. I actually prefer it to XP & I have no immediate plans to upgrade to 7. I'm a firm believer in the old grammatically suspect adage of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'. Plus, it is always wise to wait 18 months or so before trying anything new from Microsoft. Maybe Win 7 has ginourmous security holes in it like the first XP release & they are not telling!

 

My new Core i7 build is the only computer I have with Win7, and it only does video work I don't need immediately. It ain't perfect, but it's not terrible, either. Does okay with Sony Vegas, anyway. It hasn't failed to do anything I wanted... not with an unreasonable amount of coaxing. I really was trying not to use Vista, just for the ability to say I never did... but impatience got the best of me, so I loaded it. Of course, if any of the hardware wasn't going to work, I needed to know for any potential RMAs. So far, I haven't had an RMA on any hardware I've purchased... knock wood.

I can remember Win 3.1-2, Win95, 98 and Win2k... kinda bad actors at first, too... but for being brand new, Win7 is as they say, probably one of the best, right out of the blocks. My back room non-Internet machine is an old customized Gateway with Win2k, and as I said, I have only had WinXP on my other two home builds since late 2007.

Come to think of it, I stuck with Win2k from early 2001 to November 2007, and when I first got it, that was one more headache after another, but I'm still using it in 2010. I might not have moved to XP if it wasn't for my Pentax SLR and working with RAW photos. Win2k took about fifteen to twenty seconds to open those on a Core 2 Duo, before I installed XP... well, then there's the fact of nobody supporting it with software or drivers. Kind of a shame, if you ask me.

 

Well, if I go with Windows with my next computer I shall no doubt use Win 7. It has the same kernel as Vista anyway. It helps of course if it really is an improvement over Vista as I much prefer Vista to XP. I think I'm in a minority in this though.