Microsoft Security Essentials - issue

eamon

Hello Folks

I need some assistance.
I currently use this machine Toshiba Equium P300-16T, Vista Home Premium.
I know that MS stopped supporting Vista last year and that doesn't/didn't bother me. Anyway for a few years I've been using Microsoft Security Essentials (anti virus & with the firewall turned on) without issue. A couple of weeks before Christmas the anti virus update function started hanging about 1/3 the way through the update. I put this down to poor housekeeping on my part so I updated & ran Malwarebytes, CCleaner and they found and fixed a few issues and hey presto the MSE updates worked at expected. The issue of the hanging update has started again and the previous fixes no longer work. I've checked the MS site and to me its unclear if Essentials support has also ceased for Vista.
Therefore have I missed something if so what? Can I make it work again? I don't want to revert back to 3rd party anti-virus as they caused BSOD on this machine in the past.
Is it the end of the road for security on this machine? I hope not as its good machine and don't want to change if I can avoid it.
Look forward to any replies.

Eamon

I_have_spoken

Support for Security Essentials on Vista is scheduled to cease Apr 2017

[Deleted User]

Hi,

I have Vista HP and MSE set-up as well, with similar symptoms.

Also if I run Windows Update it freezes and I've had no automatic updates for over a month.

I had same problem on Win 7 machine recently, but got that sorted.

You could use Windows Defender, Start > All Progs > Win Def, or Control Pane > Win Def.

Sicard

I had Vista until a few weeks ago. I had problems with updates so I did some research. It appears many others had the same problem. Being somewhat cynical I would think that M$ has reneged on its promise to continue support until this April and has stopped last year.

NiftyDigits

eamon wrote: »

Hello Folks

I need some assistance.
I currently use this machine Toshiba Equium P300-16T, Vista Home Premium.
I know that MS stopped supporting Vista last year and that doesn't/didn't bother me. Anyway for a few years I've been using Microsoft Security Essentials (anti virus & with the firewall turned on) without issue. A couple of weeks before Christmas the anti virus update function started hanging about 1/3 the way through the update. I put this down to poor housekeeping on my part so I updated & ran Malwarebytes, CCleaner and they found and fixed a few issues and hey presto the MSE updates worked at expected. The issue of the hanging update has started again and the previous fixes no longer work. I've checked the MS site and to me its unclear if Essentials support has also ceased for Vista.
Therefore have I missed something if so what? Can I make it work again? I don't want to revert back to 3rd party anti-virus as they caused BSOD on this machine in the past.
Is it the end of the road for security on this machine? I hope not as its good machine and don't want to change if I can avoid it.
Look forward to any replies.

Eamon

Microsoft Security Essentials offline update for 32 bit

Download, save and then double click on the saved file then follow the prompts to run it.

Whilst this will solve your current issue, you should bite the bullet and apply some upgrades to your machine.
The reasons are manifold.
You should really upgrade the OS from Vista to Windows 7, at the very least. Better a clean install and even better a clean install to a new SSD(as opposed to the older magnetic disk drive;HDD).
Swapping drives takes around five minutes.

The will improve the performance of the machine considerably. Both the much snappier response times of the SSD and from having an operating system not bogged down with unnecessary bloat.
All your data will still be intact on your old HDD, which can be placed in a caddy costing £3 to £4, creating a portable USB external drive with all of your data. Takes a minute to do so

Cost of a120 GB SSD is currently around from £43. A highly recommended upgrade. If you decide to go for it, I'll take you through it step by step.
It costs nothing to upgrade to Windows 7/Windows 10.

eamon

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Microsoft Security Essentials offline update for 32 bit

Download, save and then double click on the saved file then follow the prompts to run it.

Whilst this will solve your current issue, you should bite the bullet and apply some upgrades to your machine.
The reasons are manifold.
You should really upgrade the OS from Vista to Windows 7, at the very least. Better a clean install and even better a clean install to a new SSD(as opposed to the older magnetic disk drive;HDD).
Swapping drives takes around five minutes.

The will improve the performance of the machine considerably. Both the much snappier response times of the SSD and from having an operating system not bogged down with unnecessary bloat.
All your data will still be intact on your old HDD, which can be placed in a caddy costing £3 to £4, creating a portable USB external drive with all of your data. Takes a minute to do so

Cost of a120 GB SSD is currently around from £43. A highly recommended upgrade. If you decide to go for it, I'll take you through it step by step.
It costs nothing to upgrade to Windows 7/Windows 10.

Sorry about the delay in replying (works gets in the way)
I considered moving to W7 some years ago but if I remember correctly there was some sort of technical reason as to why that wasn't possible. However if you are able to confirm that a hardware upgrade would make that possible then I'm all ears.
I have attempted to download and install a newer version of MSE 32bit version but that didn't work.
Another option I'm considering now is biting the bullet and installing a Linux distro and hence getting rid of Vista altogether. I have successfully used Ubuntu on a a really old PC in the past and was generally happy except when the PC suffered multiple organ failure and died.
I do have funds for a replacement laptop but MSExpert is on my mind. You know how it is.

Eamon

bsod

a bsod some years ago is an odd reason to avoid all third party antivirus products forever, most of them are superior to mse

eamon

bsod wrote: »

a bsod some years ago is an odd reason to avoid all third party antivirus products forever, most of them are superior to mse

That may be true and 3rd party did work well on other machines that I have had just not this one. But thanks for your input. I may not have said in my 1st post but this machine is 9yo and its ability to be upgraded is limited. Niftys' suggestion of upgrading the hard drive is interesting but I still wonder if the upgrade to Win 7 is possible.

System

Hi

I don't see any real reason why you cannot add another operating system or two, W7 and Ubuntu alongside Vista on your existing HDD or a new one.

Then keep or eliminate that which doesn't suit. Even do it in stages.

NiftyDigits

eamon wrote: »

Sorry about the delay in replying (works gets in the way)
I considered moving to W7 some years ago but if I remember correctly there was some sort of technical reason as to why that wasn't possible. However if you are able to confirm that a hardware upgrade would make that possible then I'm all ears.
I have attempted to download and install a newer version of MSE 32bit version but that didn't work.
Another option I'm considering now is biting the bullet and installing a Linux distro and hence getting rid of Vista altogether. I have successfully used Ubuntu on a a really old PC in the past and was generally happy except when the PC suffered multiple organ failure and died.
I do have funds for a replacement laptop but MSExpert is on my mind. You know how it is.

Eamon

Did you actually follow the very first instructions in my post??
If not, any likely upgrade is not going to go well for you. You need to be able to follow instruction exactly.

There is no such limitation. Just a figment of your imagination. Officially supports Windows 7 64 bit.

NiftyDigits

Toshiba 120GB A100 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD £43

To get the best out of your machine, you should really move up to 4GB, but that is another £20 for the modules.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crucial-4GB-2x2GB-PC2-6400-PC6400-DDR2-800-MHZ-laptop-memory-SO-DIMM-200pin-ram-/182406123230
If the machine is in good working order, apart from the slowness, consider it.
My Toshiba is a year newer than yours. I did exactly the same upgrade. Cost me £50 in all, as SSD were cheaper then.
Now it's a pleasure to use.

Hint: Everything in Bold in my posts are for you to click on.