Microsoft Security Essentials is an antivirus/anti-malware/anti-spyware application. It is free and runs on the Windows operating systems XP, Vista and 7.
This review is not going to concentrate on how much stuff MSE can detect but rather boiled down to a simple question:
Does it get in your way?
I’ll explain that further.
Applications specifically designed to protect your computer will at times will annoy you. These annoyances come in the form of slowing the OS down, overzealous protection where it prompts for every single thing you could possibly think of (even worse than the UAC for Vista,) interrupting the normal operation of other programs that use the internet and so on.
It reasons like this that some people don’t even bother running protection software because it literally gets in the way of normal computer use.
Here’s the stuff that matters concerning MSE. I used my main desktop, which runs Windows 7 Home Premium, to test with.
Installation
Quick. Very quick. No long drawn-out installation procedures of any kind.
Virus/Spyware/Malware definitions first download
No faster than any other suite of this type would provide.
First scan of PC for viruses
This took a while. Once again it’s on par for the course with other protection suites.
Interface
You know it’s running by a green castle icon in the taskbar:
I do appreciate its obvious nature. Green means good and the checkmark further drives home that point.
Double-clicking the castle icon brings up the interface:
This is a very clean, very easy-to-use app. Big tabs show very clearly where you are at any time. Scan options on the right are also very easy.
One thing I particularly appreciate is how easy it is to tell MSE to avoid stuff. This is located on the Settings tab.
I can easily define what I don’t want MSE to scan. On my PC I specifically have it avoid the mail profile directory for Mozilla Thunderbird because the real-time protection was slowing it down a bit. I’ll speak more on that in a moment.
In the Advanced part of settings you also have a few very convenient options:
Telling MSE to not scan removable drives is a huge plus. For example, if you have a USB stick full of photos, there obviously aren’t going to be viruses present on that storage medium, so there’s no need to scan it when connected to your PC.
Real-time protection
This is something many people avoid using in a protection suite due to the fact it can slow down Windows to a crawl.
The way in which MSE uses real-time fortunately does not do this. When real-time is enabled, Windows for the most part will still operate as it did without it – and that’s a big plus.
What does "for the most part" mean? It means that in certain instances you will notice little pauses here and there. This is something all protection suites with real-time protection do. Those pauses are the little scans the suite is performing.
For example, I noticed it in Mozilla Thunderbird when I would move an email from one folder to another. It wasn’t a huge pause by any means, but I did notice it.
My way around this was to instruct MSE (as seen above) to not scan the Thunderbird mail profile directory. At that point the pausing went away instantly. Yes, it’s true, my email is not being scanned but I can easily manually scan attachments and other mails that would appear from not-so noble senders (read: spammers.)
Easy right-click access
Right-click any file anywhere and you can scan it, like this:
The castle icon you see here is blue instead of green, but it’s still very obvious what the menu choice does and the visual cue makes it easy to find at any time.
When you scan, the app pops up and tells you if it found anything:
Once again, green means good.
Other protection suites have similar functionality with the right-click context menu, but the difference here is speed. MSE is fast. No grinding of the hard drive waiting for the app to pop up. You right click, you scan, and ta-da, it’s right there.
The scan works on individual files or entire folders along with its subfolders.
Does it get in the way?
I can say with confidence that MSE does in fact stay out of your way while still providing excellent protection against viruses, malware and spyware – and in addition keeps the user in mind in the way it operates.
I like it enough that I intend to keep it installed – and that’s saying a lot because I’m a very anti-antivirus type of computer user due to the fact I normally can’t stand protection software suites. MSE does not slow down my PC, nor does it get in my way. And that’s good enough for me.
Is MSE better or worse than other protection suites?
MSE’s single largest advantage is that it’s a Microsoft product and therefore runs very happily with the Windows operating system. I don’t believe it will add in any additional level of protection that other suites don’t already cover – but it’s a pretty safe bet that it will probably run faster.
On a final note, no, this is not Windows Defender 2.0, and I can prove it:
Defender comes provided with Windows Vista and 7. MSE supersedes that software and is a very notable improvement all around. It is far superior and "smart" enough to turn Defender off on install so MSE can do the job it’s supposed to.
Does this mean you stop using Defender when using MSE? Yes.
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Kevin
13. Nov, 2009
I was wondering if there was a way for it to auto update because it seems i always have to go in and hit the update button.
Other than that a very solid AV for the price.
Rich Menga
13. Nov, 2009
It does during a scheduled scan. Settings / Scheduled Scan / check box for “Check for latest..” When the scheduled scan happens, if there are any new definitions to download it will get those first.
David M
13. Nov, 2009
How good is it at detecting malware? If it is not very effective then it is pointless to install it even if it stays out of your way. Perhaps one of the computer magazines will run a real world comparison and see how well it actually detects malware. That would be interesting. Personally, I would not bother with it until I see some actual results from comparisons.
Doug Keeling
18. Nov, 2009
I tried repeatedly to install MSE with near-disastrous results. My computer would freeze during the reboot after installation, and the only way to continue was to remove power to the computer. I spoke with Microsoft’s support tech, who informed me that MSE will not play with, e.g., ZoneAlarm, or an anit-spyware/malware program. I gave up at that point. That doesn’t seem to be a problem, of even addressed in your review. Comment?
Rich Menga
18. Nov, 2009
Mixing real-time security suites together is a recipe for disaster. Use one or none.
nahabze
18. Nov, 2009
I’ve been using MSE since the first beta, and right now I’m using it with ZoneAlarm Security Suite with the AV & Malware detection disabled (too intrusive and required constant re-configuring), and running alongside Prevx 3.0, which, by the way is scanning the computer while I’m typing this. There is a pause of about a second when I shut down the browser, but that is the only really noticeable performance hit on my P4 3.0 with @GB of RAM.
No real complaints so far, but it does use more process resources than I thought it would, although not as much as Prevx
Don Bishop
19. Nov, 2009
You are playing with fire. I did this also, and it almost wrecked 2 of my computers. Use only one antivirus, and listen to what the vendors say. Do you know more than them? You need to do some more research about using more than one antivirus. Dont be bull headed. Pretty soon, it will start to confuse your system, and crash, and this is just a matter of time. I wont feel sorry for you.