Jump to content

Has Microsoft Security Essentials Started to Nag?


Vistapocalypse

Recommended Posts

I ask because MSE started to nag on Windows Vista about 90 days before Vista's EOL, and it is now about 90 days before Windows 7's EOL. Here's a screenshot taken in January 2017:

586080486_MSENagware.JPG.ec1542e5cbcf6694e01c3c3d04c2d433.JPG

The link led to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14223/windows-xp-end-of-support, but perhaps Microsoft will redirect it to something more suitable for Windows 7 - although there has been no MSE upgrade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


4 hours ago, Tripredacus said:

I don't get any nags. On one computer the icon is always green and on the other the icon is always yellow. That's the extent of it. Honestly I forget they are even installed.

The amber icon means "Potentially unprotected," either because your definitions haven't been updated or because support for your operating system is ending. You could always open MSE's UI to determine the reason. In the latter case, you might want to check whether the two computers have the same system date and time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have Windows Updates disabled on both computers. On the 32bit it is green and updates the definitions on its own. On the 64bit it is yellow and it is because it doesn't update the definitions. I have them both configured the same, but whatever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Windows XP supported MSE definitions updates at least until 2016 and could still be updated manually until April (?) this year.

Unless MS are real gits MSE itself might not get updated after 2020 but there's no reason to suppose the definitions won't be updated. But who knows?

When MSE on XP couldn't be updated via the program itself and had to be manually downloaded/installed we were given no specific warning that was going to happen. One day the definitions could be updated as usual the next day the progress bar stalled. It retried and then stalled again with no explanation. You had to Google to discover the reason.

Similarly when all support for MSE on XP stopped it happened suddenly without warning too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After searching other Windows 7 forums, the answer to my original question is clearly "No." Apparently, the EOL features that Microsoft baked into MSE more than 5 years ago applied only to Windows XP and Vista!? MSFN member @heinoganda might perhaps have some insight to offer.

17 hours ago, WalksInSilence said:

Windows XP supported MSE definitions updates at least until 2016 and could still be updated manually until April (?) this year.

Unless MS are real gits MSE itself might not get updated after 2020 but there's no reason to suppose the definitions won't be updated. But who knows?

When MSE on XP couldn't be updated via the program itself and had to be manually downloaded/installed we were given no specific warning that was going to happen. One day the definitions could be updated as usual the next day the progress bar stalled. It retried and then stalled again with no explanation. You had to Google to discover the reason.

Similarly when all support for MSE on XP stopped it happened suddenly without warning too.

You are clearly writing about MSE 4.4 (signed October 24, 2013), whereas the nagging I asked about wasn't introduced until MSE 4.5 (see Microsoft Security Essentials to nag Windows XP users). I have no doubt that definition updates compatible with 3-year-old MSE 4.10 are currently still available, but Microsoft has made no announcement regarding their future availability.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Vistapocalypse said:

After searching other Windows 7 forums, the answer to my original question is clearly "No." Apparently, the EOL features that Microsoft baked into MSE more than 5 years ago applied only to Windows XP and Vista!? MSFN member @heinoganda might perhaps have some insight to offer.

 

that's correct Vistapocalypse.  no EOL notifications for Win7 users yet on MSE 4.10.209, not even on my family's Win7 ultimate pc using the recent Oct. 2019 MSE definitions

come back next month in November or December and ask that question then from your first post of this thread

Edited by erpdude8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/15/2019 at 2:11 PM, Vistapocalypse said:

I ask because MSE started to nag on Windows Vista about 90 days before Vista's EOL, and it is now about 90 days before Windows 7's EOL.

 

7 hours ago, erpdude8 said:

come back next month in November or December and ask that question then from your first post of this thread

So you would speculate that MSE 4.10 users running Windows 7 might see a shorter period of nagging before EOL than MSE 4.10 users running Vista did (see MSE For Vista Now Shows XP Nag Screens)? It seems more likely that Microsoft never "upgraded" MSE to extend the EOL time-bomb feature to Windows 7, perhaps in order not to trigger a wave of downgrades to even older MSE versions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/19/2019 at 1:56 AM, Vistapocalypse said:

 

So you would speculate that MSE 4.10 users running Windows 7 might see a shorter period of nagging before EOL than MSE 4.10 users running Vista did (see MSE For Vista Now Shows XP Nag Screens)? It seems more likely that Microsoft never "upgraded" MSE to extend the EOL time-bomb feature to Windows 7, perhaps in order not to trigger a wave of downgrades to even older MSE versions.

well come back next month in December and ask that original question again, Vistapocalypse.

just manually downloaded & ran the recent mpam-feX64.exe file (11/6) from one of my Win7 machines running MSE 4.10.209 to update the definition files - still not getting any EOL nags from MSE.
only either the KB4493132 or KB4524752 updates for Win7 are showing the EOL nags but no EOL notifications within the MSE app

Edited by erpdude8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/10/2019 at 9:33 AM, tailswave said:

Huh, why are you even using Security Essentials?

Because they decided to. Same reason that anyone uses any program.

:whistle:

but I booted my one 7 system with the MSE on it, let it update, no EOL nag there yet, FWIW

Edited by i430VX
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/10/2019 at 9:33 AM, tailswave said:

Huh, why are you even using Security Essentials?

Low footprint on system is the main selling point to me. They stayed true to the roots of GIANT, which I was using for the same reasons before MS bought them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
14 hours ago, erpdude8 said:

now the nags in MSE may be showing up on Win7 as I saw on this blog from Deskmodder.de ...

The screenshot in that blog is of a prerelease version, and was apparently borrowed from their 2014 blog post pertaining to Windows XP. There has been no prerelease version since 4.10 in 2016.

The bad news in that blog is the link to FAQ about Extended Security Updates for Windows 7, where the following question and answer can be found under ESU coverage:

Quote

Will Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) continue to protect my computer after the end of support?

No, your Windows 7 computer is not protected by MSE after January 14, 2020.  MSE is unique to Windows 7 and follows the same lifecycle dates for support. Learn more about MSE.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...