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Why do I have to reboot, Microsoft? WHY? Can't you just unload some DLLs from memory, stop the service and restart it? Really, how hard would that be?

The funny thing is that I installed this update on my laptop as well and it didn't ask me to reboot there.

@Kenmcnamee,

In most cases, one would not have to reboot. In use files are unloaded and relevant services stopped/started as required. It will depend upon individual systems configurations and state, of course, but in most cases, a restart has not been required. We updated several test machines and none reflected a requirement to restart.

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On one of my Win 7 systems I needed a reboot, probably because Outlook was open and I also did a Office Live update at the same time. On my other system no reboot required.

The Action Center is certainly alarmed during the installation of this update. That's good to see and seems to be about the right way to notify. (While it is alarmed at what is going on, it doesn't plaster alert windows all over the place--just little notices out of the action center icon.)

I didn't have to restart my Dell. Laptop yet to be updated (it hasn't been on all week--it goes to meeting Saturday).

 --John

"Why do I have to reboot, Microsoft? WHY? Can't you just unload some DLLs from memory, stop the service and restart it? Really, how hard would that be?"

It depends on "how deep" the service works in the OS.

"The funny thing is that I installed this update on my laptop as well and it didn't ask me to reboot there."

Some programs will ask for a reboot if there is a pending reboot by another program or update, even though the original program in question doesn't really require it (sometimes it will require that the other finish the pre-shutdown cleanup, so that it can update files on the next non-reboot-pending startup).

I've installed and uninstalled this software MANY times, but I've noticed 2 bugs:

1)  On practically every Windows XP install, the startup entry in the registry was missing quotes around the long filename which would cause the C:\Program Files\Microsoft folder to show at startup instead of launching the program.  Adding quotes around the file path in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run|MSSE value fixes that.  Windows Vista isn't affected by the issue.

2) (Only on XP as far as I've noticed) *SOMETIMES* the service won't start at startup even if the program is set to launch correctly (after fixing the first issue), and in the Services MMC, the service is still set to Automatic.  Uninstalling and reinstalling the program fixes this issue.  I would imagine this is a problem caused by the initial update getting botched because the program download does NOT include the scanning engine or definitions - the post-install update downloads all that after clicking Finish on the installer.

Aside from that, MSSE + Win7's Action Center is basically OneCare but almost completely integrated into the OS (except for the antimalware engine).

@Wae: I experienced the XP startup bug too.  I didn't need to change the registry entry after upgrading, and, the bug reports about it on Connect all seem to show that it's resolved. Nice to see that this annoyance is no longer.

My Vista system didn't ask me to reboot.

No reboot on my Win7/Office2010 box. (I told it to stop and restart dependancies during the upgrade)

As a data point, it had been updated to the latest Live services yesterday so they should have been up to date.

Complaints about the reboot thing aside, I think MSE is great and I've installed it everywhere.

Funny story... my neighbor comes to me for PC advice. Last week she was complaining about all the problems she's having with McAfee which she paid something like $70 for. I told her to just uninstall it and use the free MSE. She said she doesn't want to uninstall it because she paid "good money for it" so she'd rather deal with the problems and feel like she's "getting her money's worth." I just don't get that mentality. Actually, that wasn't a funny story at all - just sad really.

RE: Ken. LOL. Wow. People can be so silly.

RE: Ken

Good thing she didn't uninstall it since you can't get on the beta anymore.  :)

Okay, I take that back.  If you do a search on it, you can find it.  Microsoft's site just doesn't have it.  :)

@ken:

You'd be surprised how many people tell me that about their FREE AV software that they got from Bell and Rogers.  Funny thing is, both Bell and Rogers use the same security software now - Radialpoint (formerly Zero Knowledge Networks, who made the terrible Freedom Internet Security software).

Radialpoint NEVER shows up on AV-Comparatives, nor does it show up on third-party certification lists.

But it's free, and the ISP supplies it, so it must be good, right???!?

vicentw56: Yeah, it's a shame the beta is limited. it can currently be downloaded from www.softpedia.com/.../Microsoft-Security-Essentials.shtml.

However, even if MSE wasn't available, almost any other free AV is better than what she is using. I also recommended AVG to her. Alas, she's determined to torture herself for the next 2 years with McAfee.

I got a prompt to update MSE and did not ask me to reboot. I wasn't expecting a reboot, but now that it's been pointed out, it's surprising there wasn't a reboot.

So far, MSE has been solid. Aside from a small bug when I first installed the program (a folder would launch on start up), nothing serious has happened. I love it! Hell, I'm still w/in my WLOC subscription but I switched to MES.

@ken: "Last week she was complaining about all the problems she's having with McAfee which she paid something like $70 for. I told her to just uninstall it and use the free MSE."

I had the same thing happen (although it was the son of a lady I work with), however, the person I dealt with realized how crappy their AV product was and went with MSE.

I did not get any prompts about MSE updates.  Perhaps it is because of my WSUS server.  I'll have to check it.

No re-boot for me on Win7 64bit.

Shame OneCare is going away though.

any news on UK release date?

I love OneCare, I really do... but I don't understand the whole obsession with it. Must be people stuck on Windows XP, lol.

Anyway, no reboots for me either... I again suspect it's an XP thing. Windows 7 is your friend!

"almost any other free AV is better than what she is using. I also recommended AVG to her. Alas, she's determined to torture herself for the next 2 years with McAfee."

Actually, McAfee got higher scores in the last AV-comparatives than all the other free AV software available (except for MSSE, which wasn't available at the time, but OneCare scored near the top).  AVG is pathetic.

"Must be people stuck on Windows XP, lol."

That's where OneCare shines.  On Vista, not so much, because they thought to integrate a lot of functionality in the OS.  In Windows 7, Action Center makes OneCare obsolete.

I got really sick of OneCare's nags (particularly the one which made THIS machine non-green because THAT machine earlier had failed to find the central backup drive on THIS machine--which was off at the time.

XP not involved, just Vista.

It would be nice to see MSE final (in the US, let alone elsewhere).

Waethorn: What I meant by AVG being better than McAfee is that AVG wouldn't totally screw up her computer like whatever McAfee Super Duper Internet Security Suite 2009 she is currently using.

GoodThings2Life: I got the reboot on my Windows 7 64-bit machine. My Windows 7 32-bit machines didn't need to reboot. That might have been a coincidence - it could merely have been because of whatever combination of apps I currently had open.

I use OneCare on all Vista machines. Runs fine to me. No nags.

Why the comment about being stuck on XP? I don't understand that comment at all.

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Updated MSE but no reboot on my Vista machine. I have to say I am really impressed with MSE and looking forward to the day it goes gold.

kenmcnamee

I wouldn't touch McAfee with a barge pole, having had a bad experience with it several years ago. There are so many light A\V alternatives out there that do their job efficiently and silently you can do without the bloat of Norton's\McAfee\Trend etc.

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I tried the free trail of McAfee when I bought my computer and had no problems with it. I only had a problem with it when I uninstalled it, to install OneCare, and it left parts of its Firewall and every time I booted, I kept getting a OneCare pop-up about blocking McAfee's request to access the Internet. I finally tracked down the .exe from McAfee to remove all of its conponents.

I also tried AVG (free). I liked it.

So far my favorite AV program has been OneCare. AND I actually liked those "annoying" pop-ups about OC being up to date! LOL But after that was tamed, I saw how annoying the pop-ups were.

MSE will take OC's spot as my favorite AV program once it's out of beta.

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Ah, what a joke having to deal with anti-virus, anti-spam software and the like. Luckily OS X doesn't burden you with that.

"anti-spam software"

Mac users don't get spam?  That's news to me and pretty much everyone else.

This is funny. I haven't had any upgrades since installation of MSE and got Version 1.0.2140.0 on a Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7600. Thats why a haven't seen a newer version in MS Update this morning. Does anyone understand this?

"Mac users don't get spam?  That's news to me and pretty much everyone else."

That's not what he said. He was referring to anti-spam software. OS X Mail has built-in spam filtering that is good enough that I haven't needed separate spam-filtering software since I made the switch a couple years ago. Every now and then I stick it back in "learning" mode, and it does a stellar job.

I suspect that's what he meant, although it was poorly worded (since Mail isn't part of the OS). I also suspect that you know it, but chose to be snarky in response to his wisearse comment.

Well he did word it that way.  And since most ISPs filters spam, and any reasonable mail client also does, and is either built in to the OS or easily downloadable, the point is moot for either platform.  However, rj was just babbling like normal.

"but chose to be snarky"

This is rich coming from the king of snark.

@robertsjoke

If MS included an antivirus or antispam or just about anything else in Windows, every company and their cousin would be suing them and the EU would be complaining to no end.

Of course Apple with their pitiful market share doesn't have to worry about such things and most likely never will.

In three years of running Vista with UAC turned on, and no activescan AV running, just a weekly scan, I have not had one virus or malware infection. Right now I'm running Win 7 Ultimate with MSE and everything is running smoothly.

As for all the MS haters and Bac fanboys that post here, I don't go to your Mac blogs and Forums to post garbage so why don't you just go back there and live in your fantasy land where Apple is the biggest and best at everything they do and leave us in peace.

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