- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP
- Date added: September 29, 2009
- Total Downloads: 26,970
- Downloads last week: 2,513
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 54 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on September 28, 2009
The successor to Microsoft Live OneCare, Security Essentials (full review here) takes a different approach to securing your computer. The program is free with core security features intact, but abandons the additional heft of a firewall, performance tuning, and backup and restore options. Under a clean and uncluttered interface, Security Essentials wraps antivirus and antispyware engines, rootkit protection, and real-time detection courtesy of Microsoft SpyNet, the unfortunately named cloud-based service that compares file behavior across computers.
There are four tabs, each with a concise, understandable label: Home, Update, History, and Settings. From Home you can run a Quick Scan, Full Scan, or Custom Scan, and a link at the bottom of the pane lets you change the scheduled scan. In the Settings window you can schedule scans, toggle default actions, adjust real-time protection settings, and create whitelists. An Advanced option here is still fairly basic, allowing you to set Security Essentials to scan archives, removable drives, create a system restore point, or allow all users to view the History tab. Security Essentials uses labels imported from OneCare: green for all good, yellow for warning, and red for an at-risk situation.
Independent test numbers for Security Essentials weren't available at the time of writing, although OneCare scored high detection rates. On a real-world machine, the Quick Scan completed in less than 30 seconds. Benchmarking tests from CNET Labs reveal that Security Essentials actually makes starting up and shutting down faster, but the Full Scan is much slower than many competitors. RAM usage was not insignificant, with 85 to 90MB used during a full scan, but it felt lighter. Security Essentials is basically a good set-it-and-forget-it security program, but if you want more options, you should look elsewhere.
Watch the CNET video review of Microsoft Security Essentials:
Publisher's description
From Microsoft :With Microsoft Security Essentials Beta, you get high-quality protection against viruses and spyware, including Trojans, worms and other malicious software. And best of all, there are no costs or annoying subscriptions to keep track of.
Security Essentials is easy to install and easy to use. Updates and upgrades are automatic, so there's no need to worry about having the latest protection. It's easy to tell if you're protected - when the Security Essentials icon is green, your status is good. It's as simple as that.
When you're busy using your PC, you don't want to be bothered by needless alerts. Security Essentials runs quietly in the background, only alerting you if there's something you need to do. And it doesn't use a lot of system resources, so it won't get in the way of your work or fun.
What's new in this version:
This is the first version on Download.com.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.2 stars out of 54 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 54 user reviewsSee all 54 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0.1611.0
"This antivirus software is FREE and it is GOOD."
Pros: It can detect all the virus and spyware.
Easy to use.
Takes a little of memory and space.
It is simple.Cons: I like the whole software.
Summary: I like the whole software. It is great and I would recommend to a friend.
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0.1611.0
Pros: free, light load, easy to use, does the job
Cons: none so far
Summary: This has got to be a disaster for the virus programs that want to extract up to sixty bucks from your wallet. I have used, and paid for, Norton and F-Secure for years, and most recently was using the F-Secure 2010 suite with the tweak to get it to ... read more >>
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0.1611.0
Pros: -small
-use very little memory
-supper fast scan. it took only 5-6 mins or less scan my 300gb hdd
-free
-simple to use
-no stupid ads pop up after each update like Antiver.Cons: seriously, i can not find anything bad yet.
may be because it is MS, some people might be skeptical about it.Summary: all you have to do is leave it at default and it will do all the work for you.
i use Wins7 and it run really good on both of my pc. one of them is really old like 5-6 years with wins7 beta in it, and it still kick even on the very old machine. -
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0.1611.0
Pros: Finally there is an antivirus that wouldn't anyhow detect everything as virus. I had try NOD32, Kaspersky and VIPRE but they all always detect my download stuffs in my pc as virus. But not now. Not anymore. Highly recommended.
Cons: Nothing At All.
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0 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0.1611.0
"good but can't control the system"
Pros: From microsoft
Cons: Slow down the system slow removal slow scanner but not too bad
Summary: I had it in my infected pc after moon antivirus,windows defender and it make my infected pc even worse it's better than windows defender but can't control the system after i removed it i downloaded malwarebytes it found 72 virus then i downloaded co... read more >>
- See all 54 user reviews Write review
