What to do when you get the Windows Defender expiry message
Come back to your computer in 2007 and you’ll probably see a message about the expiry of Windows Defender – Microsoft’s anti-spyware tool for Windows XP.
Windows Defender was in public beta testing for most of 2006, despite it’s source (Microsoft) it does a good job and isn’t as annoying as many other products.
The program has finished testing but there’s a simple mechanism for switching to the latest version.
Click on the link on the expiry notice or go here.
Use the same link if you want to start using Windows Defender now. It’s only available for Windows XP (not Windows 2000). Windows Vista has similar technology in-built.
Windows Defender will only work fully for ‘legal’ copies of Windows XP – there’s a validation test done to allow download AND again on installation.
After download the installation is unremarkable, it will replace the older Windows Defender (no need to uninstall).
When asked about ‘Help protect Windows’ we suggest you choose the ‘Use Recommended Settings’ option but if you’re very concerned about privacy choose the ‘Install definition updates only’ option. An anti-spyware package with old data is worse than useless so don’t choose the ‘Ask me later’ option unless you have a very good reason.
Programs like Internet Explorer and Office apps (but not, curiously, Outlook) have to be shut down during the install. You’ll be prompted if there are offending programs.
At the end, allow Windows Defender to get the latest updates then do a quick scan of your computer.
After that you probably won’t need to worry about Windows Defender. It will do it’s job in the background, remove or block spyware automatically and rarely bother you directly.
