Well, in anticipation to the replacement for OneCare, Microsoft Security Essentials is finally here. On October 15th, OneCare will no longer be available for sale. For more information, please see the following link. Microsoft Security Essentials

   It is official, OneCare will not be sold after October 15. If your subscription hasn't run out yet, hold on, Microsoft will honor all subscriptions until the end of contract. If yours has run out, that brings us wondering what is next? In what was supposed to be the replacement of OneCare, Security Essentials falls short, in what was my opinion the best security program out there.

   I have been using Security Essentials for about 6 months, and I am impressed with its ability to catch the culprits trying to infect my machine. But, I long for the additional features of OneCare that have been dropped. There is no cleaning of the temp files, firewall, defragmentation, backups, or the monitoring of updates that are vital to the concept of security.

   I applauded Microsoft for using Security Center XP SP2, but they seemed to never move beyond the disconnectedness of the individual programs until OneCare. OneCare informed us of all the mistakes or misses that are needed to keep machines running smoothly and protected from online intrusions. Maybe it is to divert the possible countless lawsuits of those other guys claiming "Monopoly". I don't know, but feel a bit cheated to some degree.

   None-the-less, we have to move on and here is what you are going to have to do if your OneCare has expired.

          a. Uninstall OneCare (use the OneCare Install Cleanup Tool)
          b. Start - control panel - add/remove programs (XP) or Programs and Features (Vista) - Windows Live OneCare - Uninstall
          c. Reboot your machine
          d. Visit Microsoft Security Essentials
          e. Click Download Now
          f. Save to your computer
          g. Close out of all programs
          h. Double-click the program downloaded to install
          i. The program will update immediately after install and will run a "Quick Scan"

   Given your specific circumstances, there might be a few custom tweaks you may require. If you find that the program does not work with your schedule and you need additional support, please give us a call at your convenience.