Question

Windows 7 comes with many different services included with it that do a very good job of protecting your system and its users from many different malicious dangers.

These services include:

Windows Defender

Windows Firewall

EFS

Parental Controls

Malicious Software Removal Tool

Windows 7 Action Center

While they do very important tasks, all of this protection still leaves a user and system vulnerable. Using the Internet, go online and research different protection and malware software and recommend one to your peers. Provide a brief summary of the software and discuss its benefits. Provide a link to the page where you obtained your information.

Answer 1

The Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool is an antimalware utility that checks computers running Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP*, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software—including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom—and helps remove malware and any other infections found.

When the detection and malware removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malware was detected and removed.

Benefits:

In the normal stealth mode of operation, if MSRT finds an infection, it does not warn you immediately. Instead, it displays a warning the next time Windows starts up and an Administrator logs on. If the machine is reguarly used by a restricted user, this warning may not display for a long time.

Microsoft's Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) is a free program that removes a whole host of the most popular malicious software (malware). Many Windows users have it installed and run it monthly, yet are not aware of its existence. It's a stealth program, when things are functioning normally you don't see it. It is updated silently as part of Windows Update or Microsoft Update. It runs in what the company refers to as "quiet mode", which means it doesn't tell you anything - at least as long as it doesn't find any malware to remove.

This mode of operation is fine for many users, but you can get much more out of the program.

Perhaps the biggest drawback to the default stealth approach is that MSRT only rounds up the usual suspects. That is, it only looks in the usual places for malware. Like much anti-malware software, MSRT offers both a quick scan and a full scan. By default, it only runs a quick scan, below we'll see how to run a full scan. The once a month scanning is also limiting, but you can run it manually at any time.

If you already have anti-malware software and thus feel protected, everyone needs a second opinion. I recently wrote about an infected machine (Removing malware from an infected PC - battling antivirus programs) where the fourth antivirus program still found malware that the first three had missed.

The ultimate documentation from Microsoft about MSRT seems to be Article 890830, The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, which says:

Microsoft released the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool to help remove specific prevalent malicious software ... After you download the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, it runs one time to check your computer for inflection by specific prevalent malicious software ... and helps remove any infection it finds. Microsoft releases a new version of the tool every month.

Microsoft is very clear that MSRT is not an antivirus program:

• It offers no protection from infection. As Microsoft terms it, MSRT is a "post-infection removal tool".
• It only targets malware that Microsoft has judged to be the most important. Full blown anti-malware software works against a much wider range of software.
• It only gets updated once a month. Full blown anti-malware software is updated daily, at least.

The January 2009 revision of MSRT added removal capability for only two malicious programs. The good news though, is that it can remove the extremely popular Conficker worm (a.ka.a Downadup). You can see exactly what MSRT removes at Families Cleaned by the Malicious Software Removal Tool.The Malicious Software Removal Tool works with Windows XP, Vista and 2000, as well as Windows Server 2003 and 2008. It does not work with Windows 98, Millennium Edition or NT4. It is multi-lingual. Microsoft says "For all supported languages, the same tool will show the correct language depending on the language of the operating system."

links:1. http://www.computerworld.com/article/2481537/endpoint-security/what-you-don-t-know-about-the-windows-malicious-software-removal-tool.html

2.http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/malware-removal.aspx