Windows Defender Wikipedia. Windows Defender, officially called Windows Defender Antivirus in Windows 1. Creators Update, is an anti malware component of Microsoft Windows. It was first released as a free antispyware program download for Windows XP, shipped with Windows Vista and Windows 7 and made into a full antivirus program replacing Microsoft Security Essentials as part of Windows 8 and later versions. Basic featureseditBefore Windows 8, Windows Defender protected against spyware. It included a number of real time security agents that monitored several common areas of Windows for changes which might have been caused by spyware. It also included the ability to easily remove installed Active. X software. Windows Defender featured integrated support for Microsoft Spy. Net that allows users to report to Microsoft what they consider to be spyware, and what applications and device drivers they allow to be installed on their system. Protection against viruses was added in Windows 8 Windows Defender in Windows 8 resembles Microsoft Security Essentials MSE and uses the same virus definitions. In Windows 1. 0, Windows Defender settings are controlled by the Settings app, and the Settings button opens the Settings app. In the Windows 1. Anniversary Update, toast notifications appear to announce the results of a scan, even if no viruses are found. The same update introduced a new flat logo. Historyedit. Microsoft Anti. Spyware Beta 1 Version 1. Windows Defender is based on GIANT Anti. Spyware, which was originally developed by GIANT Company Software, Inc. The companys acquisition was announced by Microsoft on December 1. While the original GIANT Anti. Spyware supported older Windows versions, support for the Windows 9x line of operating systems was later dropped. The first beta version of Microsoft Anti. Spyware was released on January 6, 2. Download links for Windows XP Service Pack 3 Deployment Tools. CNET Download. com is your best guide to find free downloads of safe, trusted, and secure Windows software, utilities, and games. If you are not running Windows XP SP1, install SP1a for security and reliability updates to the Windows XP family of operating systems. There is no benefit to. Windows Defender, officially called Windows Defender Antivirus in Windows 10 Creators Update, is an antimalware component of Microsoft Windows. Screenshot of Windows XP, showing the start menu, taskbar and the My Computer window. If you cant cut the Windows XP cord completely, heres how to keep your computer as safe as possible once security patches go buhbye. Are you forced to stay with Windows XP Using an unsupported operating system is risky, but dont despair We show you how you can carry on running Windows XP, if you. GIANT Anti. Spyware. More builds were released in 2. Beta 1 refresh released on November 2. At the 2. 00. 5 RSA Security conference, Chief Software Architect and co founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, announced that Windows Defender which was known as Microsoft Anti. Spyware prior to November 4, 2. Windows 2. 00. 0, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2. Windows Defender Beta 2 was released on February 1. It featured the programs new name and a significant user interface redesign. The core engine was rewritten in C, unlike the original GIANT developed one, which was written in Visual Basic. This improved the applications performance. Also, since beta 2, the program works as a Windows service, unlike earlier releases, which enables the application to protect the computer even when a user is not logged on. Beta 2 also requires Windows Genuine Advantage validation. However, Windows Defender Beta 2 did not contain some of the tools found in Microsoft Anti. Spyware Beta 1 Microsoft removed the System Inoculation, Secure Shredder and System Explorer tools found in MSAS Beta 1 as well as the Tracks Eraser tool, which allowed users to easily delete many different types of temporary files related to Internet Explorer 6, including HTTP cookies, web cache, and Windows Media Player playback history. Microsoft later released German and Japanese versions of Windows Defender Beta 2. General availabilityeditOn October 2. Microsoft released Windows Defender. Windows XP is old, but millions are still running Service Pack 3. Thus, its very important to have a good antivirus installed. Here are top 5 to choose. Windows Service Tools Xp Antivirus' title='Windows Service Tools Xp Antivirus' />It supports Windows XP and Windows Server 2. Windows 2. 00. 0. Conversion to antiviruseditWindows Defender was released with Windows Vista and Windows 7, serving as their built in antispyware component. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, Windows Defender was superseded by Microsoft Security Essentials, an antivirus product from Microsoft which provided protection against a wider range of malware. Upon installation, Microsoft Security Essentials disabled and replaced Windows Defender. In Windows 8, Microsoft upgraded Windows Defender into an antivirus program very similar to Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 71. MSE itself does not run on Windows versions beyond 7. In Windows 8 and Windows 1. Windows Defender is on by default. It switches itself off upon installation of a third party anti virus package. Starting with Windows 1. Microsoft began to transfer the control of Windows Defender out of its native client. Initially, its Settings dialog box was replaced by dedicated page in the Settings app. In Windows 1. 0 Creators Update, Windows Defender is renamed Windows Defender Antivirus to distinguish it from Windows Defender Security Center. The latter has become the default avenue to interface with Windows Defender. Circuit Schematic To Stripboard Software. While there is no shortcut on the Start menu for Windows Defenders native client, it can still run. Advanced featureseditReal time protection. In the Windows Defender options, the user can configure real time protection options. Browser integration. Integration with Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge enables files to be scanned as they are downloaded to detect malicious software inadvertently downloaded. Although it does not integrate with non Microsoft web browsers, Windows Defender scans for malicious downloaded files as part of its real time protection. Windows 1. 0s Anniversary Update introduced Limited Periodic Scanning, which optionally allows Windows Defender to scan a system periodically if another antivirus app is installed. It also introduced Block at First Sight, which uses machine learning to predict whether a file is malicious. Windows Vista specific functionalityeditWindows Defender had additional functionality in Windows Vista which was removed in subsequent versions of Windows. Security agents. Security agents monitor the computer for malicious activities. Auto Start Monitors lists of programs that are allowed to automatically run when the user starts the computer. System Configuration settings Monitors security related settings in Windows. Internet Explorer Add ons Monitors programs that automatically run when the user starts Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer Configurations settings Monitors browser security settings. Internet Explorer Downloads Monitors files and programs that are designed to work with Internet Explorer. Services and Drivers Monitors services and drivers as they interact with Windows and programs. Application Execution Monitors when programs start and any operations they perform while running. Application Registration Monitors tools and files in the operating system where programs can register to run at any time. Windows Add ons Monitors add on programs for Windows. Software Explorer. The Advanced Tools section allows users to discover potential vulnerabilities with a series of Software Explorers. They provide views of startup programs, currently running software, network connected applications, and Winsock providers Winsock LSPs. In each Explorer, every element is rated as either Known, Unknown or Potentially Unwanted. The first and last categories carry a link to learn more about the particular item, and the second category invites users to submit the program to Microsoft Spy. Net for analysis by community members. The Software Explorer feature has been removed from Windows Defender in Windows 7. Notification of startup programs that run as an administrator. Windows Defender in Windows Vista automatically blocks all startup items that require administrator privileges to run this is considered suspicious behavior for a startup item.