Does anybody use this? I installed it a few weeks ago and it is worthless as far as I can tell. Several times it has alerted me to a program making changes to the configuration or something, so each time I told it to deny those changes, and each time I then get an error message saying that it could not complete the requested action. The only way to get it to go away is to accept the system changes. What is the deal with this? Is this a worthwhile program, or should I just delete it?
came with Vista, and I worked hard to stop it because it was blocking most everything I did with a constant barrage of “are you sure you want to do that?”
Its basically akin to buying a car that has 7’ thick padding all the way around it and no wheels, engine or anything else that might possibly harm you. Makes the car useless, but you wont get hurt.
Sounds like you’re using Vista, which is a pain in the ass so far. On the XP platform, though, Defender does it’s job pretty well, and silently. “Silently” is important for all of us who do application or OS support. It has flaws, certainly, but so do all of the available products I’ve seen. It’s important to note that Microsoft didn’t write the original program - Giant Software did (and, if memory serves, Microsoft bought them); in my mind that means: good 3rd-party design gets bought + software giant buys it = we’ll see how it goes.
It could go either way.
I’ll second (or third) the mention of XP performance.
I don’t think that I’ve ever had Defender interrupt me. Now, Zone Alarm, on the other hand, often notifies me of when programs are attempting to connect with either the internet or my “trusted zone”.
I don’t mind it in the least.
That sounds more like Vista’s User Account Control than Windows Defender. You can modify it or turn it off completely.