| NDSU |
Anti-Virus for Home Microsoft Windows Computers |
At this time Microsoft Forefront is not available for use on home and personal computers. There are many anti-virus solutions for the personal Windows PCs, both free and retail. While NDSU does not endorse any particular program, free programs such as Microsoft Security Essentials are available for use on home and personal computers. Security Essentials is nearly identical to Forefront except that it does not contain the ability to be remotely managed by NDSU's Forefront server. It utilizes the same updates and scan engine which ensures the same level of protection for your home computer. For NDSU owned computers, please visit our page on Forefront. Currently NDSU is migrating from McAfee Viruscan Enterprise to the Microsoft Forefront anti-virus program. The McAfee contract expires on March 31, 2012. All installations of NDSU supplied McAfee products must be removed from computers, on or before this date. |
Software |
You can download Security Essentials from Microsoft: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download |
Instructions |
Prior to installing Security Essentials, it is important that you remove McAfee from your computer. You can either remove it using the add/remove programs utility in Windows or by running our McAfee removal tool available on the NDSU Software Download Page. If you choose to use our removal tool, be sure to select the one appropriate for your operating system. To tell if you have a 32 bit or 64 bit version of Windows, click on start, right-click on "Computer" (also called My Computer), and select "Properties". In the screen that appears, look for "System Type". Here it should say either 32 or 64 bit operating system. This same window should also be able to tell you which Windows version you have under "Windows Edition" (Windows XP, Vista, or 7). Once you have discovered what type (32 or 64 bit) you have, download the appropriate removal tool and save it to your desktop. Then, locate the file, right-click on it and select "Run as Administrator" (in Windows XP, just double click the file). This will start the script. At this point you should see a command window (DOS window) reminding your to run as administrator and warning you your computer will restart. To begin the removal process, press a key. During the process you may see prompts in reference to the McAfee removal. This is common, just click OK on these to allow the removal to finish. Once done, your computer will restart. Once your computer is back up and running, download the Security Essentials installer to your desktop. Now right-click on the installation file and select "Run as Administrator" (in Windows XP, just double click the file). This will start the installation. At this point follow the directions to finish installing Security Essentials.\ To configure Security Essentials, open the program's control panel by double clicking on the Security Essentials icon (a green house shape with a flag on the top) in your system tray next to the clock. Next, select the settings tab; you should now see settings for the scheduled scan. Change your scan type to "full scan" and change the date and time to Wednesday at 12 PM. Your settings should match the image below:
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