Studio Visual Steps Windows Defender For Windows XP, Vista and 7
This guide has been written using the Visual Steps method. Copyright 2011 by Visual Steps B.V. Second edition: October 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages. Trademarks: Visual Steps is a trademark of Visual Steps B.V. in the Netherlands. Windows is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Would you like more information? www.visualsteps.com Do you have questions or suggestions? E-mail: info@visualsteps.com
Table of Contents Foreword... 4 Visual Steps Newsletter... 4 Introduction Visual Steps... 5 What You Will Need... 5 How to Use This Guide... 6 Windows Defender 7 Downloading and Installing Windows Defender... 8 Launch Windows Defender... 13 Scan Your Computer... 16 Remove, Ignore, Quarantine or Allow Items... 16 Change the Windows Defender Settings... 17 Appendix How Do I Do That Again?... 19
4 Foreword Dear readers, As you surf the Internet, there is always a risk that small software programs such as spyware or adware, will be installed onto your computer without your knowledge or consent. Microsoft s free program Windows Defender will help you to detect and remove these security threats from your computer. This guide will show you how to download and install Windows Defender and how to use it to keep your computer protected. We hope you enjoy this free guide. Studio Visual Steps P.S. We welcome all comments and suggestions regarding this guide. Our e-mail address is: info@visualsteps.com Visual Steps Newsletter All Visual Steps books follow the same methodology: clear and concise step-by-step instructions with screen shots to demonstrate each task. A complete list of all our books can be found on our website www.visualsteps.com You can also sign up to receive our free Visual Steps Newsletter. In this Newsletter you will receive periodic information by e-mail regarding: - the latest titles and previously released books; - special offers, supplemental chapters, tips and free informative guides. Also, our Newsletter subscribers may download any of the documents listed on the web pages www.visualsteps.com/info_downloads and www.visualsteps.com/tips When you subscribe to our Newsletter you can be assured that we will never use your e-mail address for any purpose other than sending you the information as previously described. We will not share this address with any third-party. Each Newsletter also contains a one-click link to unsubscribe.
5 Introduction to Visual Steps The Visual Steps handbooks and manuals are the best instructional materials available for learning how to work with computers and computer programs. Nowhere else will you find better support for getting to know the computer, the Internet, Windows or related software. Properties of the Visual Steps books: Comprehensible contents Addresses the needs of the beginner or intermediate computer user for a manual written in simple, straight-forward English. Clear structure Precise, easy to follow instructions. The material is broken down into small enough segments to allow for easy absorption. Screen shots of every step Quickly compare what you see on your own computer screen with the screen shots in the book. Pointers and tips guide you when new windows are opened so you always know what to do next. Get started right away All you have to do is switch on your computer, place the book next to your keyboard, and begin at once. In short, I believe these manuals will be excellent guides for you. dr. H. van der Meij Faculty of Applied Education, Department of Instruction Technology, University of Twente, the Netherlands What You Will Need In order to work through this book, you will need a number of things on your computer: Your computer should run the English version of Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP. In order to download Windows Defender you will need an active Internet connection.
6 How to Use This Guide This guide has been written using the Visual Steps method. You can work through this guide independently at your own pace. In this Visual Steps guide, you will see various icons. This is what they mean: Techniques These icons indicate an action to be carried out: The mouse icon means you should do something with the mouse. The keyboard icon means you should type something on the keyboard. The hand icon means you should do something else, for example insert a CD-ROM in the computer. It is also used to remind you of something you have learned before. In addition to these icons, in some areas of this guide extra assistance is provided to help you successfully work through each chapter. Help These icons indicate that extra help is available: The arrow icon warns you about something. The bandage icon will help you if something has gone wrong. 1 Have you forgotten how to do something? The number next to the footsteps tells you where to look it up at the end of the guide in the appendix How Do I Do That Again? In separate boxes you will find tips or additional, background information. Extra information Information boxes are denoted by these icons: The book icon gives you extra background information that you can read at your convenience. This extra information is not necessary for working through the guide. The light bulb icon indicates an extra tip for using the program.
7 Windows Defender You can find all kinds of interesting and useful things on the Internet. Most Internet users will occasionally take advantage of one or more of the many free programs available. However, many people don t realize that some of these applications can contain components that gather information about users. For example, you might download a handy little program for keeping track of your household budget that secretly monitors your surfing behavior. Information about your visits to stores is silently sent to the software s creators without your knowing it. They can then pester you with advertisements and annoying pop-ups about certain products. Programs that monitor your computer activities in this way are called spyware. Before the introduction of Microsoft Security Essentials, the program Windows Defender was widely used to detect and remove unwanted spyware from a computer. Since Microsoft Security Essentials can also detect and remove spyware, Windows Defender is automatically disabled with the installation of Microsoft Security Essentials. Would you prefer to use Windows Defender? Perhaps you have a different anti-virus program other than Microsoft Security Essentials already installed. In that case, you can use this PDF guide to learn more about Windows Defender. In this booklet, you will learn how to: download and install Windows Defender; scan your computer; adjust scan settings. Please note: In order to perform all of the necessary actions described in the following sections, you will need to have administrator privileges. Otherwise you will not be able to make the required changes and a dialog box from Windows will appear indicating that there is a problem with permissions. If that is the case, you can just read through the relevant section. Please note: In this PDF guide, you will find instructions covering the various versions of Windows. This means that sometimes the screenshots you see in this guide may not be exactly the same as what you see on your own screen. Any differences that may occur will be noted in the text.
8 Downloading and Installing Windows Defende er Windows Defender come packagedd with Windows Vistaa and Windows 7. If you are running Windows XP, you can download and install thiss program separately. You can use this program to detect and remove spyware from your computer. You can surf the Internet worry free with the continuous protection from Windows Defender. Please note: Windows Defender does not protect your computer from viruses. You will need to install an antivirus program separately. In the book Protect, Clean Up and Speed Up Your Computer for Seniors (ISBN 978 90 5905 257 4) you can learn more about protecting your computer from viruses with the antivirus program Microsoft Security Essentials. This subject iss also discussed in several other books from Visual Steps. Find out more by visiting the Visual Stepss website: www.visualsteps.com If you are running Windows XP, you must first download and install Windows Defender. If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can skip the following section. Start Internet Explorer 1 Open the www.microsoft.com website 3 the search box Type: windows defender Press Now you see the page on the Microsoft website where you can download the program: Drag the scrollbarr down a little 2011 Visual Steps - www..visualsteps. com. This is a free download from Visual Steps.
9 To install the program:
10 If necessary, give permission to continue Close Internet Explorer 2 The installation wizard for Windows Defender appears: In the bottom of the window:
11 the radio button by Check the box by The option to install the complete program is already selected:
12 Windows Defender is now being installed. You can follow its progress in this window: Uncheck the box next to
13 Launch Windows Defender Now you can start Windows Defender. Let op! If you have Microsoft Security Essentials installed on your computer, you do not need to use Windows Defender. But if you prefer to use Windows Defender for spyware detection and removal, you must uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials first before you use Windows Defender. If Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender are both running, your system may experience performance degradation and other problems caused by the conflict of two services providing real time protection simultaneously. Make sure you have an alternative antivirus program installed and running. You can uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials as follows: Open the Control Panel 4 In Windows XP: Double-click In Windows Vista and 7: By, click In Windows XP: In Windows 7 and Vista:
14 In Windows 7 and Vista: The Windows Defender start screen appears. The default setting is to perform a quick scan daily at 2:00 AM: is : Real-time protection means that Windows Defender continuously monitors all activity while you surf the Internet. Attempts to download spyware to your computer will be blocked. You will see a message about the attempt and can then decide whether you want to allow the download. It s a good idea to leave all the default options checked under Real-time protection.
15 You will see a number of configurations that are applicable for Windows Defender. You can just read through this section. You don t need to make any changes here. When you have finished reading: Tip Windows Help and Support In Windows Help and Support you can learn more about spyware and the software program Windows Defender. By clicking this icon the Windows Help and Support window will appear on your screen:
16 Scan Your Computer In Windows Defender there are three types of scans available: Quick scan: a quick general check of your system. Full scan: examines all the files and folders on your computer. Custom scan: you select the parts of your PC that should be scanned. You start a quick scan like this: on beside The scan starts right away: If you want to stop the scan, click : A full scan examines all the files and folders on your computer. Depending on the size of your hard drive and the number of files, this can take a while. If nothing was found, you see this report: Remove, Ignore, Quarantine or Allow Items If a threat is detected you will be alerted immediately with a message on your screen indicating the name of the threat, the level of danger and what Windows Defender advises you to do about it. Here are the options from which you can choose: Remove will delete the item from your hard drive. Select Ignore if you are certain you want to keep the item. If you choose this, nothing will be done with this item. Place an item in Quarantine if you aren t sure about the item. The item will be set aside but not removed. If it later turns out to be a file or program you need, you can put it back where it belongs. Select Always allow if you are familiar with the item and are absolutely sure you always want to keep it. This item will no longer be shown in future scans.
17 Change the Windows Defender Settings You can change the Windows Defender settings to suit your preferences. You do that in the Tools window: The default setting is to perform a quick scan daily at 2:00 AM: Of course, you may decide you want to change some settings. You might want to pick a different time for the daily quick scan. You don t have to do this, however. If your computer isn t on at 2:00 AM, the scan will occur when you turn the PC on. This window shows additional settings. Here you can see the options available for Real-time protection. Real-time protection ensures your computer is constantly monitored against spyware and other threats as you browse the web. Real-time protection will show an alert window whenever spyware or other potentially unwanted software attempts to install itself or run on your computer. Depending on the alert level, you can choose among various actions to be applied to the software that has been detected. Under Real-time protection options, select the Use Real-time protection (recommended) check box. To help protect your computer, we recommend that you select all Real-time protection options.
18 Drag the scrollbar down a little You see the advanced options available, which security agents you want to run, and how Windows Defender notifies you about potential threats. You don t need to make any changes here. If desired, change the settings To save the changes: You ve learned about several options for the program. You can close the Windows Defender window. Close Windows Defender 2
19 How Do I Do That Again? In this guide actions are marked with footsteps: 1 Find the corresponding number in the appendix below to see how to execute a specific operation. 1 Open Internet Explorer In Windows 7 and Vista: In Windows XP: 2 Close window 3 Visit a website the address bar Type the web address Press 4 Open the Control Panel In Windows 7 en Vista: In Windows XP: