DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A

Microsoft’s OneCare

DaddyBob Note:

Microsoft OneCare is a work in progress. Most of the features have now been incorporated into it. The cost has been announced. Click HERE to read about it.

Microsoft OneCare Live is a part of something much bigger that Microsoft is in the process of creating on line called Windows Live. I have been beta testing the OneCare program, that resides on your computer, for the past several months. Microsoft describes this program as, "The things you should have to help protect your PC, but probably don't because they're such a hassle—stuff like virus scanning, firewall settings, tune-ups, defragging, file backups and more—all delivered to you in a friendly, easy-to-use package that runs quietly in the background and automatically updates itself."

NOTE: With the latest version of OneCare released the week of 3-5-06, monitoring of Microsoft's Windows Defender is included. Defender, a anti-spyware program will continue to be a stand alone program that is monitored by OneCare. So far, Windows defender is still free.

 Overall I have been impressed with the program. It looks like Microsoft has done a very good job with creating it. It appears to be very stable, and for the most part, non-interfering with other programs. However, Microsoft does recommend that other antivirus type programs not be used simultaneously with OneCare. When installed, it automatically disables the built in Windows XP-SP2 firewall but replaces it with a much better one.

 I was able to use it along with Norton’s Antivirus 2006, but on another computer, had to uninstall Norton’s antivirus 2005 before I could install OneCare. However, on the computer that both were installed and active, there was some interference when checking e-mail. I did find a work-around to this problem. I suspect that it would be best to only use OneCare or Norton’s, and not both simultaneously, and will probably forgo Norton’s in favor of OneCare in the future. I have now removed all versions of Norton's and am using OneCare exclusively.

 AOL has recently released what they are calling their “Security Center” which functionally is very similar to Microsoft’s OneCare. From my personal experience of using these programs, both are quite good at doing what they are designed to do. In the near future, I plan to try to install them on the same computer just to see what happens. For sure, it should never be necessary to have these active on the same computer at the same time, but I just want to see if it can be done. AOL’s Security Center has not had all the bugs worked out of it yet, and some feel that it was released too soon. Thankfully, Microsoft is beta testing their OneCare very extensively, and when it is released it should be relatively free of problems.

 OneCare contains five major facilities that I have briefly explained herein. These are a tune up module, backup facility, anti-virus program, and a firewall. The only thing missing is an anti-spyware program, but then Microsoft does already have one of those, and it is also very good and rated very highly. At this time, it appears that their anti-spyware program will be added to OneCare at some time before it is officially released. When this is done, I feel that OneCare will fulfill its specified goal as stated in the first paragraph of this document.

 The entire OneCare program is planned to be a integral part of the new Windows Vista. This will probably set off more law suits against Microsoft, but we cannot have it both ways. Microsoft has been condemned for not providing enough security, and now, when they do address security with their OneCare program, they will probably be condemned for putting others out of business. Those businesses that have thrived by catering to the very security problems that Microsoft has been blamed for not addressing. Oh well.

 As I do use a broadband connection, I leave the computers on 24 hours unless there is a lightning storm present. I have all the features scheduled to automatically updated and automatically run during the night time hours. This allows the program to operate totally in the background and yet continue doing its thing. As so many other new programs, OneCare was apparently written with the broadband user in mind, and does perform better when a broadband connection is used. That’s not to say it won’t work with dial-up, but then all updating can only be done when you are signed on line. This would be less convenient.

 As of this writing, no cost of the OneCare program has been announced. It is anticipated that it will not be a one time purchase, but rather use a subscription type payment plan. This is something that Norton’s and McAfee are predicted to adopt in the not too distant future. Whether these payments would be made monthly, semi-annually, or annually has not been announced. However, there is no doubt in my mind that this is a worth while program, and unless the cost is just too high, should be a success for Microsoft.

 OneCare Settings

OneCare has five major settings tabs that determine the various operations of the program. These are controlled by the user to one degree or another. By default, all are turned on using their default settings when the program is installed. Listed below are these five settings and a brief description of what they do.

 Much of this information was taken directly from the Microsoft OneCare web site, located at http://beta.windowsonecare.com. As this is a beta website, I suspect that this URL will change when the program is officially released. 

TuneUp:

The Tune-up tasks are not as essential to your computer's protection as the other features—such as Firewall and Antivirus monitoring—that Windows OneCare performs on an ongoing basis. For this reason, the default frequency for Tune-up is set to every four weeks. However, you might want to increase the frequency of Tune-up if you find that you are creating or changing important new files on a regular basis, or if you want to be sure that the files that on your computer are being regularly scanned for viruses beyond the protection that is already provided by ongoing Antivirus monitoring. 

Here are the tasks that are performed when the TuneUp module runs:

 Removes Unnecessary Files From Your Computer.

This task helps free up hard disk space on your computer by deleting some files that are no longer needed and compressing files that have not been recently used.

Here are some of the things it looks for:

    ·      Unnecessary program installation files, ActiveX controls and Java applets
           downloaded from the Internet

    ·      Windows temporary files

    ·      Temporary Internet files

    ·      Microsoft Error Reporting temporary files

    ·      Microsoft Office temporary files

    ·      Temporary offline files

Defragments Your Hard Drive:

This task consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard drive so that each file occupies a single connected space on the disk. As a result, your computer can gain access to your files and folders and save new ones more efficiently.

Checks Your Computer For Viruses:

This task checks files on your computer for viruses and other malicious programs and automatically takes steps to help prevent harm to your computer if infected files are found.

 Checks Your Computer For Files Needing Backup:

This task checks for files that are new or have changed since your last backup. If files are found, a new item appears in your Actions to Take list.

 Checks For Missing Updates From Microsoft:

This task helps make sure that your computer is up-to-date with all the high-priority updates, that it needs to have. These are the most important software updates for Windows and other Microsoft programs that should be installed as soon as they become available. High-priority updates include critical updates, security updates, service packs, and update rollups.  If your computer is not up-to-date, you will receive an Action to Take with a shortcut to go to the Microsoft Update Web site and install the updates you need.

 Backup:

Backup runs in several stages. First, it scans your computer to look for files that are new or that have changed since the last time you ran Backup. Next, Backup shows you the file types that are currently included in your backup. You can make changes to this list or add other files and folders. Then Backup prompts you to insert a disc into your disc burner to start the backup. The Backup Wizard then prepares your files, compresses them, and copies the files to one or more writeable CDs or DVDs.  

If you have an external hard drive for backing up your files, your files can be backed up automatically during Tune-up. All you have to do is connect your external hard drive and then run Backup for the first time manually. On the second page of the Backup Wizard, select your external hard drive as the location where you want to back up your files, and then complete the wizard. The next time that “Tune-Up” runs, your backup will happen automatically if your external hard drive is connected.

Note that when Backup runs automatically, it uses the settings you chose the last time you ran Backup manually. 

Anti-Virus:

Antivirus helps to protect your computer from viruses and other threats in two ways — by monitoring your computer for viruses and by scanning the files in your file system. These two features work together to help make sure that none of the files on your computer are harboring a secret virus, and that no new viruses are getting in. 

When Antivirus finds a potentially infected file on your computer, it first places restrictions on the file to prevent the virus from doing harm. Then, depending on the circumstances, it takes an appropriate action. Possible actions are: displaying a dialog asking you what to do with the file; automatically trying to clean the file by removing the virus; placing the file in Quarantine; or simply continuing to prevent the file from opening. 

By default Windows OneCare Antivirus monitoring checks any attachments to instant messages that come to your computer via MSN Messenger. If an attachment contains a potential virus, Antivirus blocks the file and notifies you.

For other e-mail or instant messaging programs like Yahoo messenger or AIM, Antivirus monitoring checks all attachments when you try to open them, and blocks the file if it contains a potential virus.

But, you should always use caution in opening any attachments to e-mail or instant messages, even if they seem to come from someone you know.  

Firewall:

A firewall is software or hardware that helps guard your computer against hacker attacks, and against some computer viruses and worms that try to reach your computer when it is connected to the Internet. A firewall acts like a gatekeeper—it lets in computer connections and data from sources you trust, and it keeps out the ones you don’t.

Windows OneCare Firewall works like a gate in two directions, which is a big improvement over the Windows XP SP2 firewall that only blocks in the incoming direction. It works with Incoming and Outgoing traffic. 

Inbound:

The Firewall checks any program, computer, or service that tries to create a connection to your computer from the Internet, and by default, blocks them. You can choose to enable certain limited connectivity to your computer by changing some of the advanced settings in Windows OneCare Firewall.  

Outbound:

The Firewall checks programs when they first try to connect to the Internet from your computer. If a program is not recognized by the Firewall policy, Firewall blocks the program by default, and then shows you a dialog box asking you if you want to continue blocking the program. Blocked programs are not allowed to create connections from your computer to the Internet. The policy uses a list of recognized programs that the Firewall uses to decide which programs have automatic access to the Internet. The Firewall policy is updated periodically as part of the automatic process of updating Windows OneCare.

This is important because some malicious programs, called Trojan horses can gather your personal information and try to send it out. Windows OneCare Firewall helps prevent that. A Trojan horse is a program that masquerades as another common program in an attempt to receive information. An example of a Trojan horse is a program that behaves like a computer logon screen to retrieve user names and password information that the writers of the Trojan horse can later use to break into the system.

The firewall has three settings. “Off”, which is not recommended; “Auto: the default and recommended setting; and “Prompt”. The “off” setting does just that, turns it off. The “Auto” setting automatically allows programs to access the Internet if they are allowed in the current Windows OneCare firewall policy. The “prompt” setting always asks for permission the first time the program tries to access the internet.

Total user control is offered in the Advanced Settings. It is here that you can correct an incorrect setting that you may have made or always allow, or always disallow any site. 

Support Log:

The Support Log contains a record of the recent actions that Windows OneCare has performed for you, along with some technical information about the results of those actions. It can be useful for troubleshooting problems with your Windows OneCare service. In most cases, you will only need to create a log file when requested to do so by a Windows OneCare support professional.The Support Log contains the following information:

     ·     Information about Windows OneCare installation and removal

     ·     Your computer name and its unique identifier (A unique number that is
           assigned to your computer when you enlist it in the Windows OneCare
           service. )

     ·     The type of subscription you have (free trial or paid)

     ·     The type and version number of the operating system installed on your
            computer

     ·     The current status of the Windows OneCare service and features (for
            example, Actions to Take that are pending or whether the Firewall is
            turned off or on)

      ·      Actions the Windows OneCare service has performed

      ·     Dates, times, and success or failure of automatic updates to the
            Windows OneCare service and its components.

      ·     Details about infected files found by Windows OneCare Antivirus

      ·     Dates and times of backup and restore operations and their success or
            failure

      ·     Information about the programs that you have chosen to allow or block
            through the Firewall.