Secure Computing: Windows Live OneCare
When Windows Live OneCare first came out and was in its early stages, many thought it left a lot to be desired, but it has come a long way in its development, offering better and more useful features. This all-in-one security suite offered from Microsoft includes basic security features and more.
Features included are an improved Firewall, Virus and Spyware protection, Anti-Identity theft, Performance Tune-ups, and easy to configure centralized Backup. The most notable feature of it all is being able to control 3 PC’s at once.
For this article I am installing it on Windows Vista Ultimate 64. I would imagine the process is very similar in other versions of Vista and XP. If you know of any issues with other versions of Windows, or would like to share your experience with Windows Live OneCare definitely leave a comment and let us know!
Installation
Immediately upon launching the Live OneCare installation process it checks for updates. Then the rest of the setup begins. First you will select the appropriate language, read a brief description of the software suite, then click Next.
Next you are prompted to read and accept the EULA and Terms of use. After that Windows Live OneCare will download and install. With my DSL connection it took about 10 minutes to complete.
After everything is loaded up a reboot will be required.
Upon returning you will get a welcome screen of sorts. Here you can choose to go with step 1 which will require you to purchase a license ($49.95) or go with the limited trial which is what I am going to select. Since this is my first experience with Windows Live OneCare I want to test everything out during the 90 day trial.
Another thing I noticed right away is several balloons and other messages pointing out what OneCare believes to be lacking security on my system.
After selecting that I want to continue with the free trial Microsoft feels the need to make sure I am confident about that by asking again.
Second time is a charm, Windows Live OneCare is ready to roll and is already working.
An improvement I noticed (and need to get used to) when launching AIMP Audio Player which is associated with Last.FM, The OneCare Firewall asked if I wanted to program to access the Internet. This is definitely an improvement over Windows native firewall which only blocks incoming connections. This is somewhat annoying at first, but if you allow each known safe program it will be the last time you’re asked.
The next settings to pop up you may recall selecting when first installing Vista. OneCare wants to choose the type of network connection the PC is connected to.
The Windows Live OneCare control center is where to change settings, run scans, and associate other security tasks.
Windows Live OneCare Settings allow you to configure various aspects of how different protection components work.
One of the schedulable features in a PC tune-up. This will perform typical maintenance tasks like Defragmenting the Hard Drive, Scan for Viruses, and check for security updates from Microsoft.
You can manage multiple Windows based PC’s (up to three) with a OneCare circle. Also signing in with a Windows Live ID allows you to get more out of the OneCare trial.
When running a manual scan for Viruses and Spyware, you will get three types of scans to choose from Quick, Complete, or Customized. With all scans you will be able to keep an archive of scan reports as well.
No matter which type of scan you choose a progress screen will be displayed. This screen also allows you to pause the scan if needed.
A successful and healthy scan!
Periodically there will be advisories that tell you about Security Updates from Microsoft that have not yet been installed. These provide a brief detailed description of the update and also allow you to connect to the Microsoft website to get even more information.
Conclusion:
Since using Windows Live OneCare overall I think it is a very nice security solution for home computers. It is not very intrusive and there seems less problems than sometimes experienced with third-party all-in-one security suites. Security suite utilities such as Norton or McAfee really lock themselves deep into your operating system and can be problematic. If I were to recommend an all-in-one solution then this would be it as it’s designed to integrate seamlessly. It would be nice if Microsoft included this in the Windows OS by default, maybe Windows 7? OneCare works on any PC with Windows XP Home SP2 or or above and all Vista (32 or 64-bit) editions. *Note XP 64-bit edition is NOT supported.
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Excellent review on this! I've heard such positive things about Live OneCare but there are so many free options instead. Microsoft should include this as a dirt cheap add-on (much like Ultimate Extras). I know if they included it for free then every AV developer would sue them.
I tried OneCare a couple of months ago (Vista Ultimate 32-bit). My connection to the internet was continually (and constantly) being disconnected … right in the middle of whatever you were doing. I worked with Microsoft tech support for about a week trying various things. Finally, they admitted that OneCare will do that and there was nothing that could be done. Once I deleted OneCare, the problem stopped completely. While the concept of OneCare is cool .. CLOUD computing, as Microsoft puts it … (I guess I am one of the rare few that actually LIKE Microsoft products), it needs further refining before becoming competitive. (I hope this is not a small sign of the quality of things-to-come with Azure!). There are much better products out there (eg. Kaspersky) for roughly the same price.
My experiences with OneCare over the last 15 months have been mostly positive. Starting with a 2.0 trial subscription, I have found integration with Vista flawless. When we saw a $9.99 sale on a boxed edition, we bought it and shortly thereafter upgraded to v2.5.
While it's true OneCare rarely ranks in the top 10% of anti-virus apps, the whole suite gets an A for our 2 laptop network. We look forward to v3.0, due 1Q of 2009.
I use OneCare and have not had any network problems. It seems to use less resources than the Norton products. My only problem is that during the tune-ups the defrager can never finish on the system drive. It says that it will resume on the next tune-up. Even after defraging with Vistas built in defrager the OneCare defrager won't finish.
Getting Positive responses from you ,amuse me that why windows live one care not popular such as other security products I don't use Live onecare though
I've been using WLOC on 2 vista laptops and 1 xp. Removed Norton 360.
I like it more than I thought, mainly because it doesn't load the computer up as much as Norton. In fact Norton has destroyed past computers when the product updates expires by uninstalling some system files. This is at least as good and less painful. The windows native processes use familiar gui so I don't have to figure out what each screen is telling me.
The updates are timely and it is easy to configure a central backup over the wireless network at home. It takes care of some vista problems with my printers which is worth the price of the software.
If you do not backup you get annoying messages, and the automated scheduling of tuneup can be annoying to override–don't. The business of managing your other computers from one is grandiose. Except for the printer mgt, this consists of nagging you about the unbackuped state of computers that have been off for weeks. Turn this off.
It is also redundant to your Windows firewall and Defender, but the system will occasionally panic and tell you that you have no antivirus installed, etc., which is also annoying, but not deadly.
I'd recommend it over previous versions of Norton and MacAfee Enterprise. And its not as fat as the current editions of either.
@Everyone:
Thank You much for your experiences with Windows Live One Care.
i've been using it for a few years and I don't see any reason for that to change. I recommend it.
I installed the trial version of Onecare and found it to be a really useful utility. I liked the 'Clean up' wizard that supports cleaning up invalid registry items. Like you have pointed out, I consider Onecare to be the best 'all-in-one' control center to manage a Windows Desktop PC.
However, i noticed that the installation of Onecare terribly slowed down my PC. The boot time and the time in switching between multiple tasks took comparitively a longer time than usual.
When i uninstalled the trial version, i was taken to a feedback page where i was asked the reason for the uninstallation. I had some radio buttons to select, out of which one options read 'I observed slowness of my PC'. So i think the developers are aware of the drawback and will fix in in the forthcoming releases.
I installed windows one care on my new computer . Ugg . It redid what I had taken time to get rid of .
1 it was slow and wanted to take control by getting rid of the good programs I already had .
2 disk defrag was incomplete
3 it wanted to run in the back ground and use up batt or when I was on the net
4 it slowed my computer
I got rid of it fast . This was the first prog I did not like from the geek squad . I would not advise this
program .
how good is kaspersky internet security 09 everyone is tellin me its good?
What's the diference with WINE. WINE does the same and it's a free software. Maybe crossover has a higer compatibility with windows applications, but with WINE I've run Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Project, not Outlook), for example. 129DNS
I have been using OneCare for two years now and would recomend it to anyone. I had more problem with some of the other security programs and tried out several befor comming across Onecare. Its simple to use and even though it has a number of pop-ups and warnings i would rather be safe then sorry.Its save me a lot as far as down time and has proven to be quite valuable to me , I wouldnt operate my computer without it and have been recomending it to a lot of other people who seem to be quite happy with the program.The only complaint i do have, is that you need to use the same exact windows live ID You use on the original subscription. If you change your ID or Loose track of it , Its Impossible to use it on any other computer system as well as difficult to get your subscription back on the original computer it was subscribed on. I found the best way to back up is to purchase an external hard-drive and have all my utilities run very early in the morning. With that this utility has been completly hands free and i love it.
Personally I find one care live to be the best solution by far. I'm surprised more people haven't said how great a job it does at actually removing stubborn viruses, worms, trojans, etc. Most programs can't do a thing once a machine is infected. Besides the obvious fact that they should not have allowed the malware to get in, in the first place, they can't clean it up aftwards, if they even admit there is a problem. Remove whatever crappy solution you currently have and download/install one care live, and within an hour your problems will be gone. I've used this to remove many people's malware that would have otherwise required a wipe and reinstall of windows. I rank one care live to be the best product available at this time.
I am the Franklinton Junior High School and Frankilnton Alternative School Techonolgies Director and I am just starting to use Windows Live One Care on the alternative school's computers after shipping in a lot of packages. (I wish it was more than just three computers per box…) I do say so far I like it. I am also thinking about doing the same for the virus protection at the Junior High. Does anyone know if this is a good idea?
just a quick question i have downloaded the new onecare but its not giving me the clean up option in the tune up does it clean my registry aswell
I just downloaded WLOC to try and it seems, so far, to be working OK. I had boocoo problems with AVG free and played holy hell trying to uninstall it. I would think a Microsoft product is suited for a Windows OS.
I will gladly pay for a subscription if it performs as promised.
Live care as i expierienced used a lot of RAM memory.. judging from the time i used it. and comparing to norton 360..
checking in on task manager (whatever tab that is) it used something like 10MB-15MB memory compared to norton's 5MB-7MB.. so difference of 2-7MB.. small in size but greatly affects if your doing a ton of work
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had mass problems w/ AVG free version. I just downloaded One Care and hope it's easy and not too "fat". It's annoying that you have to give up speed to be safe. Oh well. QUESTION: Is there a boxed version or is the "Live" thinggy the only way this this program? What if I don't want to open up my computer to an "over the wire" fixer?