One of the improvements with Windows 8 will be the fact that it comes with antivirus and antimalware functionality. Microsoft Security Essentials has essentially been absorbed into the operating system. You can replace it with different security software if you would like but for the many people that don’t install antivirus software at all, there is now at least a baseline of protection provided.
The built-in functionality does not have a tray icon representing it, which can leave Windows power users uncomfortable taking the protection for granted. I was already looking into Immunet, a free antivirus that is designed to complement your existing antivirus and work side-by-side with it. Immunet uses cloud-based definitions and is recommended as a second set of eyes to protect your system from infection. After installing Immunet on Windows 8, which since last year lists Windows 8 full compatibility as coming with the next version, however I was greeted with a message in the action center recommending: “Find and install an antispyware app online (Important)”
Windows 8 uses Microsoft Security Essentials for antivirus and Windows Defender for antispyware. Unfortunately, Immunet disabled Windows Defender and Windows 8 did not recognize Immunet, which seems to utilize a real-time protection form of ClamAV, as a recommended antispyware security application.
Upon opening the Action Center (the Flag in the bottom right corner of the Windows 8 desktop), it recommended that I find an antispyware application and sent me to the Security category on the Windows App Store where 3 Norton apps and a McAfee app were recommended.
Instead of downloading one of the recommended apps, I uninstalled Immunet. This re-enabled Windows Defender and the message in the Action Center went away. For a little bit more peace of mind, I installed Malwarebytes Pro to be a complementary form of protection on my PC. It runs perfectly and the Action Center recognizes it properly.
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