Am I being protected if I close the program??

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Guest

Hi, I'm new to this and just installed WD beta2. If I close the program am I
still protected? There seems to be no way to minimize the program to an icon
in the system tray (as you could with the older MS AntiSpyware beta). I'm
confused and can't find the answer anywhere within the program, the help
files, or online through Micorsoft's Windows Defender site.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated....
 
I still see no logic in not having a system tray icon. There is not one while
Defender is running a scheduled scan either. That would be a great benefit
to absent minded folks like me who need to be reminded a scan is running. I
schedule them while I am using the computer, because I want to know ASAP if
anything is found. Plus, I am on dialup and when I log off, I really shut
down! I used to be able to continue using other applications while MSAS was
scanning. Not so with Defender. I don't mind that as long as it means a
better scan. But if I happen to have AOL launched when a scan starts, CPUs
max out.
 
Thank you for all your help, but I still don't have an answer to one
question. if I close the program, am I still protected? (by this I mean
clicking on the red "X" in the upper right hand corner).
Thanks for your help in advance!!
 
sYes. You are still protected if you "X" out of the program. It runs silently
in the background and will alert you if there is a problem. You can use your
Task Manager to look at Processes. Windows Defender is running is these 2
processes are running: MSASCui.ese and MsMpEng.exe. Many of us wish they had
kept the system tray icon. Hopefully they will add one later.
 
Yes you are.

The real-time protection is provided by the Windows Defender Service. If
you close the program, and go to a command prompt and type net start and hit
enter, you will see this listed (fortunately near the end of the alphabetic
list!)

There are actually three major executables involved--there is the Windows
Defender Service--msmpeng.exe, which runs at startup as a system service,
and provided real-time protection.

There is mpcmdrun.exe, which triggers and monitors manual definition
updates, and which performs scans. This is a command-line program.

and there is msascui.dll--what you are calling "the program." This is the
only one of the three that has a GUI (graphical user interface), and
communicates with the other two. It can be opened and closed, and both
real-time protection, and scheduled scans, will continue without
interruption.

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