Not updating

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Guest

I seem to be having a problem with Windows Defender not updating.

This occurs on a couple of machines, all are Windows XP either Home or Pro.
When I attempt to get WD to check for new signatures, it doesn't even attempt
to access the internet... it just sits there.

I have managed to run the updates by obtaining them from a WSUS server
(these PCs are not in the domain) and manually runnning the .msp file, but
cannot continue to check and update in this manner.

Any advice appreciated.
 
On a subnet with a WSUS server present, Windows Defender attempts to get the
definitions from the WSUS server.

I don't know enough about WSUS to know what happens in your
environment--presumably the non-domain member machines are turned down by
WSUS, but they have no other route--I suspect that Microsoft wants to allow
the network admins complete control over updating, and thus doesn't allow a
fall-back to Windows Update or AutoUpdate.

We need a WSUS guru to tell us what the right thing to do is here, I think.
 
The problematic PCs are not in the domain at all. The problematic PCs are at
home (my own personal PCs) and the WSUS server is one that I administer at
work - I just obtained the updates from the WSUS server, as WD was not
updating.
 
ah--that's clear. OK-at home, AutoUpdate via the bits service is how a
manual update should work. The mpcmdrun.exe command line executable has an
argument SignatureUpdate that should trigger a baloon message, and the
update process. It should remain running until it gets a response, which is
a fairly slow process--minutes.

Connecting to WindowsUpdate or MicrosoftUpdate should also bring in the
Defender Signature updates.

If autoupdate is working--updating should be working. I've seen some
behavior I don't understand from the "automatically detect" setting in IE
proxy settings, however. On machines behind a transparent proxy, in one
case turning that setting on, and in another turning it off--appeared to
prompt updating.

--
 
I'm strictly undergraduate and you want me to go for a Doctorate?

I should probably read that. I'm able to run WSUS under SBS server, as I
understand it, so it might be a good idea to have some idea what the plusses
and minuses are.
--
 
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