Microsoft Security Essentials finds a virus

Here’s what happens when Microsoft Security Essentials detects a virus. In this case, I had attempted to download a ZIP file that was infected with the “EICAR Virus.” The EICAR Virus is a test virus signature, and is completely harmless, but antivirus software should be able to detect it. If not, that’s an area of concern.

I wanted to know more about what it found, so I clicked “Show Details.” Also notice that the icon for Microsoft Security Essentials in the task bar changed to red to indicate that there was a problem.

Uh oh. It sounds like it found something rather scary, doesn’t it? For most users, the basic information will be enough. I was just curious to see what it would show me.

After I told Microsoft Security Essentials to “Clean Computer” it let me know that it had done so. Notice that it’s changed back to green to indicate that things are ok, and the Microsoft Security Essentials icon in the task bar has returned to its normal self. The icon is usually blue, which is slightly inconsistent with the rest of the application. I would have thought that Microsoft would give it a green icon since most users associate green with “everything is functioning normally.”

I think that they’ve still done a pretty good job of delivering the essential information to the end user in a clear, concise manner.

One peculiar thing that I did notice was that the History section of MSE did not show the virus at all. The History section is just blank. It’s not showing any harmful items or the action that was taken. That’s an area of concern, and I have reported it as feedback.

Related posts:

1. Microsoft Security Essentials
2. Microsoft Security Essentials scans downloads too.
3. Alert: New Facebook virus.
4. You *do* have Microsoft Security Essentials, right?
5. Computer Status – Protected.

Tags: Technology, windows 7