Antivirus Software

Windows Security Essentials, also called Microsoft Security Essentials, accesses your computer’s Internet connection for regular updates to its components. The application also accesses your computer’s Internet connection for downloading the latest virus definitions. When Internet connection problems occur, Windows Security Essentials cannot download updates and presents an error stating that the update process failed. You can restart the update process and reset Windows Security Essentials via Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer manages the anti-virus package’s Internet connection.


Instructions
Resetting Internet Explorer

1. Close Internet Explorer, if it is open, and also close any other programs running on your computer. Click “Start” and then type “inetcpl.cpl” (without quotes here and throughout) in the “Search program and files” box. Press “Enter” and the Internet Options dialog box opens.

2. Click the “Advanced” tab, click “Reset” under the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” heading and then click “Reset” again to confirm and launch the resetting process. Resetting Internet Explorer deletes any cookies, temporary files, browsing history and online passwords stored within the browser but your Favorites are not deleted.

3. Click “OK” when prompted after the reset process is complete and launch the browser.

4. Click “Start,” “All Programs” and “Microsoft Security Essentials” to launch the anti-virus application. Click the “Update” tab and then click “Update” to download the failed update. If the update fails to download, proceed to the next section.

Setting Default Browser

5. Close Internet Explorer, if it is open, and any other programs running on your computer. Click “Start” and then type “inetcpl.cpl” in the “Search program and files” box. Press “Enter” and the Internet Options dialog box opens.

6. Click the “Programs” tab and then click “Make default” under the “Default Web browser” heading to set Internet Explorer as your computer’s default Internet browser. Windows Security Essentials needs Internet Explorer as your default browser to access your computer’s Internet connection.

7. Click “OK” to finalize the setting. Launch the browser.

8. Click “Start,” “All Programs” and “Microsoft Security Essentials” to launch the anti-virus application. Click the “Update” tab and then click “Update” to download the failed update. If the update fails to download, proceed to the next section.

Microsoft Fix It

9. Click “Start,” “All Programs” and “Microsoft Security Essentials” to launch the anti-virus application if it is closed.

10. Launch the browser and then navigate to the “Fix Broken Desktop Shortcuts and Common System Maintenance Tasks” link (see Resources). If Windows Security Essentials presents an error containing the code “0x80072f8f,” the error represents an incorrect computer time/date setting and having an incorrect system time/date can cause Windows Security Essentials to not download and process updates properly. Running Microsoft Fix It will set your computer's time and date for you via the Microsoft server and resolve update errors due to an incorrect computer time/date.

11. Click the “Run now” button under the “Microsoft Fix it” heading. Follow the onscreen prompts to complete the repair process. Microsoft Fix It will prompt you when the repair process is complete.

12. Switch over to Windows Security Essentials after the repair process is complete. Click the “Update” tab and then click “Update” to download the failed update. If the update fails to download, proceed to the next section.

Software Distribution Repair

13. Close any open programs including Windows Security Essentials and Internet Explorer. Click “Start,” “Run,” and then type “services.msc” in the box next to “Open:.” Click “OK.”

14. Right-click “Automatic Updates” and click “Stop.” Minimize the “Services” dialog box -- do not close the dialog box.

15. Click “Start," type “cmd” in the “Search program and files” box and click the "Command Prompt" link from the search result listing. Type “cd %windir%” and press “Enter.” Type “ren SoftwareDistribution SDTemp” and press “Enter.”

16. Type “Exit” and then press “Enter” to leave the Command Prompt. Maximize the “Services” dialog box. Right-click “Automatic Updates” and click “Start.” Close the “Services” dialog box.

17. Open Internet Explorer and Windows Security Essentials. Click the “Update” tab within Windows Security Essentials and then click “Update” to download the failed update. If the update still fails to download, proceed to the next section.

Reset Windows Security Essentials

18. Close any open programs, including Windows Security Essentials and Internet Explorer. Click “Start,” “All Programs,” “Accessories” and then right-click “Command Prompt.” Click “Run as administrator” and the Command Prompt window opens.

19. Type “cd\” and press “Enter”; then type “cd program files\microsoft security essentials” and press “Enter.”

20. Type “Mpcmdrun –removedefinitions –all” and press “Enter.” Type “Exit” and press “Enter.”

21. Restart your computer. Open Internet Explorer and Windows Security Essentials.

22. Click the “Update” tab within Windows Security Essentials and then click “Update” to download the failed update. If the update still fails to download, proceed to the next section to manually update the application.

Manually Updating Windows Security Essentials

23. Close Windows Security Essentials and switch over to Internet Explorer.

24. Navigate to the “Microsoft Support: How to Manually Download the Latest Definition Updates for Microsoft Security Essentials" link (see Resources) and click the "Click here to download the file for a 32-bit (x86-based) version of Windows" or "Click here to download the file for a 64-bit version of Windows" link depending on whether your system is running the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, to manually update Windows Security Essentials.

25. Click “Run” when prompted to start the manual update installation process. Follow the onscreen prompts to complete the process. Windows Security Essentials' update component will prompt you when the installation process is complete.

Tips & Warnings
Information in this article applies to computers running the Windows 7 operating system. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.



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