Using smartphones and computers is not an easy task; you must be careful regarding their security to install any malicious programs and malware on your system. If you are using a Windows computer, you must have noticed the regular updates of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. It gets a new update almost every month. You must have guessed its purpose with the name it has, and it is designed to remove any malicious application or software installed on your system. It’s instrumental if you are not using any antivirus protection on your computer.
Before you jump the gun, let us clarify one thing: this program is not an alternative to traditional antivirus software that gives your system complete protection. It has its limitations. Don’t expect it to run all the time automatically in the background. And the range of malicious programs it can detect is quite limited.
What Does Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool Do?
Before we get into details, you should know a bit about the software. On the second Tuesday of every month, Microsoft publishes the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool‘s updated version. You can call it “Patch Tuesday.” It is like another patch whenever Windows issues Update. Your system installs it automatically if you have allowed auto updates on it. You can also install the updates manually, and this update is quite essential for your system.
Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is supposed to run in the background once updated to the latest version. The tool is used to find the malware that is installed into the system and remove them instantly. The tool silently runs in the background without bothering the user if there’s nothing problematic with the system. If malicious software is running on your computer, it will find it, remove it and give you a detailed report on it. Your computer gets clean after you restart it.
This tool has been around since the days of Windows XP, back in the days the security of Windows was not that good. Many current generation users might not even know that there was no default firewall in it. There are three types of computer worm prevalent in the 2000s – Blaster, Sasser and Mydoom. These were responsible for infecting Windows XP in those days. Microsoft brought the tool to purge these worms from the system. It was useful for those PCs that were running without antivirus.
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Malicious Software Removal Tool – What is the Use of This Software
Many ask us what is the use of this software and should I need it, to which we say: You should never be concerned with this tool, which is an essential tool you should have in your system. Whenever your Windows automatically installs updates, let it download this tool along with a bunch of other security updates. It’s good to have the latest version of this tool on your computer. It will keep watching your system in the background without any hassle.
Make sure to update the tool from the Windows Update. If you don’t want to update the system automatically, you can opt-out for the manual changes. This tool isn’t something that keeps protecting your system all the time and scans everything that goes inside your PC, but it’s good to have along with other antivirus applications.
Should I Need It?
As we have said multiple times, this tool is not something that can replace trustworthy antivirus programs. You can only filter out a handful of malware with this tool. You can’t get rid of all kinds of malware with it. This tool is also limited at scanning, looking for the malware at selected locations within the system. It doesn’t deep-clean it. It scans the system only once in a while, which means it isn’t available for 24×7. Your system stands the risk of infection.
The truth about Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is that it was published in the decade when the system was vulnerable to attacks without even necessary tools to fight against it. It can only purge a limited number of computer worms and malware. It makes sure that your system isn’t lagging due to old infections; it isn’t suitable for daily operations.
You can download it to see how many malware it can filter out from the system, by clicking on “View detailed results of the scan”.
Final Word
Although Microsoft says that it will keep supporting this Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool in the upcoming future, we advise you not to rely on it too much. Get a reliable antivirus program and make your system completely safe.
Many trustworthy antiviruses are known for delivering performance. If you install them, the system will be sound and protected. If you have any questions about this tool, let us know in the comments. Make sure to follow us for more content on Tech and almost everything.
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