Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is freely-distributed software developed by Microsoft for their Windows operating system. The software was originally released by Microsoft in January 2005. It is updated on the second Tuesday of every month via Windows Update.

The software was released by Microsoft as a basic virus removal tool[1] in January 2005. The software is not in direct competition with established anti-virus programs such as Norton AntiVirus and McAfee Antivirus, but rather is an attempt by Microsoft to provide basic antivirus security to as many users as possible. Because the software is distributed via Microsoft's Windows Update service, it is seen by the majority of the company's customers who are connected to the Internet.

In a report released by Microsoft in June 2006,[2] the company claims that the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool has removed 16 million instances of malicious software, from an install base of 5.7 million unique Windows computers since the tool's release in January 2005. The report also states that, on average, the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool removes malicious software from every 1 in 313 computers it runs on.

  1. ^ John Savill (2005). Windows IT Pro - "What's the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool?". Retrieved on 2006-07-05.
  2. ^ The Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool: Progress Made, Trends Observed. Microsoft (2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-05.

 This software-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../w/i/n/Windows_Malicious_Software_Removal_Tool_2862.html"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.