One of the e-mails I received from ZDNet, regarding the WMF threat, mentions Microsoft OneCare (http://www.windowsonecare.com/prodinfo/default.aspx). The Beta version has now gone on public release.

Has anyone tried it? Is it worth uninstalling AVG and Zone Alarm in favour of one all-in antivirus/firewall?

no no no. in my experience. not only is it crap (in my experience), but its a stinker to uninstall. in my experience.

but thats only my experience.

at least wait until its out beta.

(by the way, microsoft released a fix last night for the wmf "issue")

Originally posted by LL200
(by the way, microsoft released a fix last night for the wmf "issue") I know...ZDNet e-mail announced it, so I went to Windows Update and installed manually.

I gather that the leaked version of the patch was only a beta, and therefore didn't fully repair the hole.

btw, did you actually install OneCare, and use it, or are you quoting from somewhere else?

i may be wrong but i thought the "leaked patch" was actually a patch made by some individual, not from microsoft.

yes, i did install it, played with it for a while then decided it did nothing that other applications i already had did, ones that i had more confidence in and that i knew what they were doing. also thought it was slow.

i then tried to uninstall it and my machine wasnt happy at all. from what i've subsequently read, the easiest way to uninstall it is to roll back.

it was an earlier beta tho. a month or two back.

Originally posted by Ann_x
Is it worth uninstalling AVG and Zone Alarm in favour of one all-in antivirus/firewall?

Definetly NOT! Microsoft can't keep their OS from exploits and bugs. All it takes is one smart hacker to disable this service and you'd have a completely open system.

At least with Zone Alarm and AVG you have different companies responsible for their products. I certainly don't recall any issues with Zone Alarm that have required urgent security patches to be deployed.

You have to be a complete "one care" (say it fast) to trust Microsoft with your system security!

Originally posted by alchresearch
You have to be a complete "one care" (say it fast) to trust Microsoft with your system security!

oooh thats good. *mental note*

Originally posted by alchresearch
You have to be a complete "one care" (say it fast) to trust Microsoft with your system security! Never thought of it that way:hihi:

I don't think I was seriously thinking of changing over to OneCare, because I've had AVG and Zone Alarm for years, and I think it was a case of "devil you know" etc.

At least this thread provides information for anyone who is thinking about using it.

no no no. in my experience. not only is it crap (in my experience), but its a stinker to uninstall. in my experience.


Same from me to ...tried it for fun....what a joke... glad i have Acronis to go back to previous state....that crap is worse than Norton :loopy:

Cant beat NOD32 :thumbsup:

Originally posted by LL200
i may be wrong but i thought the "leaked patch" was actually a patch made by some individual, not from microsoft.

I think the following, says different...
Microsoft inadvertently leaks WMF patchBy Joris Evers, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: January 4, 2006, 1:36 PM PT

Forward in EMAIL Format for PRINT ZDNet Tags: Security threats Microsoft Windows Microsoft
An early version of a security fix for a Windows flaw that is being used as a conduit for cyberattacks was prematurely posted online by a Microsoft employee.

The fix was briefly posted on a security community Web site, Debby Fry Wilson, a director in Microsoft's Security Response Center, said on Wednesday. Copies of the file have since been posted online elsewhere, but Microsoft recommends that customers wait for the final version in its monthly security release on Jan. 10, she said.

"It really was an inadvertent thing that happened," Fry Wilson said. "We have the security update on a fast track...(and) somebody accidentally posted a prerelease version on a community site. It has been taken down, and we don't recommend customers use it--it is not the version that we will be releasing on Tuesday."

The fix is designed to repair a flaw in the way Windows renders Windows Meta File images. The bug was discovered last week and is being exploited in attacks that compromise a vulnerable PC if the user visits a Web site with a malicious image file.

Security experts have urged Microsoft to rush the patch because of the onslaught of attacks. More than a million PCs have already been compromised, according to Andreas Marx, an antivirus software specialist at the University of Magdeburg in Germany. There are thousands of malicious Web sites, as well as Trojan horses and at least one instant messaging worm, that use the WMF flaw as a conduit, other experts have said.

Microsoft said it hasn't seen many attacks on its customers. The company plans to issue the final version of its fix on Tuesday, its next official patch release day, Fry Wilson said.

"We have to weigh putting out a partially tested update against the severity of the attack," she said. "If customers are being attacked in large numbers, then we will go ahead and put out the update as we have it, so that customers can be protected, even though it might break things."

A patch may turn out to have side effects, even if it has undergone full testing. Microsoft has had problems in the past, most recently with an Internet Explorer update in December.

Microsoft's fix appears to be nearly done, said Steve Gibson, the president of Gibson Research in Laguna Hills, Calif. "It works great," said Gibson, who downloaded the file and tested it. It even works with a patch developed by European programmer Ilfak Guilfanov, he said.

After examining the software, Gibson believes Microsoft could push out the fix before Patch Tuesday.

"They obviously already have it packaged and ready to go," he said. However, there are reasons for Microsoft to hold off. "Major corporate users very much dislike randomly timed patch releases, since it is deeply disruptive of everything else that's going on," he added.

In a later ZD Net report, it actually says that the Russian guy developed the "Microsoft patch" and released it.

Anyway, I suppose it's all water under the bridge now, because MS released their patch early.