Keep your PC secure with Windows Defender for Windows Vista

You've probably heard of spyware and adware, which are programs that sneak onto your system and snoop on your personal data, blast you with adverts and generally fill your PC with nonsense. They're often hard to detect and difficult to remove, which is why Windows Defender is so handy. It does two important things: it gets rid of unwanted programs from your PC, and it stops them getting into your system in the first place. Once again you can launch the program from the Windows Security Center, this time by clicking on Windows Defender.

Instant Info

When you launch Windows Defender, the first thing it tells you is when it last scanned your system - and if this is your first day using Vista, that scan won't have happened yet.

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You can get Windows Defender to scan your system automatically as well as to protect your system from invaders, and to do that you need to click on the Tools button in the toolbar.

Endless options

The Tools and Settings screen enables you to see what software's running on your PC, see any potentially infected files that Defender has quarantined and specify which, if any, programs Windows Defender should ignore. However, we want to see Defender's scanning settings, and to do that we need to click on Options.

Self Defence

Windows Defender will automatically check for updates and then scan your system at 2am every day, which is fine if you leave your PC on all night but not so good if you think about the environment and turn your PC off at night. If you want to change the scanning time - or make it less frequent - use the drop-down fields for Frequency and Approximate Time.

More power

Scroll down and you'll see even more options. By default, Real-Time Protection is enabled - and you should only disable it if you're using an alternative anti-spyware package. Real-Time Protection keeps an eye on crucial bits of Windows and warns you of any attempt to change them.

On-demand scan

You can scan your system at any time by clicking on the Scan button in the Windows Defender toolbar. The process takes a few minutes because it has to peer into every corner of your computer in order to make sure you're spyware-free.

No news is good news

Once the scan has completed, Windows Defender will tell you the results. If your PC is free from nasties, you'll see the cheerful "your computer is running normally" message displayed here.

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