Windows Defender Offline on Windows 7 machines DEFINITIONS OUT OF DATE

Anonymous
2017-05-31T08:59:20+00:00

Windows Defender Offline has stopped recognizing UPDATED Definitions on W7 machines,  Again.

Immediately after updating the Media USB, using the MSSSTOOL, attempts to boot from the USB fail,

indicating that the Definitions are out of date. On both 32bit and 64bit machines.

 This same failure occurred in 2016, on multitudes of W7 machines, between January and July.

Microsoft eventually fixed it by releasing a new version of the MSSSTOOL. 4.9.0221.0  (872kb).

The failure with WDO on W7 machines in 2016 began to occur shortly after problems showed up in

Windows Defender on W10 machines, and was probably the result of fixing the W10 machines.

We may now have the same thing occurring again. After the CREATOR update to W10, it appears they

are having problems with WDO.   And now WDO is broken for W7 machines.

MICROSOFT, if you have modified the configuration of the definitions or the WDO program data in an

effort to repair the problems in W10 machines, please release an updated version of the MSSSTOOL

that will allow W7 machines to accommodate those changes.    Thanks,  Glen

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy

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Anonymous
2017-08-20T01:47:10+00:00

GREAT NEWS !

Windows Defender Offline is working once again on Windows 7 machines.

There has been a change made to the Windows Defender Offline Program.

It no longer updates definitions before running.

In order to take advantage of this FIX, it will be necessary to format your

USB before you run the mssstool. This will ensure that a fresh copy of the

Program is installed on the USB.

Don't know why we were not notified!  I just happened to discover this change,

while examining a WDO problem on Windows 10. There, it is possible track

the operation, using the Event Viewer. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Happy Scanning,  Glen

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-08-11T09:12:14+00:00

    Hi David,

    You are right, this problem is in Microsoft's court, and only they can fix it. We have no

    idea when or if they will.

    It appears that they have changed the WDO Program for the benefit of W10, and caused

    it to be incompatible with the W7 application. What you observed on your DELL that

    worked, reveals what they have changed. Instead of checking the viability of the defs on

    your Media USB, the WDO Program now just issues a download attempt to update the

    definitions, first thing. It doesn't matter if the defs on the USB are up to date or not. And

    the defs go directly into the loaded WDO Program, like W10. Unlike the W7 application.

    Most W7 machines cannot connect to the internet when booted to the Media USB.

    Not sure why, but probably missing necessary software on the USB. However, this quirk

    is not the primary cause of our problem. The change described above is.

    Just curious;  Does your DELL that works have a Pentium 4 processor?

    Here are a couple of substitutes for the WDO program that were offered in 2016, when

    a problem very similar to this occurred. They should be safe, but use at your own risk.

    http://support.kaspersky.com/us/viruses/rescuedisk

    http://www.bitdefender.com/support/how-to-create-a-bitdefender-rescue-cd-627.html

    Good Luck,  Glen

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