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OneCare is Set to Expire RRS feed

  • Question

  • My OneCare subscription is set to expire in February.  One subscription is on my sons computer.  He is home from college now for the holidays. 

    1.  Will the anti-virus portion continue to work after the subscription date?

    2.  Is it a good idea to get onecare off his computer now rather than wait until spring when school ends?

    Thanks | dw

    d.will
    Wednesday, December 16, 2009 3:55 PM

Answers

  • Since the subscription will expire in February and will not likely be renewed, (I don't know when the free extensions will cease...) it would be a good idea to remove OneCare now and install Microsoft Security Essentials for protection (or other antivirus/antispyware product) since OneCare will go into red/at risk status when the subscription expires and protection will start to go out of date soon afterwards. When the subscription expires, you'll see nags regularly, and you will lose all access to the program functions. It will continue to protect for some time after, but eventually (don't know the current grace period) it will no longer get updated definitions.

    Use the cleanup tool -  http://social.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/onecareinstallandactivate/thread/399071e2-49dc-4767-932d-d261e3965943/ - if desired to remove OneCare completely.

    Install MSE from here: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

    -steve
    ~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~
    Wednesday, December 16, 2009 4:15 PM
    Moderator