A guide to installing Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials is an excellent free Antivirus recently offered by Microsoft. This program offers a lightweight simple to use Antivirus and can be downloaded direct from Microsoft here: Microsoft Security Essentials

The official Support page, including FAQs, is located here: MSE Support

This guide is intended to provide a simple tutorial for the installation and setup of Microsoft Security Essentials [MSE].

To download the program, follow the link above and click the Downloadimage. You will be greeted with the following box:

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 621x201px.

Figure 1:

Please select the appropriate version for your Operating System. If you are unsure which version to select, you can find the details of your Operating System by clicking: Start > Computer > System Properties.

If you are using XP you can Right Click on the My Computer icon on your desktop, and select Properties in the drop down menu that appears.

If the installer has not already opened, double click on the downloaded executable “mseinstaller.exe” to run it.

You should now be greeted by the following window:

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 635x400px.

Figure 2:

If you so wish, click the highlighted link to read the Microsoft Privacy Statement. The privacy Statement is also available on the Microsoft Website here. Privacy Statement

To continue the installation, click Next to continue.

You will now be greeted with the License Agreement.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 634x401px.

Figure 3:

Once you are satisfied, please click I accept to continue with the installation.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 637x399px.

Figure 4:

If you so wish, click the highlighted link to Learn more about the Customer Experience Improvement Program.

Select either option, and click Next to continue.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 636x399px.

Figure 5:

A firewall is an important part of your security setup, and it is strongly recommended you always have one active. Do not uncheck this option unless you have good reason.

To continue, click Next.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 633x398px.

Figure 6:

It is important to only have one active antivirus program installed on your computer. If you already have an antivirus program installed, please uninstall it before continuing.

Please click Install to continue.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 639x399px.

Figure 7:

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 635x400px.

Figure 8:

Once you have reached Figure 8, installation is complete. Click Finish to continue. MSE should automatically open and run a Quick Scan. If it does not do so, please restart your computer and manually open the program.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 800x560px.

Figure 9:

After installation, MSE should automatically update to the latest definitions. It is always important to keep your antivirus program up to date, failure to do so will leave your computer at risk.

If MSE does not automatically update, please click on the Update tab, and select Update.

After updating, MSE should begin to run a Quick Scan.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 802x558px.

Figure 10:

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed Microsoft Security Essentials.

You can scan your computer at any time by going to the Home tab, and clicking Scan Now. As default, MSE will perform a scheduled scan on Sundays around 02:00. You can change the time of the scheduled scan by clickingChange my scan schedule.

I hope this guide has been useful to you. The information supplied is correct at time of publication, please leave all comments below.