Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper Beta 1.0


Recommended Posts

deadite66: the tool binary itself doesn't contain any virus definitions. Every run the tool will download and create a bootable media containing an updated definitions.

that was my question, was thinking of burning the CD just to have in case, but seems better to just wait in order to have the newest defs...

My real world experience with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset has been great until i have tried to the the standalone sweeper. out of maybe 20 times i tried to remove a critter with it...it has failed 20 times. it has found infections. for one reason or another it has not been effective for me in removing anything. my impression has been it follows the rules. ie a linux cd does not care about windows permissions and the like. the offline does not count for much here.

its nice they are trying.

This isn't actually a new tool; it was previously exclusively available to enterprise customers as part of the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset. The license for the beta indicates that the final version will be available to home users and small businesses, just like the full Security Essentials...

Arkose, the standalone scanner is indeed "not new" as you said. However, the tool for creating the media is new (and simplified) for home users.

Hope you'll find it useful.

that was my question, was thinking of burning the CD just to have in case, but seems better to just wait in order to have the newest defs...

Buttus, if you want to have a media "on standby" you can prepare yourself a USB thumb drive with the bootable envrionment installed on it.

The first time you run the tool and create to bootable USB thumb drive it will be reformatted. The second time you run the tool for the same USB thumb drive, it will only download new definitions, approx. 60MB (after verifying the curently installed files) without reformatting the USB drive (given you are using the same tool version as the one created the USB drive and the files on it are not damaged).

My real world experience with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset has been great until i have tried to the the standalone sweeper. out of maybe 20 times i tried to remove a critter with it...it has failed 20 times...

I would recommend that you contact support regarding your issues. I don't expect to see Microsoft's engine failing so many times.

Please note that the responses I'm giving are not part of Microsoft's intention of providing it over this forum's pages.

For further assistance please refer to http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub

Thanks,

Guy Arad.

Was just curious if anyone has tried this and had good experiences with it yet? My dad is coming to visit over the weekend as their laptop has got infected with something horrid, and rather than trying to boot it up and remove the infection from within Windows, I remembered reading about this and thinking it might be the solution I need.. but some of the comments here seem less than favourable....?

Anyone got any GOOD experiences?

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Less disk space means less bandwidth demands which means lower operating costs for service providers... that's where money talks. ... cuz it's not about improving video quality!... that's just marketing spin.
    • And thereby lies the rub. AV1 support is not as wide as paid analysts would have the industry believe. With AV2 around the corner, it's going cause more time backlog in adoption (how many recent purchasers will upgrade yet-again within the next 6-12 months? most would rather stay pat for another 1+ years before even thinking about upgrading their setups).
    • Microsoft OneDrive is getting a simple yet much needed feature by Sayan Sen Microsoft has been steadily expanding OneDrive’s file management capabilities over the years, including for shared content and shortcuts, although it has had its flaws, too. The cloud storage platform introduced support for folder shortcuts several years ago, allowing users to pin frequently accessed shared folders from OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. Now, Microsoft is refining that experience further with a new way to organize those shortcuts as revealed in a recent Microsoft 365 roadmap addition. Previously, shortcuts added through the “Add shortcut to My files” option would appear alongside all other files and folders in the root of a user's OneDrive. And although it's meant to be useful, this approach could also create clutter along the way, especially for heavy users who may have to work with large numbers of shared folders across multiple projects and teams on their systems. This is where Microsoft’s latest feature comes in, as it is looking to address this inconvenience by giving users the option to place new shortcuts inside a dedicated “Shortcuts” folder instead. The feature is designed to keep shortcut links organized into a single location instead of scattering throughout the main OneDrive directory. Hence, the idea is to make navigation and usability easier and simpler. The first time a user chooses this option, OneDrive will automatically create the folder, and to help make it stand out from the other folders, the Shortcuts folder will have a distinct visual identity featuring a unique color and a building-style icon. That being said, the new Shortcuts will behave just like any other folder in OneDrive, and as such, users will be able to move it to a different location, rename it, share it with others, or remove it entirely if they prefer a different structure. You can view the entry on the Microsoft 365 roadmap website here. Currently, the feature is in the "in development" phase, but the tech giant expects the rollout to start next month (July 2026). Do keep in mind, though, that new feature rollouts often get delayed.
    • VS Code 1.123 introduces massive upgrades for persistent AI developer workflows by Paul Hill Microsoft has just released Visual Studio Code 1.123 alongside its annual developer conference, Build 2026. This release, as always, has a heavy focus on advanced AI agent integration and making the built-in browser more robust. Notably, this update brings big sync changes that keep your AI agents persistent across sessions. With this update, VS Code now supports cross-machine syncing for chat histories, touched files, repository contexts, and related PRs via GitHub accounts, tying users even more into Microsoft’s developer ecosystem. This update also introduces the new /chronicle command that allows you to query past sessions using natural language, generate instant standup reports, and get personal productivity insights. Microsoft has also made some improvements to network-dependent operations, it explains: “When a terminal command that is run by a local agent requires access to domains that are not configured as allowed domains, the command is automatically retried inside the sandbox with unrestricted network access. After that, if it still fails, it falls back to unsandboxed execution. This allows network-dependent operations such as git fetch to finish, while keeping filesystem protections in place.” Microsoft has not stopped there; in this update, it also allows developers to drag, drop, and pin multiple agent sessions side-by-side for easy code comparisons in real-time. It also introduces the Research Agent, accessible via /research. This is a read-only, depth-optimized tool that gets data from the web, local codebase, and GitHub to give you a Markdown report on complex APIs or unfamiliar code. Now, let’s talk about the integrated browser and some security enhancements. VS Code 1.123 features enhanced screenshot capture tools that allow for targeted Area Screenshots and Full Page Screenshots to send layout context instantly to AI chat. The address bar has also been revamped, supporting favorite pages and tab management. Finally, on the security front, this update introduces a safety-first two-hour delay on third-party extension auto-updates to safeguard against compromised or buggy releases. This release is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you have VS Code, keep an eye out for the update availability notification. If you still don’t have VS Code, you can get it here.
    • I'm hoping with the Surface Pro 12, I can use either USB-C for my Xreal One Pro glasses. With my Surface Pro 11 OLED X Elite, I have to plug them into the top port. The bottom port will power it, but nothing shows on the screen. Maybe it's my setting. When I plug in the glasses, I have it output only to the glasses. So maybe I need to turn on both displays with it in the top port, then switch the glasses to the bottom port and set it to output only to the glasses. And then hopefully Windows remembers the settings for either the top port and bottom port (one of the awesome features of Windows where it remembers the exact configuration when plugging in external monitors.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      B2Proxy earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      MadMung0 earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      jefred earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Apprentice
      JoeyNeo went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • Week One Done
      oliviaexpo earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      482
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      227
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      71
    4. 4
      FloatingFatMan
      60
    5. 5
      Nick H.
      54
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!