Vista - Chad- WGA , Windows Update and an alternative

In regards to our discussion awhile back concerning
WGA, the present and future ramifications of not installing
it. I have NetChk Protect on 3 other machines- I like it. I have
not installed it on this laptop with Vista, yet.

<q>Discontinuing the use of Windows Update and Microsoft Update may be an uncomfortable
decision. For those who are confident enough to take the step, products like NetChk Pro are
stronger than Microsoft's own consumer offerings and support far more vendors' products.

The decision of Microsoft to allow its critical security update infrastructure to be used to
download Windows Genuine Advantage (and possibly other marketingware in the future) makes it
necessary for security-minded individuals to adopt third-party products. </q>

http://windowssecrets.com/comp/060713/

By Brian Livingston

In my last issue, I reported that Microsoft's in-house Windows Update routine is now likely to
download marketing gimmicks such as Windows Genuine Advantage to your PC. I advised all Windows
users, other than novices, to turn off Automatic Updates.

Because promptly patching Windows is vitally important to your security, however, I recommended
a trusted, third-party replacement: Shavlik Technologies' HFNetChkPro, which supports a much
wider variety of programs than does Windows Update. The only downside is that the HFNetChkPro
software, while priced reasonably at $25 USD per PC, requires a license for a minimum of 5 PCs.

After that newsletter appeared, Shavlik released a stunning improvement on this frustrating
situation. The company's NetChk Protect - which offers antispyware scanning in addition to
patch-management - is now completely free for 1 to 10 PCs for one year.

I wish the firm had made this free offer available before my last newsletter was published. But
the new offer removes the last obstacle some readers had to replacing Windows Update with
superior, independent, patch-management software.

NetChk Protect, when installed on a single PC, scans across a peer-to-peer network or a server
domain to determine which machines need updates for Windows, Microsoft Office, Firefox, Adobe
Reader, WinZip, RealPlayer, Macromedia Flash, and other programs. The application can then
deploy (install) the updates you determine. There's no need to preinstall an "agent" program to
those other machines or visit them one-by-one to run the installs.

An antispyware disk and memory scan can also be conducted by NetChk Protect upon demand. This
scan shouldn't interfere with other antispyware programs' scans, if they aren't carried out at
the same time. NetChk Protect also offers real-time spyware protection, calling it Active
Protection. This possibly could conflict with the real-time features of Webroot Spy Sweeper and
similar antispyware utilities. But Active Protection isn't turned on unless you specifically
configure the program that way. Just don't do so and NetChkProtect shouldn't bump heads with
your main antispyware app.

With all of NetChk Protect's free download goodness, there's one small fly in the ointment. The
software was designed to be used by knowledgeable network administrators. It wasn't developed
with a simple, 1-2-3 wizard-style interface that even novices can understand.

After testing NetChk Protect, however, I believe its power-tools character can be mastered
easily by any Windows user, no matter how nontechnical. All that's required is a short,
introductory tutorial with pictures. That's what I'll give you in my story today.

Installing NetChk Protect from the Internet

Shavlik Technologies released three free programs after Microsoft announced that it would
discontinue its Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) version 1.2.1 soon after releasing
version 2.0. The 1.2.1 product had originally been developed by Shavlik for Microsoft. It
supports the update of apps such as Office 2000, Exchange 5.0 and 5.5, SQL Server 7.0 and 2000,
in addition to Windows 2000 and higher. Release 2.0, developed by Microsoft, supports only
Office XP, Exchange 2000, SQL Server 2000 and later.

Shavlik released its three free programs to give customers support for all the older software
they still use. A huge side-benefit of this for individual Windows users is that a 10-PC
version of NetChk Protect is one of the free downloads:

.. NetChk Analyzer for Microsoft is a graphical program that scans drives for Microsoft
applications only (without deploying any patches). It's free for an unlimited time.

.. NetChk Analyzer is a command-line utility that scans drives for both Microsoft and
non-Microsoft applications (without deploying any patches). It's free for one year for 1 to 25
PCs, then $4 per seat per year.

.. NetChk Protect (the subject of my article today) is a graphical program that scans drives for
both Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications and deploys needed patches. It's free for one
year for 1 to 25 PCs, then $25/PC for the second year and about $6/PC for later years, with a
minimum license of 5 PCs.

The first free year of NetChk Protect is all that home users of 1 or 2 PCs will ever need. The
company will launch remote disk scanning and patch deployment on a special Web page in
mid-October, Shavlik CTO Rick Greenwood told me in a telephone interview. This service, which
will compete with Microsoft's own Windows Update site, will range in price from free to $39.95
per year. (Shavlik's executives haven't yet decided on the fee but say they want it to be
affordable.)

To get the free download of NetChk Protect and start using it to find and install security
patches for you, visit Shavlik's download page and click the Download Now button.

To get its free downloads, Shavlik asks that you enter e-mail, telephone, and postal contact
information. You need to enter a valid e-mail address to receive the software license key
Shavlik will send you, but I found that all the other fields can be filled with bogus info if
you prefer not to provide your personal details.

continued...... http://windowssecrets.com/comp/060713/

http://www.shavlik.com/netchk-protect.aspx