Product Description

OneCare helps keep your PC safe and secure while making your life easier. From virus scanning, file backups, to automatic printing sharing of all the PCs in your household, OneCare helps manage it all for you. And it's delivered to you in a smooth, hassle-free package.
In one convenient package, Windows Live OneCare helps protect your computer, uses its optimization features to keep your PC running at its speediest, and even regularly backs up your important files: Protection Plus uses antivirus and antispyware scanners, a managed two-way firewall, and integrated anti-phishing technology to protect your computer from viruses, worms, Trojan horses, hackers, phishing, and other threats. It runs continuously, but you can scan individual files and folders for viruses on demand simply by right-clicking them. You can even scan attachments you receive via Windows Live Messenger or MSN Messenger.
Performance Plus regularly defragments your hard disk, removes any unnecessary files that may clog your computer, and helps ensure important security updates from Microsoft are installed efficiently and on time.
Backup and Restore regularly copies your important files and settings to CD, DVD, external hard disk, network drive, or other data-storage device. Instant Help provides online help anytime you need it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16 in Software
• Brand: Microsoft
• Model: C7S-00135
• Released on: 2007-11-15
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
• Format: DVD-ROM
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds

Features

• All-in-one security for up to 3 Users from Microsoft protects personal and financial documents from the latest viruses, worms, hackers, spyware, and online identity scams
• Automate "janitorial tasks," including disk cleaning and defragmentation, to help improve PC performance
• Easily back up your files to a CD, DVD, external hard drive, locally networked computers, or most USB-connected storage devices
• Protect your PC from outside security threats while keeping things on the inside running smoothly
• Works with Microsoft Update to help ensure that your computer is up-to-date with the latest security and critical updates

Amazon.com
Windows Live OneCare is the all-in-one PC security and performance service designed specifically for Windows XP and Windows Vista-based operating systems. It helps keep your PC's internal workings in order and protect it from outside security threats.

Protection for your files and information
Automatically helps protect personal and financial documents, music, photos, whatever you're saving--from the latest viruses, worms, hackers, spyware, and online identity scams.

Performance tune-ups
Automates "janitorial tasks," including disk cleaning and defragmentation, to help improve PC performance.

The all-in-one PC security and performance service designed specifically for Windows XP and Windows Vista-based operating systems.

Data back-up and restore
Makes it easy to back up your files to a CD, DVD, external hard drive, locally networked computers, or most USB-connected storage devices.

Your PC's Best Friend
OneCare helps protect your PC from outside security threats while keeping things on the inside running smoothly. OneCare includes:

• Antivirus and Antispyware
• Anti-Phishing
• Managed Firewall
• Data Backup and Restore
• Performance Tune-ups

All-in-One

All-in-one security service

• Virus and spyware protection helps shield your PC from contamination. Real-time scans identify and clean infected files and help protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other potentially unwanted software.
• Phishing filter in Internet Explorer 7 is activated to help detect and block known sites for online ID scams and theft.
• Firewall helps keep hackers out and private information in.

Boosts PC performance

• Tune-ups keep your PC running smoothly.
• Automatic disk cleanup, defragging, file backup and recovery on your schedule.
• Scheduled backups to CD, DVD, external hard drive, locally networked computers, or most USB-connected storage devices.
• Restores specific or all backed-up files.

One subscription

• Helps protect and maintain one, two, or three computers for one price for one year.

Automatic

Automatic protection

• Runs continuously behind the scenes while you're using your PC.
• Helps counteract new virus threats and block new harmful applications.

Automated PC tune-ups and maintenance

• Helps keep your PC running quickly and efficiently.

Automatic updates

• New feature and version upgrades included for as long as you keep your service active.
• Works with Microsoft Update to help ensure that your computer is up-to-date with the latest security and critical updates from Microsoft.

Simple

Task Bar Icon

• Always shows your PC's health status

  Green means your PC status is Good.

  Yellow means your PC status is Fair.

  Red means your PC is At Risk.

• One-click resolutions make it easy to take the necessary action to get and stay green.

Helpful

The OneCare Advantage:

• Unlimited, free Windows Live OneCare phone, email, and chat support.
• Automatic version and feature upgrades for as long as you keep your subscription active.
• Continuous technology improvement to combat emerging threats.
• Each OneCare subscription helps protect and maintain up to three Windows XP or Windows Vista-based PCs for one year.

Customer Reviews

Great For The First 20 months
In Feb 07, after reading horrible reviews of Norton and McAfee internet security software, I decided to go with the relatively untested Microsoft Onecare. I had no complaints until last week when Onecare failed to detect and remove a Trojan Downloader. I spent hours running scans (one in safe mode) and all I got was a message saying it could not be removed-- all this despite assurances from Onecare technical support that it would correct the problem. The Trojan disabled my firewall and after the two unsuccessful scans, I spent another 3 1/2 hours on the phone working to restore the firewall. I'll have to say that Onecare technical support was patient and tried to resolve the issue but the fact remains that Onecare let me down. I'm still having issues pulling up web pages. For those thinking about Onecare, you might want to choose another security software program as I read Microsoft will no longer sell Onecare after June 2009. That speaks volumes.

Security check with just a click of the mouse
Live One Care may be a bit difficult to install but it has many good security features and also PC Health. It seems to show up when applications access the net and registers all. It also does not slow down the computer as others do.

Computer security and backups are now a background task.
First encountered Microsoft's Windows OneCare in 2005 as a Beta project that I participated in. Wouldn't have gotten involved except that I had found Symantec's Norton AntiVirus to have become a real resource hog, and the products from McAfee weren't any better, despite their claims. I had been a loyal user of Norton AntiVirus since those days that Peter Norton was still running his innovative company, one that pioneered anti-virus applications as we know them... but that was then, and this was now.

I dropped the Norton products after a series of problems that were well-documented in the 'computer geek' community, and began to install Grisoft's AVG Free anti-virus on some of my systems. About a year later Microsoft released it's Beta test of Windows OneCare, and that seemed to be a product with few bugs and a lot of promise. When the Beta test was over, however, I standardized my computers with AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, and that continued until late last spring when I saw an associate's installation of Windows Live OneCare 2.0 and listened to his reasons as to why why he had switched from Symantec's products.

Initially I downloaded the trial version from Microsoft to test it out, but within two weeks had become convinced that this was not only a competitively priced product (other products have only recently caught up), but it's resource footprint was small. It didn't seem to interfere with normal operations or offer obnoxious reminders of how my computer was being protected.

Windows Live OneCare runs quietly in the background, doing its job well and quite unobtrusively. It's licensed to be used with up to three users, and right now is protecting my aging HP Pavilion a210n Desktop PC, my son's laptop computer and my notebook. It does a good job of protecting our PCs from outside security hazard while keeping things on the inside running smoothly, performing disk cleaning and file defragmentation in the background. Our files are backed up to a connected Seagate FreeAgent Desktop 250 GB External Hard Drive, and once set up properly has required no intervention whatsoever. All of its updates run quietly via Microsoft Update, and this has kept my systems up-to-date with the important security updates.

Pros:

* Very reasonable cost for what it does.
* Runs quietly and effectively in the background.
* Excellent monthly reports on activity.
* Has an excellent two-way firewall.
* Automated backups to external hard drive or USB storage devices

Cons:

* OneCare interface is different, may seem somewhat awkward.
* Other anti-virus and firewall programs need to be removed.


This product isn't perfect; no security application that I've encountered to date is. The occasional reboots for updates are irritating, but all applications of this type have them to work properly. The Windows Live OneCare interface is different, and may seem somewhat awkward until you get used to it, but it does function properly. Had laughed last spring when I read that OneCare had mistaken Skype (the Internet telephone application) for a piece of malware, but have see similar false reading from almost all of the anti-virus and security applications on the market over time.

The above remarks may sound picky, but they're really not; they're just a personal reflection of what I've found while I've used this product. But all things considered, and especially since it's so well-behaved as it runs quietly in the background, doing its job quite unobtrusively, Windows Live OneCare is a real 5-star application from my perspective.