Trend Micro is annoying me with the vulnerabilites scan

Unbanable · Jan 12, 2008

To make this as short as possible, I've decided to just list my questions instead of giving some long story about how these questions were raised.

1. If Trend Micro comes up and says there is a vulnerability, does this mean that my computer does not have the update installed that deals with it, or is it just informing me that Microsoft has issued a bulletin about it?

2. When I click the more info link, it brings me to a page with a long list of update links and a confusing little bit of information. If I were to try to install this update, how in the world would I know which one to select? There were 3 listed for my operating system, Windows Vista. The difference between them were which version of the vulnerable program/system/whatever I had, but to find that out Microsoft says that I would have to download special software to tell me. Which brings me to the next questions:

3. If I try to install the wrong update, could it potentially mess up the computer, or are they made in such a way that it will simply inform me that it's not an update that applies to me and nothing happens? I actually tried two, one said what I said above, and the other gave an error message. It's unlikely that I've messed anything up simply by trying to install an update that didn't apply to me, correct?

4. If I try to install an update that's already installed(which is the main question I have), nothing bad will happen, correct?

5. If Windows Update doesn't come up and say that the update is available, then it must already be installed, correct? If this is the case, then there is no need for me to even bother with the Vulnerabilities scan and I can just disable it, correct?

DavidGP · Jan 12, 2008

1. If Trend Micro comes up and says there is a vulnerability, does this mean that my computer does not have the update installed that deals with it, or is it just informing me that Microsoft has issued a bulletin about it?
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Its just a warning notification that Trend uses to alert you to whats going around or what updates are available from Microsoft.

2. When I click the more info link, it brings me to a page with a long list of update links and a confusing little bit of information. If I were to try to install this update, how in the world would I know which one to select? There were 3 listed for my operating system, Windows Vista. The difference between them were which version of the vulnerable program/system/whatever I had, but to find that out Microsoft says that I would have to download special software to tell me. Which brings me to the next questions
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Yes can be difficult to know which excact update is for you and needed or not, but if you do download the wrong one for your version of Vista, once run the installer checks if this one is actually needed or not and will exit if not ( risk listed below in your other question no.3 )

3. If I try to install the wrong update, could it potentially mess up the computer, or are they made in such a way that it will simply inform me that it's not an update that applies to me and nothing happens? I actually tried two, one said what I said above, and the other gave an error message. It's unlikely that I've messed anything up simply by trying to install an update that didn't apply to me, correct?
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If the update errored and I would need to know the error message to fully answer that one, but in general I have tried to install updates that I thought I needed or were testing, and if not needed the update exits out ( this maybe a Vista thing )

You can however install one of the updates that is for your system, but is to fix a specific issue only, so if your not experiencing the said issue, then potentially you can cause issues.

4. If I try to install an update that's already installed(which is the main question I have), nothing bad will happen, correct?
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NO nothing bad as its likely to just overwrite itself or say its already installed.

5. If Windows Update doesn't come up and say that the update is available, then it must already be installed, correct? If this is the case, then there is no need for me to even bother with the Vulnerabilities scan and I can just disable it, correct?
Click to expand...

If Windows Update doesnt come up when you do a scan for updates, any updates then you either have them already or they are not applicable to your Vista version.

The Vista AutoUpdater is very good and will alert you to whats needed, also note that the main updates come on every 2nd Tuesday of the Month ( coined Patch Tuesday ) and personally just stick with what the Windows Updater tells you you need over installing various ones that you may not need. So yes you could turn this Alerter off in Trend to stop the constant warnings.

Unbanable · Jan 12, 2008

Thank you very much.

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Trend Micro is annoying me with the vulnerabilites scan

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DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

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