Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs)
by Microsoft
What is Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs)?
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Overview
Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs) is published by Microsoft. You can find out more about Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs) at its official website or at Microsoft's website.
How do I clean Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs)?
Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs) may store excess, temporary data on your computer that can take up valuable space. It may also store private data such as passwords or browsing history in the registry or on the file system. The easiest way to erase this data is by downloading AppCleaner, it is 100% free and about 1MB in size. A portable version is also available.
Clean Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs)
with AppCleaner
If you want to clean Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs) manually, you can follow the steps outlined below. There is one location in the file system where Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs) stores data that can be cleaned.
Files
To clean your file system from files stored by Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs) and to gain free disk space, examine the following file system location. First of all, open a command prompt window:
- Hit the Windows key , usually located in the lower left of your keyboard between the Ctrl and Alt keys.
- Windows XP/Vista/7: Click Run...
- Type cmd
- Hit Enter
Now list all the files stored by Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs) that can be cleaned:
-
Type dir %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware\Definition Updates\Backup\*
- Windows XP: Type dir %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware\Definition Updates\Backup\*
Once you have identified the files stored by Microsoft Security Essentials (Old Defs) that you want to clean, delete them using the del command or Windows Explorer.