MS Security Essentials Removal Script

206546-microsoft-security-essentials_originalWe have encountered a variety of systems where a virus infection has corrupted Microsoft Security Essentials in a way that makes it impossible to remove or reinstall using normal methods. Unlike most AV vendors, Microsoft has not released a ‘Removal Tool’ that will remove every trace of the anti-virus, so most people have had to try and use a variety of manual methods. We recently wrote about a handy script that was able to remove MSE in a number of cases, but the owner took it offline (along with the rest of his very useful reference site) and it was lacking a few additional keys.

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206546-microsoft-security-essentials_originalWe have recently started to see some systems come in where Microsoft Security Essentials is damaged by a virus infection to the point it cannot be reinstalled. Yes, MSE has gotten some bad press lately due to their performance in AV-TEST.org’s evaluations, though Microsoft has published some interesting data trying to map out the real world impact of what they missed.

But the troubling issue we are seeing is MSE being damaged beyond repair, even for what seem to be minor infections. You can’t uninstall it, and when you try to manually remove it, the reinstall will still fail with a variety of errors.

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