Comments on: Prevent Malicious Software Removal Tool from phoning home

By: gggirlgeek

gggirlgeek — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 04:52:10 +0000

Thanks for the Win7 reg key. One less Phone-Home annoyance for me.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:00:22 +0000

On a Windows 7 Pro System, the Registry Path is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\RemovalTools\MRT

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:36:01 +0000

For those running Vista x64 this entry is in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\RemovalTools\MRT

Hope this helps.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:58:23 +0000

The tool runs once a month after download – usually the on 1st login after the 2nd Tuesday. However, it will sometimes corrupt Windows profiles if a login occurs before it is finished scanning.

It does not get installed on the computer. It just runs and deletes itself. New versions are released monthly – if new virus signatures have been added. New releases are cumulative and contain all the signatures from previous versions.

The program is JUNK and uneeded if you have a good anti-virus program. It caused us to disable Windows updates while we searched for why our users were losing their Outlook settings.

More information: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=890830

Download Information: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AD724AE0-E72D-4F54-9AB3-75B8EB148356&displaylang=en&displaylang=en

From Microsft KB890830:
“A user may log on to a computer while the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is running in the background. (The tool may be running as part of a deployment that uses Windows Server Update Services.) In this case, Windows may inform the user that the current user profile is corrupted and that a new profile is being created. To resolve this issue, the new profile can be removed. The user can logon to the system again at a time when the tool is not running. This issue is most likely to occur on a Windows 2000-based computer.”

By: Manitook

Manitook — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:08:12 +0000

Hmm I don’t have it on any of my computers either..
XP tablet
XP pro
XP home
I have the tool installed, last updated…
Windows XP Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool – December 2007 (KB890830) Wednesday, December 12, 2007 Microsoft Update

where did you find this at Martin?

By: D3

D3 — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:45:03 +0000

I know i install it every time and i don’t have it either. doesn’t it remove itself after it finishes with it’s scan?

By: fsc

fsc — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:45:58 +0000

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MRT
does not exist in my registry…i know i installed the malicious software removal tool update. could MRT be located elsewhere?

By: D3

D3 — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:05:32 +0000

MS is an evil corporation that wants your firstborn ….lol

By: Martin

Martin — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:37:39 +0000

Because you don’t know what data the program sends to Microsoft ? Because Microsoft did not include such an option in the program ? Because you think it is your right to decide if you want to send a report to Microsoft ?

By: Jojo

Jojo — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:33:47 +0000

Why do I care if the tool reports back to MS? Too much paranoia methinks!