I don't get the point about MSRT. Why do you have to download and run it EVERY FRIGGING MONTH?
Isn't WD enough? As it scans your system automatically when idle and it has got REAL TIME protection...
Or does MSRT do something that other AVs can't do?
What do you think?
You're correct, for a protected system it may be overkill.
It was designed and intended for systems running windows that do not have or run an AV.
It downloads on patch Tuesday and runs in the background, typically targeting things MS had identified as widespread within the windows environment, candidates are malware that create botnets, etc.
It was a way that MS could try to constrain those types of infections, and get rid of them on systems where the unsuspecting users would not even know they were infected, or have a need to try to remove them IMO.
It doesn't hurt to have something check out your system. Any help nowadays can be appreciated.
If you don't want it to run during installation of updates, you can do what I do. I d/l the standalone tool, run it before I check for updates & then it's usually not listed on the updates & won't run during installation of patches. I also keep it in a location that I can easily access in case I need to run it for some reason or another.
In the past, these MSRT's had a habit of accumulating in a system folder & taking up space. Not sure if it does it now since I switched to doing it the way I described.
Yep. It doesn't hurt as you say but I am not very fond of doing/having redundant things. I think it should be used only when no a/v is detected (or when WD is disabled).
Once a month isn't a bad thing to have happen
Disable Malicious Software Removal Tool offered via Windows Updates - run CMD as admin and enter:
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\MRT" /v DontOfferThroughWUAU /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
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