You may have noticed a new error message upon Windows
start-up since December 31, 2006. The error dialog looks like this:

Windows Defender

Application failed to initialize: 0x800106ba. A problem caused Windows Defender

Service to stop. To start the service, restart your computer or search Help and
Support on how to start a service manually.

In addition, you will see the following in your System Event Log:

Event Type: Error

Event Source: Service Control Manager

Event Category: None

Event ID: 7023

Description:

The Windows Defender Service service terminated with the following error:

The system license has expired. Your logon request is denied.

The issue is that Windows Defender Beta support ended on December 31, 2006. Now,
I would have expected this software license expire error to let you know a bit more gracefully.

The good news is that if your are running Windows XP, there is a easy fix. Simply
go to Microsoft.com and look for the "Download Windows Defender" link near the bottom
of the home page. Follow the download and install instructions, and you will be up
to date, protected and will have fixed the start-up error in just minutes.

Now for the bad news...

If you are running Windows 2000, Microsoft has decided to no longer support the Windows
Defender product for the Windows 2000 platform. You can fix the start-up error by uninstalling
Windows Defender from the Add/Remove Programs in your Control Panel. Unfortunately,
this will leave you unprotected from Spyware and Malware. Since Microsoft is no longer
providing a Spyware protection product for Windows 2000, you will need to purchase a third
party product in order to be protected in the future.

I must say that I am more than annoyed by this decision at Microsoft to discontinue the
Windows Defender product for Windows 2000. I am a big fan of Windows 2000 as it has been one
of the most stable operating system made by Microsoft to date. I am aware that Microsoft
has discontinued official support for Win2k as of June 30, 2005. Actually, it has
entered the "Extended Support Phase" for the Win2k product. This means they will have "extended"
support until June 2010... without Spyware protection! This is like the proverbial knife in the
back for existing Win2k users. Actually, more like the proverbial gun to the head to get
you to upgrade to Windows Vista.

Now, there is no doubt that Windows XP and Vista are a much better protected operating systems
right out of the box. In the networks that I support, XP Pro SP2 or Windows 2003 Server is the
standard for any new deployments. I just resent the gun to the head thing!

For Win2k users, you will obviously make your own decision about this dilemma in which I see you
have three choices:

1) Uninstall Windows Defender and just take your chances on operating without Spyware protection.

2) Uninstall Windows Defender and purchase a third party Spyware protection product.

3) Decide to put your money towards the upgrade to XP or Vista, which will include the free

Spyware protection.

I would not recommend choice 1. The Internet is just too dangerous of a place to venture without
protection. You may choose choice 2 because you love Win2k and just do not want to hassle with
the potential upgrade headaches. Or, you may choose 3 because you are up to the upgrade task and
you feel it make more sense to invest in the future.

If you decide on the upgrade to Vista path, please look for my "Upgrading to Vista" article coming soon.

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