New Year’s Day saw me planted in front of my computer as usual—it’s a public holiday anyway, but I was also feeling a little nervous and excited at the same time. Why? Because about two months earlier I received a surprise email from Miss Lilian Quek (MVP Lead from Microsoft Singapore) informing me that I had been nominated for Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional (aka MVP) award. Shortly thereafter, I was informed by Lilian that based upon my contributions to the BigBlueBall forums, she had decided to push for my MVP nomination for Windows Live Messenger. My nomination would now be evaluated by Microsoft in Redmond, Washington and the results would be out on January 1, 2010.

I didn’t expect the email to come so soon—after all due to different time zones it was still New Year’s Eve in the States. But there it was, in my Hotmail inbox. The subject header gave away the good news: “Congratulations 2010 Microsoft MVP!” I was totally ecstatic (I almost fell out of my chair) I’ve been helping BBB members with Windows Live Messenger (if you’ve been living under a shell, WLM is one of the most popular Instant Messaging clients available today and it’s free of course) ever since I joined BigBlueBall way back in 2006. I’d like to thank Jeff Hester (the boss of BBB) for taking me on as a staff member and believing in me. See, kindness is like a butterfly, it may not return to you instantly, but after a while it will. I still participate in BBB, always lurking and looking out for anyone who needs help in the WLM department; of course my good friend and fellow MVP Doris mans the helm too (and she’s been such a great help) We assist because we love helping people with their WLM problems and queries. Besides, the staff are great, and there’s much more than just IM there, go ahead and check the site out. Registering is free!

So what exactly is an MVP? Glad you asked. According to the MVP website, Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals are…

…individuals who are recognized by peers as well as by Microsoft for past credible participation, highest quality answers and a demonstrated willingness to share their Microsoft technical expertise with others while providing guidance and assistance in peer-to-peer technical communities worldwide.

While these individuals represent a wide variety of backgrounds and professions, MVPs share the basic characteristics of possessing very strong technical skills in one or more Microsoft products or technology areas. Microsoft MVPs also possess the willingness to share that knowledge with others.

Selected contributors earn their MVP status by being nominated by their peers in the community, Microsoft Support Professionals, or Microsoft Product Group members who have seen consistent, professional and accurate technical answers or guidance in response to customer questions.

Here’s my profile on the MVP website. It’s nice to be acknowledged by the great M like this. Now I can add one more bunch of letters to the end of my name, LOL. Thanks, Microsoft!

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It has been a most unusual week. I installed two apps on my computer, namely:

• Avira’s AntiVir Premium ($13 USD) a great antivirus app, only spoilt by its ugly scanning interface (yes, I know—I should get a life, thank you, Miss Miller) It has saved my skin more than once though.
• Microsoft Security Essentials—Final version (free) is just the opposite of the above app. It has a simple interface (and also a nice-looking scanning bar—take that, Avira!!) However, after installing and uninstalling and reinstalling this for 2 or 3 times, I said goodbye to it, deleted the installer and booted it completely out of my system. Reasons below.

So why did I ditch Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)? Because it’s buggy, that’s why (and shame on the big M since this is touted as a Final version). After installing it, my floppy disk drive would activate periodically, even though I excluded it from the MSE scanner settings. Uninstalled MSE, and no more phantom access in my floppy drive. I change my mind and said oh what the heck, let’s give it another try. The same weirdness happens again—now this is definitely MSE’s fault.

Not only that, when I tried to update MSE’s definition files, the update would stall halfway through. And now my Internet was acting up! Windows Update also stalled—mein gott, what’s happening? Called my ISP and they said no, there were no anomalies in the cosmos, no breaks or tears in the Internet zone. I decide to give it a day or two and see whether it’d clear up by itself. Of course it’s like asking cancer to go find another body.

Day 3 and I am definitely getting very annoyed. MSE and Windows Update both stall, some Internet websites have to be reloaded two or three times, including Google’s homepage. Now there is the likelihood I have a Klingon Bird of Prey in my system, invisibly cloaked. And that dang MSE is still accessing my floppy drive every now and then—UGH UGH! OK, I am blasting it out of orbit. I go to Vista’s Programs and Features, locate MSE and then say an eloquent farewell to it (well actually I told it to get lost and gave it one swift kick in the tush). Rebooted my computer for good measure, Windows Update activated itself and—it went straight through without stalling! Not only that, all my favorite websites load, and all sections report that things are back to normal.

So how ironic is this, eh? Microsoft’s own MSE screwing up Windows Update—and I thought I had a mean trojan or something in my ship (oops, sorry—system) I scoured some sites for MSE and found that I wasn’t alone; many other users were having trouble with it but I was the only one with the phantom activation of my floppy drive. It was also interesting to hear many people saying that the beta version of MSE was better than the Final one.

My advice—don’t install MSE for now, until they clear up all the bugs.

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Today I received two similar emails purportedly from Microsoft informing me about “critical vulnerabilities” in my system and that I should click on the links provided for a fix. This is what I did—highlighted those two emails with my mouse and hit the Delete button promptly, sending them into digital oblivion.

Here’s one very important thing to remember: Microsoft never emails users about Windows updates. Updates and critical fixes are always accomplished through Windows Update found in Vista and XP (provided that the user has enabled Windows Update). Never ever click on links in emails telling you that updates are available, etc.

Bear this in mind and don’t fall for these phishers and scammers.

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