A couple of nights ago, I had some very trying experiences with Windows and Windows Live OneCare. I was just about to backup data and reload when I realized what was likely the cause of my problems. While I had uninstalled my current Antivirus software, Avast, I had neglected to uninstall Windows Defender as well. And that apparently was the root of all my issues.
Thank the heavens above for Microsoft’s System Restore feature! I always forget about this thing, but man it can be a life-saver.
The next night I did a system restore back to before I started the OneCare install. Rebooted and suddenly things started functioning again. Uninstalled Defender, rebooted then installed OneCare (and yep, another reboot) and I’m a functioning member of computer society again.
Only wrinkle I had was the System Restore loaded up an Antivir service, but the software itself was gone… not even listed in the Add/Remove Software control panel. I grabbed their latest install package thinking I’d reload and then”re”uninstall, but the package offered an uninstall option right off the bat, so that problem was solved easily too.
For what it’s worth, I like this OneCare thing. The built-in backup stuff is easy to use and schedule, the firewall and such is pretty unobtrusive. After this beta expires, I’ll probably break down and buy it this time around. Pricing is quite friendly and gets you up to 3 pcs for fifty bucks. Check out the highlights.
[Here's a previous mention of OneCare from earlier this year]
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October 19th, 2006 
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Windows OneCare effectively turned my computer into a standalone computer. Even programs that weren’t using the internet explicitly at launch weren’t able to run. Boinc could run, but couldn’t attach to a project on my computer so only the front end ran, none of the number crunching projects ran.
I manually added allow lists for programs, but even with them white listed games like city of heroes wouldn’t connect at all… to anything.
I couldn’t adjust the slider on the firewall anywhere from the default center position. It told me over and over again (many reboots) that it couldn’t adjust firewall settings at this time. I e-mailed their tech support and got a quick, thorough reply that didn’t fix anything (short version, apply dotnet fix… why does everything need a dotnet fix? Haven’t they fixed dotnet yet?)
Overall, I couldn’t be less happy with onecare. I’m still waiting on a reply from the tech support person, and maybe I’ll re-install if they say more than “Hunh… guess you’re farked.” This is a new system and it’s clean. That was first beta I’d installed so I know it’s not a dirty registry or funky system setting thing.” This is as close to out of the box as they get and it wouldn’t let me do anything that was remotely network related, nor would it let me change any of the settings preventing me from accessing network stuff.
Egads. You’re farked!
Once I got it properly installed, it’s been great. (although an unmitigated disaster when Win Defender was there first!)
I have no issues with stuff being blocked, thankfully. I wonder why it’s so unhappy with your “clean” setup? Did you have Defender or maybe even another firewall already installed (besides the xp built-in thing)?
I’d read your experience and uninstalled defender (which one care promptly put back lol) and zone alarm before installing.
I rebooted after the uninstall to make sure there were no old zonealarm hooks laying around. Still nothing.
The built in winders firewall was disabled, before, during, and after all this… having multiple software firewalls going at once being a no-no and all that rot.
[...] Microsoft has rolled out a product called Windows Live OneCare that is supposed to serve as your firewall, anti-virus, anti-phishing, all in one security software solution for your windows based PC. They offer a 90-day free trial of the software to try it before you buy it. After reading the recommendation of it on Handy’s site I decided to give it a go. I’m a long time fan of Zonelab’s ZoneAlarm, and whatever anti-virus software hasn’t irritated me that week. I’m an inveterate Firefox user and spyware just doesn’t seem to be a big problem for me so really I was getting it for the firewall and the anti-virus. [...]