Microsoft will continue to offer its malware scrubbing program to Windows XP users for more than a year after it stops patching the operating system.
“Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool is aligned with the company’s anti-malware engines and signatures, and as such the removal tool will continue to be provided for Windows XP through 14 July 2015,” a company spokesperson confirmed.
The Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) is updated monthly as Microsoft targets specific major malware families it believes are the biggest threats at the time. It is distributed through Microsoft’s Windows Update service and the business-grade Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) on Patch Tuesdays. The MSRT automatically installs and then runs in a seek-and-destroy mission.
MSRT is not an antivirus program, but rather a cleanup utility designed to eradicate malware that has already wormed onto a Windows PC. The tool was first released in 2005.
The extension of MSRT’s availability for Windows XP was part of Microsoft’s decision last Wednesday to offer new anti-malware signatures to XP customers who run the company’s free Security Essentials antivirus (AV) software.
Originally, Microsoft had said it would stop shipping Security Essentials’ signature updates to XP PCs after 8 April. But in a tacit nod to XP’s widespread use, Microsoft postponed the cut-off until 14 July 2015.
Microsoft will ship its final public security patches for Windows XP in less than three months, ending nearly 13 years of support for the ultra-successful OS.
Microsoft did not reply Saturday to follow-up questions asking what channels it will use to distribute the malware eraser between 8 April 2014, and 14 July 2015.
If Microsoft continued to deliver the MSRT via Windows Update, the tool would be a valuable weapon in containing infections on Windows XP PCs.
Although Microsoft has been urging customers to drop XP before the 8 April deadline for a new OS or PC, millions of machines worldwide will continue to run the aged OS for months and maybe even years to come.
According to metrics company Net Applications, Windows XP’s user share – the percentage of all personal computer owners who went online with that OS – stood at 29% at the end of December 2014. Computerworld has forecast that at least 25% of all personal computers will be running the operating system at the end of April, and about 20% at the end of this year.
Those numbers were at the root of Microsoft’s recent moves to help out XP users: While the company has remained adamant that bug patches will be discontinued after April 8, some cracks in its ‘Death to XP’ policy have appeared, including the continued availability of Security Essentials’ signatures and the lifespan extension for the MSRT.
The explanation: Microsoft has decided it best for all concerned – including itself and its reputation – that it throw some security bones, if only small ones, to those who can’t or won’t upgrade from XP.
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