Hoople - 2:41 am on Dec 14, 2011 (gmt 0)

Actually this is sorta old news with a new spin. We call it remarketing on WW. The Microsoft 'Malware Removal Tool' aka mrt.exe has been with Windows XP onward. From a cold start one can type F8 and get into 'Safe Mode with command prompt'. Then run it by typing mrt.exe and pressing enter..

Some Linux CD's have Anti Virus scanners that can read FAT and NTFS drives. Very helpful for files using reserved names that Windows won't let you delete.

If you watch closely during Windows security updates mrt runs as the initialization part of their installation process.

@bill It's likely your acquaintance has the Windows Update 'Automatic Updates' turned off (really bad bad bad idea if so). Windows Update settings are in a Control Panel icon. May the force be with you :-)