Please I want Plug and Play

[martyk4vm]

I don't want to be a AV or Internet Security Guru. I just want to install, and have it work.

From this forum it looks like people are having all kinds of exotic problems that I never heard of.

What are my chances of being able to use NOD32 as a "plug and play" program?? :ouch:

[Tommy]

IMHO Plug and Play is not for software but....

{QUOTE-> Plug and Play (PnP) is a computer feature that allows the addition of a new device, normally a peripheral, without requiring reconfiguration or manual installation of device drivers. PnP is a process the computer runs through when it is first turned on, involving the boot process and power-on self-test. Therefore, the computer must be turned off before installing a PnP device into an expansion slot. Hot swapping is a similar feature that allows adding and removing devices while the computer is on. <-QUOTE}

It's also used sometimes (UPnP) to autoconfigure Network protocols and comunication in some software (latest one is Miranda 0.6x), but it includes a high risk.
UPnP enabled devices will be opening and listening on UDP port 1900 and TCP port 5000.

{QUOTE-> It is probably worth mentioning that, here again, Microsoft's exposed UPnP Internet servers were found to have remotely exploitable unchecked buffers that would allow, in principle, remote malicious hackers to commandeer Windows ME or XP computers. Microsoft quickly issued a patch to fix this known vulnerability, but since there might well be others, and since unused Internet servers and services should not be left running of they are not actively needed, I wrote a quick, simple, and small 22 kbyte utility which allows the Universal Plug N' Play servers in Windows ME and XP to be easily started, stoped, and semi-permanently deactivated (until they are possibly needed at some future time.) <-QUOTE}

[lodore]

{QUOTE-> I don't want to be a AV or Internet Security Guru. I just want to install, and have it work.

From this forum it looks like people are having all kinds of exotic problems that I never heard of.

What are my chances of being able to use NOD32 as a "plug and play" program?? :ouch: <-QUOTE}


its unlikely you will have problems. what av do you have installed atm?

when i have trialed nod32 i havent had any problems. im soon to try and use it on my main pc for a long time.

[martyk4vm]

Tommy, you are right. PnP applies to hardware, really. I used it as a figure of spech: I want a program that I just install and it works and I don't spend the next 2 weeks trying to fix whatever it broke. Or trying to figure out how to get it to work right.

Iodore: right now I have McAfee AV. I know that is difficult to un-install cleanly, but I hope somewhere on this forum, I can find instructions for how to un-install that program.

I am finding it takes a long time for my laptop to boot up. I think the TSR programs, including McAfee, are taking up too much time. I want to get some that work faster and easier.

[BlueZannetti]

{QUOTE-> What are my chances of being able to use NOD32 as a "plug and play" program?? :ouch: <-QUOTE}martyk4vm,

Most of the major AV's will work fine in that regard. I've used NOD32 for a number of years (along with a couple of other AV products on other machines) and have never had an exotic problem. My personal read is that many of these subtle issues derive from: Users tweaking their OS to have minimal "unneeded" services running using how-to guides on the net without fully appreciating the potential unintended consequences of this. My OS is vanilla XP Pro with no tweaks.
Using behavior blockers (e.g. HIPS programs, etc.) that provide oodles of prompts to allow a highly knowledgeable user to obtain exquisite control over all facets of their machine and a novice user to completely compromise the operability of that machine. Most users here are in-between those extremes, myself included, with results obtained between those extremes. The irony of these programs is that the default action in the event you don't know what to do should really be allow, whereas the probable action taken by a worried novice user will be to deny...
Lots of folks try lots of programs as they appear on the market. If there are program bugs this can cascade into ongoing problems.
Too many folks layer too many competing applications upon one another in the hopes of achieving absolutely perfect security. Instead these applications can be waging a vicious catfight in the background, with the expected results.
Many security applications have gone the route of patching the System Service Dispatch Table. This is a powerful approach, but with power comes potential consequences. Some products do this with parsimony, some promiscuously, some well, some not-so-well. There's no easy guide here, but the likelihood of problems does seem to ramp up as multiple applications are employed which successively hook into the same system services. NOD32, along with some other products, have not followed this path. This does seem to promote a better level of compatibility/stability in my personal experience.I use a default install of NOD32 and it works fine. I've performed a default install of the current ver 2.7 beta without so much as a single issue. If you wish to install and go, NOD32 should be fine.

Blue

[Tommy]

{QUOTE-> Tommy, you are right. PnP applies to hardware, really. I used it as a figure of spech: I want a program that I just install and it works and I don't spend the next 2 weeks trying to fix whatever it broke. Or trying to figure out how to get it to work right. <-QUOTE}
LOL, you see english is not my native one.
Any way, i think in this case you go well with NOD32. Easy to install, only view files, no deep bugging into the system, up and go.

[doug6949]

I have considerable difficulty learning new software and am quick to bash programs that are not intuitive. NOD32 doesn't have very good documentation, IMHO, but it is no less friendly than any other AV. You should not avoid it due to any perceived learning issues.

Of course you can ask questions here if you get stuck. Once NOD32 is running you can pretty much forget about it until time to renew the license.

I figured it out so it can't be too bad.

[martyk4vm]

Thanks Tommy. I know exactly one language: English, I am sorry to say. I must remember not to try to be clever!

BlueZanetti, I was hoping what I was seeing here was a lot of people doing a lot of tweeking, when it could be left alone. I do not download and try out programs: it is asking for trouble for me, who hates to fix things.

Doug6949: Thanks. Knowing if I have a problem, I can come here and get it fixed helps a lot. Not so with McAfee. If it gets broke, tooo bad!! Lately it appears to download the WHOLE program, instead of just the updates. When I am on the road and on dial-up,that is not acceptable!

Thanks one and all for the help.

[martyk4vm]

And Blue, thanks for your nice reply. That helps a lot.