FSIS 2007 Manual Scanning Problem

[Simon6776]

I have one last issue to resolve with F-Secure IS 2007, and that is this ongoing manual scanning problem. Whenever I try to run a Full System Scan, the scan stalls at roughly the same point each time, either on one of a couple of C:\Windows files, or, strangely, or G:\, which doesn't exist on my system. If I do a Scan Hard Drives scan, everything is fine, but if I do a Quick Spyware Scan, or a Full System Scan, it stalls. I can only guess that this must be something to do with the spyware scanning engine, and that it must be conflicting with something else on my machine, even though I have uninstalled all other spyware apps, and even tried to run the scan in selective startup mode, with no other programs running, other than Windows services. One thing I haven't tried is a scan in safe mode, but I noticed something this evening when I was looking at the Exclusions list. The scan seems to ignore this list, and still tried to scan files in the list, which are supposed to be excluded, and thus stalls on those files, but looking at the F-Secure Help pages, it seems that the number of files skipped during a scan is supposed to be displayed on the scan interface. As far as I can see, the number of skipped files should appear above the number of scanned files, but this seems to be missing on mine (see pic below).

I'm now wondering if there's something wrong with the skipping or exclusions process, which could be causing the scans to stall? Can anyone confirm whether they have the number of skipped files displayed on the scanner interface? Any other comments or suggestions would also be appreciated.

[Simon6776]

-{ Quote: "Can anyone confirm whether they have the number of skipped files displayed on the scanner interface? Any other comments or suggestions would also be appreciated." }-

Anyone...? :'(

[trjam]

What is your Drive G. And does it really need to scan it.

[Simon6776]

That's the thing, there's isn't a Drive G. :wacko: Well, not a fixed one, anyway. Drive G only appears when I use my Digital Camera via USB, but it's not connected during scans, and putting it in the Exclusions list has no effect.

[trjam]

-{ Quote: "That's the thing, there's isn't a Drive G. :wacko: Well, not a fixed one, anyway. Drive G only appears when I use my Digital Camera via USB, but it's not connected during scans, and putting it in the Exclusions list has no effect." }-
Is the cord still connected though.

[Simon6776]

No.

I am just trying another spyware scan. I did have a desktop shortcut to G:\, which I have now removed, in case it was that which was confusing it, but I don't think it will help. In fact, possibly another issue, but the Exclusions list is being totally ignored. I deliberately put C:\WINDOWS in the list, as a test, and it's still merrily scanning it regardless. I am expecting it to stall at any moment now. ::)

[Simon6776]

Yup, just had to reboot again. Stalled on C:\WINDOWS\twain_32\escndv\escndv.exe which is my Epson Printer / Scanner. The scan stalls, I press Stop, then the whole things crashes, CPU shoots up to 98% and a cold reboot is the only escape. :-\

[lodore]

i cant belive you are having all those problems with scanning and still keeping the program.
i mean cmon there is nod32,antivir,avast,drweb etc etc to try and see if they work on your pc
lodore

[ronjor]

Maybe we should see if we can get the "FSIS 2007 Manual Scanning Problem" solved before recommending other antivirus programs. It might be helpful to others.

[lodore]

simon have you emailed f-secure and made one of those fsdiag and sent it to them?
the fs-diag is information about your current system to aid the f-secure support
technicians. its found in the f-secure folder in program files and creates a fsdiag file in the same folder im sure f-secure can help you make one of those
lodore

[C.S.J]

just for curiousity,

is the drive a fat32 drive?

also, id recommend some registry software to fix and clean it, i know lavasoft in the past has had problems scanning certain registry files, is this what it stops on, if so, id recommend a good registry cleaner/fixer.

[Simon6776]

-{ Quote: "i cant belive you are having all those problems with scanning and still keeping the program." }-
You have a point, and a good one. I guess it's because I like the suite, and it's become something of a challenge to get it all to work properly, and I'm not one to give up easily. ;D It's not really "all those problems", because the other issues I had have now been sorted, and the Hard Drives Scan works fine (for viruses), as does the Root Kit Scan. It's only the Spyware Scan that doesn't work, and this obviously affects the Full System Scan. I can use Super Anti-Spyware for occasional spyware scans, and I assume that the FSIS real time monitor is working, so there shouldn't be a security problem. It's probably disagreeing with something else on my PC (or something that used to be on my PC), and I expect a format and re-installation of Windows would do the trick, and is, in fact, long overdue, but it's finding the time to do it.

[Simon6776]

-{ Quote: "simon have you emailed f-secure and made one of those fsdiag and sent it to them? " }-
Yes, done that, Lodore, and they have yet to respond. I actually sent a follow up fsdiag immediately after a failed scan, so hopefully they might be able to spot something.

-{ Quote: "just for curiousity, is the drive a fat32 drive?" }-
Are you referring to the non-existant 'G' drive? Umm... I don't know, it's an external drive for a Digital Camera, so isn't there unless the camera is connected. If you mean my main hard drives, no, they are NTFS.

[dw2108]

Simon6776, try this as a possible temporary fix. Create a folder with any name, preferably on your root drive, say C:\Stuff. Bring up your command prompt cmd.exe. Type this: subst G: C:\Stuff, and hit enter. Try scanning now. After you scan, you can delete the virtual drive g by bringing up your command prompt, and typing this: subst G: /D. This may work. If there is a sharing violation between your software and the creation of a virtual drive G, then Windows shall not allow you to create a virtual drive. You may wish to see if your camera's support page has a better quick fix for this issue.

Best of luck.

Dave

[Simon6776]

Thanks Dave, I'll try that, but I'm being called to carve the Sunday joint at the moment, so it will have to wait until after lunch, or F-Secure will be the least of my problems! ;D

[lodore]

with f-secure if you have any other security program on your pc and you tell them about it they will say uninstall it f-secure is all you need.
that is the point when i got rid of f-secure because i want to choose my own security programs thank you very much;D

[Simon6776]

Yes, and that's one of the two reasons I dumped FS2006, along with the more annoying problem that it wouldn't let me turn off the PC. I made sure I uninstalled all my other security software before I sent them the fsdiag, as it makes no difference to the scanning problem whether they are installed or not, but I knew they would just use those as a reason for FS not working properly. If they find traces of uninstalled programs, that's another thing, and hopefully they might be able to pinpoint which program has left something behind which is causing the stalling scans.

[Simon6776]

-{ Quote: "Simon6776, try this as a possible temporary fix. Create a folder with any name, preferably on your root drive, say C:\Stuff. Bring up your command prompt cmd.exe. Type this: subst G: C:\Stuff, and hit enter. Try scanning now. After you scan, you can delete the virtual drive g by bringing up your command prompt, and typing this: subst G: /D. This may work. If there is a sharing violation between your software and the creation of a virtual drive G, then Windows shall not allow you to create a virtual drive. You may wish to see if your camera's support page has a better quick fix for this issue.

Best of luck.

Dave" }-
OK, I did as per instructions, although I'm still not really sure exactly what I did. The results were interesting, in that this time, the scan stuck on 'F:\'. Now, I do have an F Drive - it's my second hard drive, but to be honest, I don't think it was actually the 'F' drive it stuck on, because it had only scanned 6164 files on 'C' drive, which is nowhere near complete. I wonder if it's relevant that it always seems to stick at roughly the same number of scanned files? 6153 in example above, 6164 this time, and it's always around this number of files when it stalls. :-\

[Sputnik]

I would recommend you running a Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/) test, because I'm beginning to doubt your RAM.

[Simon6776]

-{ Quote: "I would recommend you running a Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/) test, because I'm beginning to doubt your RAM." }-
Can I ask what your reasoning behind that is? Everything else works fine, it's only F-Secure I have a problem with. All other suites scan completely without any trouble. :-\

[Sputnik]

-{ Quote: "Can I ask what your reasoning behind that is? Everything else works fine, it's only F-Secure I have a problem with. All other suites scan completely without any trouble. :-\" }-
Since your problem always shows up after scanning around 6100 files. Memory can be 'loaded' in different ways, and in that way only can show up during certain situations. I'm not saying that you have bad memory, but it might be good to test it and rule it out.

[Simon6776]

OK, I'll give it a go.

[Simon6776]

Gulp! Well, I let it run for an hour and a half, and it did 3 and a bit passes...

... 1532 errors!! :o :o

Not really sure where to go from here. Everything else on my system seems to work fine. I usually get no lock ups, blue screens, or any other problems. I guess if this is what's causing the scanning problems, I'll either have to live with it, or ditch F-Secure again. Funny though, how this never happened with 2006, and it only happens with the spyware scan. :-\

[lodore]

maybe you will have to get new ram your not meant to have even one error in a ram module.
i learnt that from the ram guy
lodore

[Simon6776]

I have ordered a new RAM stick from http://www.crucial.com/uk, which I can use for testing, and if necessary, I can order a second one to replace both of my current RAM modules. This may seem an extreme measure, just to get F-Secure to work, but thinking about it, for some time now, I have been getting random desktop freezes, usually after closing some applications, such as Sea Monkey or Paint Shop. I guess I must have got used to it, and as such, don't really notice, and didn't connect it at first, but it could be another indicator of bad RAM.

[lodore]

i need to do the same but convincing my dad is hard;D
i will do the memtest86 on my pc sometime soon and see how many errors it reports
lodore

[Simon6776]

I have to say, 1532 errors does seem extremely, er... extreme, given that only ONE is deemed as significant, and it makes me wonder, a) if the test is reliable, and b), if correct, how the PC is running at all!

[lodore]

how much ram have you got in your pc?
and how much do you normally use?
you should read the faq made by the ram guy
i cant seem to find a link to it thou.
i guess you could run the memtest again
lodore

[Simon6776]

I currently have 2 x 256Mb of RAM, and have ordered another 256Mb stick. I intended to replace each of my existing sticks individually, and see if any difference is made. If not, I can still use the extra 256Mb stick as an upgrade. How much RAM do I use? How would I know? http://www.avfu59.dsl.pipex.com/smileys/dunno.gif

[lodore]

task manager is normally what i use to check.
or process explorer
lodore

[Simon6776]

I have 43 running processes in my Task Manager. Excuse the muppetry, but am I supposed to look at the Mem Usage column, and add them all up? :blink: :-\

[trjam]

-{ Quote: "I have 43 running processes in my Task Manager. Excuse the muppetry, but am I supposed to look at the Mem Usage column, and add them all up? :blink: :-\" }-
You have a hell of alot more patience for them, then I do. I had to get rid of it because of the updating problem and no support.

[Simon6776]

-{ Quote: "You have a hell of alot more patience for them, then I do. I had to get rid of it because of the updating problem and no support." }-
Although it may have been the catalyst, this isn't all for F-Secure. It does appear as though I have a RAM problem, which I may not have otherwise discovered, and I would have wanted to get that sorted regardless.

[Simon6776]

I have just had a reply from F-Secure, and predictably, they have said that the 'fsdiag' shows that traces of Norton and Bit Defender are still in the system. I used the Norton Removal Tool to remove Norton IS 2007, so is there anything else I can use to totally clean my system from Norton? Same applies to Bit Defender, although I think I may have found an uninstallation tool for that. I have to admit, although I like F-Secure, it does seem particularly fickle regarding other software, and whilst I am not giving up just yet, the limit of my patience is drawing into view.

[JerryM]

-{ Quote: "I have just had a reply from F-Secure, and predictably, they have said that the 'fsdiag' shows that traces of Norton and Bit Defender are still in the system. I used the Norton Removal Tool to remove Norton IS 2007, so is there anything else I can use to totally clean my system from Norton? Same applies to Bit Defender, although I think I may have found an uninstallation tool for that. I have to admit, although I like F-Secure, it does seem particularly fickle regarding other software, and whilst I am not giving up just yet, the limit of my patience is drawing into view." }-

Although those of us who frequent these type forums do enjoy trialling AVs and helping others when problems arise, some of us do not want to take the time, or don't have the expertise to do much trouble shooting, and sending reports to the developers. I am in the latter category.
Accordingly, even our patience runs out.

Some of the best AVs, from a detection viewpoint, also are problems. If I look at Avira, Kaspersky, and F-Secure I see that.

I think that is a reason that those applications will never be popular among the general population of users. The vast majority is not interested in security applications per se, but just want good protection without having to uninstall, install, restart, and troubles.

I suspect that AVG, Avast, and NOD are some of the least problem applications. I suspect also that F-Prot is also relatively trouble free, although I have never used it.

It is not clear to me why some have constant problems with updates, shutdowns, scans, and conflicts with other security programs, while others do not. But that seems to be the case.
If we had an AV that caught 100% of malware, but did not run well on some computers, it would be worthless on those systems.

Best,
Jerry

[Simon6776]

So, what you're saying, Jerry, is that some of us seem to have too much time on our hands? ;D ;D

I know I should probably just leave it, uninstall F-Secure, and reinstall KIS, which gave me hardly any running problems, except for a few minor irritations, and is on the whole, a very good suite, but I think it is interesting testing different brands of software, and trying to solve the problems some of them present. It also offers the benefit of being able to help others, on forums such as these, if one is familiar with a variety of software, and it's potential challenges. If I hated F-Secure per se, I wouldn't be bothering with it at all, but I like the suite, and I genuinely want it to work. If I were to simply give up and remove it, I would be forever wondering what the problems were, and if there could have been a solution, so I do want to explore all possibilities, as far as my technical knowledge, and patience will allow.

I will try to remove all traces of Bit Defender and Norton, and will test a new memory module, but if all fails, I will have to admit defeat, and either live with F-Secure as it is, or bin it and use something else, before everyone on here gets bored to death of me. ;)

[midway40]

I hope you get it all sorted out. Anyone who is as tenacious as you deserves it! ;D

I finally found an answer to my "When will FSIS for Vista will be out?"

http://www.f-secure.com/vista/

:)

[JerryM]

-{ Quote: "So, what you're saying, Jerry, is that some of us seem to have too much time on our hands? ;D ;D

I know I should probably just leave it, uninstall F-Secure, and reinstall KIS, which gave me hardly any running problems, except for a few minor irritations, and is on the whole, a very good suite, but I think it is interesting testing different brands of software, and trying to solve the problems some of them present. It also offers the benefit of being able to help others, on forums such as these, if one is familiar with a variety of software, and it's potential challenges. If I hated F-Secure per se, I wouldn't be bothering with it at all, but I like the suite, and I genuinely want it to work. If I were to simply give up and remove it, I would be forever wondering what the problems were, and if there could have been a solution, so I do want to explore all possibilities, as far as my technical knowledge, and patience will allow.

I will try to remove all traces of Bit Defender and Norton, and will test a new memory module, but if all fails, I will have to admit defeat, and either live with F-Secure as it is, or bin it and use something else, before everyone on here gets bored to death of me. ;)" }-

Hi Simon,
Not too much time, it is what we find interesting enough to allocate the time.
:thumb: ;D

I would find it more interesting if I had more knowledge, but I will not ever take the time to take a course or courses to bring me up to speed. :'( I admit that when I go through the process to solve problems I learn, and I like that.

On the other hand, I do lose patience when I have to spend a day or so trying to solve a problem. It takes a lot of time, because I need a lot of help, and in the meantime my computer is not working the way I want. I was out of action for over a day just trying to send a dmp file to Kaspersky. Many of you could have done that in an hour.

I am glad that there are those of you who do have the abilities, and can get info to the developers to improve the product. :thumb:

I know you know all that, and I am just preaching to the choir.

Regards,
Jerry

[Simon6776]

I fear that I'm going to have to accept defeat on this one. I have tried new memory, and there is a definite improvement in system performance, so it was worthwhile in any case, but still F-Secure stalls in the same place on the spyware scan. Short of formatting and reinstalling Windows, I can't think of anything else to try.

[lodore]

so what antivirus is next for you Simon?
lodore

[JerryM]

-{ Quote: "I fear that I'm going to have to accept defeat on this one. I have tried new memory, and there is a definite improvement in system performance, so it was worthwhile in any case, but still F-Secure stalls in the same place on the spyware scan. Short of formatting and reinstalling Windows, I can't think of anything else to try." }-

Hi Simon,

I had the problem of F-Secure stalling on my desktop. It stopped at the same place, Software\Microsoft\ ...\{04E214E5-63AF-4236-83C6-A7ADCBF98D02}

Of course, that means absolutely nothing to me except a conflict with software. I had that happen a couple of times, and removed it. I had a stall problem with KAV6 and finally removed it. I hope, and believe, they will soon correct whatever the problem is.The problem began after KAV MP2 came out.
Since FS uses the Kaspersky engine, there may be some connection there. I installed Avast, and it did not have the problem, and now I am using NOD as a trial, and it has no problems.

I might mention that on my laptop I am using F-Secure IS suite, and it is running without problems. Both computers have 1 gig of memory so that is not the problem. ??? ??? I like both KAV and F-Secure real well, but not enough to put up with those problems.
I sent a dmp file to KL once, but that gets old. I cannot troubleshoot an AV very well so I need one to run well with minimum trouble.

Regards,
Jerry

[Simon6776]

Jerry, yes mine also stalls at roughly the same point each time, at around 6300 files, or about 10 minutes into the scan. It usually sticks on one of a number of files, one of which is my Epson CX3600 printer software, and if you refer to the beginning of this thread, you'll see it used to stick on 'G' drive, which doesn't exist unless a USB device is connected, like a digital camera. Strangely now, it sticks on 'F:\', which does exist, and is my secondary hard drive. I have now run out of ideas, and the only way I can think of to clear any possible remnants of uninstalled software which may be conflicting, is to format and reinstall Windows, which is a bit of a drastic measure, and not something I really wish to undertake. I have never known any other security software that is so fussy over other software. Surely F-Secure don't expect their software to always be installed on pristine new hard drives?

-{ Quote: "so what antivirus is next for you Simon?
lodore" }-

Umm.... well the only other one I really like, which ran well on my system, is KIS, but apparently there are some issues with the latest version at the moment, so, given that I can use an alternative spyware scanner for manual scans, I will probably stick with F-Secure, at least until the license expires in a couple of months. Who knows, by then, someone might have come up with a solution! ;D

Oh, I also like Bit Defender, but can't get uTorrent to work properly with it.

[JerryM]

Are we all going to have to go with AVG free or Avast Home?;D I have not tried AVG lately, but Avast always runs well without conflicts. I wonder why some of the top ones cannot do as well. NOD is doing well for me.

Best,
Jerry

[Simon6776]

I've tried the stand alone AVG Anti Spyware, and found that OK, but haven't tried the AV or the Suite. I have a thing about Suites, and would probably give it a go, if I could find it cheap enough. Anyone know of a retailer selling AVG OEMs? ;)

Oh, and F-Secure has asked me to send yet another 'fsdaig'. ::) At least they're not ignoring me, but they aren't coming up with any solutions either.

[lodore]

are you still using f-secure?
or have you switched to another av while you wait?
lodore

[JerryM]

-{ Quote: "I've tried the stand alone AVG Anti Spyware, and found that OK, but haven't tried the AV or the Suite. I have a thing about Suites, and would probably give it a go, if I could find it cheap enough. Anyone know of a retailer selling AVG OEMs? ;)

Oh, and F-Secure has asked me to send yet another 'fsdaig'. ::) At least they're not ignoring me, but they aren't coming up with any solutions either." }-

Hopefully FS will find the solution. I am not having trouble on my laptop.


Best,
Jerry

[Simon6776]

-{ Quote: "are you still using f-secure?
or have you switched to another av while you wait?
lodore" }-
Yes, I see no reason, apart from the annoyance, of not doing so. My security isn't being compromised. It's only the manual spyware scan that doesn't work, and I can use SAS for that. I might have gone back to KIS, but I understand there are some issues with MP2, and I don't miss all those PDM pop ups, and also, while I am still corresponding with F-Secure support, I wouldn't want to keep having to reinstall it to try out any other suggestions they may come up with.

I would be interested to give the AVG suite a try though.

[Simon6776]

Just as an update to this sorry saga, F-Secure told me yesterday that there are corrupt F-Secure files showing in the fsdiag, and to reinstall FSIS 2007. I had already reinstalled it three times, but I used the uninstallation tool, and followed that by CCleaner, and RegSupreme. After a reboot, I then went into Windows System Configuration, and disabled anything but essential Windows services, before reinstalling FS. After the installation, still with nothing but Windows services running, I tried the scan, and, as expected, it failed at about the same point again.

After reporting back to F-Secure yesterday, today they said that 'sbautoupdate.exe' was still on my system, even though I had already removed Spyware Blaster the other day. I feel we are just going round in circles. First they complain about other software, then they say reinstall FS, then it's back to other software again. I am starting to wonder if the support guys actually do know anything, or whether they are just working from scripts. I know it's difficult to diagnose problems remotely, but it's just getting silly now.

I like F-Secure, but not enough to format and reinstall Windows just to get the manual spyware scanner to work, but all the time it's not working, despite what I said before, it's bugging me. I will wait for their next response, but I think, after that, it will be time to move on and look for something else, or go back to KIS. I've been more than persistent in trying to get F-Secure to work, and have removed all other security from my PC. They can't ask for more, so it looks like bye bye F-Secure, once again, and hopefully the 2008 version will be better.