PestPatrol has BIG problems

[bellgamin]

PestPatrol's Updater is badly broken. Day after day after day it keeps re-loading the SAME update files, & can't be gotten out of that loop.

See thread about this on PP's forum at
http://pestpatrol.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000061

Hurry if you want to read this. PP's "updater problems" thread seems to mysteriously lose postings from time to time.

It's sad that PP's reputation might get damaged by a secondary issue such as a buggy updater.

Regards,
Bellgamin

[root]

Looks like you have to register just to get in.
Are they paranoid? ;D

[marti]

I'm glad it's not just me. :D I reported this directly to PP Tech Support on 09/12/09. I had just updated to the latest files that day, and later on, hit the shortcut to the download site, by mistake. I was surprised to have the files from 09/09/02 start coming in!

They had me reload the updater, and I don't know what else. A few emails were exchanged, over a period of several days. I, on my own, uninstalled/reinstalled the program. Didn't help. Now it first gets the files for 09/09/02 and then I go back and it downloads the files for 09/12/02.

Go look at this file in the PP directory to see what you actually have on your system: "version.txt"

There should be 6 files listed. From the top the dates are: 09/10/02; 09/11/02; 09/11/02; 09/11/02; 09/11/02; and 09/12/02. Those are the current files. You can always verify the current files here: http://pestpatrol.com/Support/Downloads.asp

Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Note that there may be "beta" and "production" files listed.

BTW, I never heard back from them after the last email that I sent, saying "that didn't work either..."

(I maybe be telling you things that you already know, but it may help others .)

Edit: I added a shorter version of the above to the PP forum thread you referenced.

[discogail]

I had the same problem....When I tried the fix that was suggested..

"Using Windows Explorer, navigate to c:\program files\pestpatrol search for PestPatrolNews.txt highlight it and delete it.

Next, reboot your computer. Now retry the PestPatrol update, it should function ok after this. 9/11/02 is the date of the current .dat files."...........

It worked........

[marti]

{QUOTE-> quoting: discogail link=board=25;threadid=3785;start=0#25284 date=1032658285]I had the same problem....When I tried the fix that was suggested..

"Using Windows Explorer, navigate to c:\program files\pestpatrol search for PestPatrolNews.txt highlight it and delete it.

Next, reboot your computer. Now retry the PestPatrol update, it should function ok after this. 9/11/02 is the date of the current .dat files."...........

It worked........ <-QUOTE}That's interesting. I was never told to do that....

[marti]

I deleted the news file and rebooted; now the update site is down. :(

I went back over the emails exchanged, they had me reinstall the updater -- no change & I reported back; then they said to get the beta version of the updater -- I couldn't download it (you have to sign up to a beta tester); then they sent me the beta updater....

As I said above, they never responded to my the last email that I sent, the one that said "that did not work...."

None of the emails from PP tech support involved deleting the news file.

So, guys & gals, I'll try again, when the update site is "up."

[bellgamin]

The *solution* that discogail refers to is only a TEMPORARY fix. The PP forum thread that I referenced records user complaints about this very fact.

Deleting PPnews evidently tricks the updater into breaking out of repeatedly downloading the same updates. This trick only lasts for 1 or 2 days, however. The bug does NOT go away. The updater eventually returns to its repetitious ways. :-[

[marti]

Hi bellgamin,

I'll go back and carefully read the thread on the forum again. It's been a long day...

[bellgamin]

Hola Marti -- better read fast. As I said, some posts have mysteriously evaporated.

Ummm.... maybe they wuz et by the gaur? ;)

[marti]

HeHeHe. I remembered what you said. There is a "Printer-friendly view of this topic," which I used and then printed the complete thread. :D

[marti]

Days have gone by, and the thread on the Pest Patrol forum has grown. This is a forum, for the product, and provided by the product vendor. In my opinion, the thread is being ignored by the Pest Patrol folks, because they don't have an answer. What's wrong with saying "the problem has been referred to xxx department and we are working on the solution?"

[Paul Wilders]

We'll drop them an email and (try to) see what's going on over there. Keep you all posted.

regards.

paul

[marti]

Thanks, Paul.

[octogen]

{QUOTE-> quoting: marti link=board=25;threadid=3785;start=0#25769 date=1033111547]
...What's wrong with saying "the problem has been referred to xxx department and we are working on the solution?"
<-QUOTE}

Very good point! I have Pest Patrol and am very concerned. I too would like to thank Paul for looking into this matter.

[bellgamin]

I must add my thanks to Paul for checking with the PP folks. Maybe they will harken to him whereas we -- PP's users -- seem to be the voice in the wilderness for now.

The PP program does a LOT of stuff over & above trojans, so it's bound to be a complex piece of software. Moreover, PP is soon to release a major new version.

Ergo, I would guess that PP's *top guns* are busy on the new version & can't deal with this issue right now. But even a secretary could handle this -- just say "Be patient, we're working on it."

I like PP so much that I WILL be patient for a long time -- but maybe NOT for very long if they continue the silent treatment.

[FanJ]

A copy from a posting from today at the PestPatrol-forum from one of their mod's:

[hr]

A message from David Stang and the Support Team:

Our apologies for the troubles some people have experienced when trying to update PestPatrol. We are in the process of preparing version 4.0, and this new version will be using a very different format in pestpatrolnews.txt. Unfortunately, after changing the format, some things held up shipping version 4.0 -- which is now scheduled to ship in the next week or so.

In the meantime, we've reverted pestpatrolnews.txt to the old format, so that your PPUpdater should work correctly. For your information, the latest scan strings for your version will have dates of September 12.

We look forward to supporting you with version 4.0 sometime soon!

[marti]

Thanks for information, Jan.

[marti]

{QUOTE-> quoting: bellgamin link=board=25;threadid=3785;start=0#25276 date=1032652168]
PestPatrol's Updater is badly broken. Day after day after day it keeps re-loading the SAME update files, & can't be gotten out of that loop.

See thread about this on PP's forum at
http://pestpatrol.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000061

Hurry if you want to read this. PP's "updater problems" thread seems to mysteriously lose postings from time to time.

It's sad that PP's reputation might get damaged by a secondary issue such as a buggy updater.

Regards,
Bellgamin
<-QUOTE}Guess what? The thread was removed.

[discogail]

{QUOTE-> Guess what? The thread was removed.
<-QUOTE}

Wow....it has.......completely vanished.

[bellgamin]

The thread is gawn [song title]. :)

Okay, so the PP folks say that Updater is *fixed*

Is it? Well, yes, it no longer repeatedly downloads the same updates. Instead, it now downloads no updates whatsoever. That is, it indicates that the *latest* update of PP's pest signatures is the one dated 9/12/02. Nearly 1 month ago. :-\

[marti]

Latest rumor regarding PP Version 4: http://www.pcqanda.com/dcforum/computer/48717.html

[marti]

The Pest Patrol fourm has been down for a couple of days.

This is what I see:

There was a compilation error while loading the UBB libraries and data files:

Can't locate D:/Inetpub/wwwroot/SaferSite Production/cgi-bin/ubb_lib.cgi at E:\Inetpub\wwwroot\web3.PestPatrol.com\cgi-bin\UltimateBB.cgi line 75.

Please make sure that you uploaded the CGI and Variables files to the proper directory, permissions are set properly on the files, and that paths in the control panel are set correctly.

[Paul Wilders]

marti,

That info is not addressed to you, but to SaferSite/Pestpatrol. As it seems, they encounter CGI problems on their board software.

On a side note: as it seems, we (.org) are going to down rate PP within a week.

regards.

paul

[marti]

Paul,

I understand what the message at the PP forum means, I just find it very strange that it has remained in that state for days.

The lack of a working forum, plus no updates in a month is not acceptable.

[Paul Wilders]

marti,

OK - explained it just in case ;).

Indeed, there are several reasons for downrating PP - you have named some.

regards.

paul

[Ashak]

I think there's a new version coming out in a couple of weeks to resolve the issues. Might be an idea to wait until it's been assessed before downgrading? :)

I've only had it for three months or so, so I'll wait till the licence expires before switching assuming that they fix the current problems. To give them credit, PP staff have run a forum where they have provided solutions personally in the past, although this one obviously requires a complete overhaul of the software.

[marti]

The PP folks have been promising a new version for over a month now. They had problems with it, so didn't release it. That's fine as I would rather have a good version 4 that one that is full of "bugs." However, they have stopped issuing updates to version 3, that is not acceptable.

[Paul Wilders]

Ashak,

{QUOTE-> I think there's a new version coming out in a couple of weeks to resolve the issues. <-QUOTE}

That's planned indeed - a new Final Version release.

{QUOTE-> Might be an idea to wait until it's been assessed before downgrading? <-QUOTE}

Our rating depends on more than new releases. The software will be downrated. In case Safersite provides us with a registered copy from the new version, we will test it - and could uprate it depending on our findings amongst others. Customer support comes into play as well here.

regards.

paul