eset smart security and biometric services

i just thought i'd let someone know that after spending 2 days now.. loading, unloading, and restoring my brand new 1500 dollar hp tx2z 1300 laptop with biometrics built into it.. i finally.. at long last finally.. found out PRECISELY what was causing my fingerprint reader to fail to work on boot up for windows login.. then fail to be usable once inside windows as well.. until i killed the application that runs my password management software tied to my AuthenTec AES1610 biometric scanner that's built into my BRAND NEW laptop... then opened services.msc.. found the biometric authentication service, restarted the service.. logged off the pc.. and then the scanner was fully functional and useable. turns out.. it's the craptacular firewall that's been added to ESS... i remove the firewall or completely disable it.. and my scanner works PERFECTLY.. i attempt to add rules to the firewall or put it in learning mode or anything else.. if i turn the firewall on PERIOD.. it kills my scanner again.. now i've been an eset fan for many years as i've seen it kill/clean things that NOTHING else will... but this is simply unacceptible. i didn't drop 1500 bucks on a laptop with biometrics for ess to decide to muck up the mix bc either it's windows 7 home premium, or bc eset hasn't updated their software to be completely compatible w/ 7 w/o it screwing things up or bc eset simply can't design a decently working firewall. and i say the last thing bc this isn't the first unit i've had issues with eset's firewall on.. both on vista home premium and vista pro systems as well. just to make sure i'm not accusing the wrong program, i've now restored a laptop i've had all of a week.. 3 times.. each time replicating the problem by simply installing ESS.. so sadly, i've had to resort down to a trial of standard nod32 antivirus bc it' doesn't have the craptacular firewall that is mucking up my new laptop. i've also attempted authentec driver updates, digital persona software updates, and etc etc etc.. it all comes down to ESS's crappy firewall. i was considering going and simply ordering a 2yr ESS license to renew the existing to go with the new laptop.. but after the headache and hassle this has caused, until you guys decide to actually FIX this issue.. you won't be seeing another dime of my money as this is simply unacceptible. and to those nay sayers out there who wanna blame hp... blame the other software or drivers that hp is using.. etc etc etc.. sorry, been down that road.. explored the options.. and this is neither hp or microsoft's fault. this is all on you guys.

 

You've purchased ESS that includes a firewall. The role of firewall is to block unwanted communication based on certain rules. If you use specific applications, you must also count on with the necessity to adjust the firewall rules so that the applications you use are able to communicate.

I'd start with enabling logging of blocked connections in the IDS section of the firewall setup to get detailed information about the rule that is blocking the communication.

 

yeah see.. under the assumption i DON'T know how to configure a firewall.. the previous advice would placate the typical end user. however, i do know how to configure a firewall and what i'm TRYING to report to you people is even with proper configuration, your firewall still interferes with biometric services. incase you need a reminder, firewalls are designed to block unwanted NETWORK traffic.. NOT communication WITHIN the operating system and it's attached peripherals/devices.

 

Thanks Michael611

Now i know whats the problem with my HP Laptop's Fingerprint scanner.

I was been a huge ESET fan all these years, but, now i regret, Bye bye ESET, moving to something else, may be a free AV + a free Firewall combo

 

that makes 2 of us @ being a huge eset fan for several years. which saddens me as I've never found ANY other antivirus that has the clean interface, the sheer power, and light memory footprint of nod32. which is why for now, I'm running the trial. which saddens me also due to a paid license i own for smart security. hopefully someone somewhere up the chain will read this.. do a little research and fix their product as i really enjoyed ESS up until this point. but i won't continue to run ESS if I'm going to lose basic functionality of part of my laptop due to ess's firewall thinking it should run every facet of my laptop instead of asking me what I WANT it to do. even in interactive mode, it still assumes control of certain parts of my system and still disables my fingerprint scanner. which imo is ridiculous.. it's not network traffic therefore a firewall has ZERO business tampering with it. and just incase the moderators, engineers, or tech support is curious.. yes.. i tried changing zones, all the rules, adding exceptions, etc etc etc.. and NOTHING works to allow me to run both the firewall and my fingerprint scanner. i can even disable the firewall and it still doesn't work. it's not until i COMPLETELY REMOVE the firewall that i regain the functionality of my biometric scanner. just to prove a point, i went and installed trend micro internet security 2010.. which also has a bit of a stringent/pain in the neck firewall.. and zero problems there.. and just to make sure i didn't luck out.. i also went and installed kaspersky internet security.. also zero interference with my biometric scanner. ESS is the ONLY product i've tried with a built in firewall that automatically assumes control over my laptop with it's firewall and goes beyond helping the user.. but instead hindering the users' ability to interface with the attached peripherals/devices of the pc. which in my opinion is simply unacceptable. people don't pay for licenses of eset's products to CREATE problems.. but to SOLVE them.

 

I love ESS, but i cant live without my finger print scanner (as i use it for almost all logins).

Now am moved to Microsoft Security Essential (the Free AV from MS, clean, neat) and Online Armor Free Edition, quite happy with the setup.

I will come back to ESS when they resolves this issue.