My PGP personal had been working just fine. I installed the latest MS critical updates. Now I no longer are able to sign messages that I reply to. When I attempt to do this my CPU usage goes to 100% and OE quits working. Has anyone else had this problem? Any solutions? I've sent an e-mail to tech support and just waiting for reply.
AMH209: From your description, it sounds like you're using the PGP 8.0 Outlook Express email plug-in. Is that case? Has that plug-in given you any other problems? Also, what version of Internet Explorer/Outlook Express are you using? Have you tried using the Current Window function from PGPtray to encrypt/sign messages? Sorry to pepper you with questions, but the PGP email plug-ins have always been flaky and problematic. Best, Eric L. Howes
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 You are correct, I'm using the PGP plug-in for OE. I'm using version 6 of both IE & OE with all patches installed. I installed the critcal updates released Wednesday. I didn't notice a problem until yesterday, but that may of been the first time I attempted to reply and sign an e-mail. I can create a new message and sign it using the plug-in or using sign current window without any problems. If I hit reply, type in a message, and try to sign it using either the plug-in or the sign current window, the CPU usage goes to 100% and OE quits responding. This is the first problem I've had with PGP 8. Up to this point, it has worked flawlessly. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP 8.0 Comment: This message scanned for viruses with Norton Anti-virus iQA/AwUBPkT6NE0VlUR3SnEGEQJohQCgqeoRU4cVS6kkQye/jM68PzJJ2BYAmQG8 RagnuBs1m5+Wi4ta6UynGnJl =t2h5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
AMH209: OK, as I said the email plug-ins have always been flaky. Here's what I'd suggest (at least until you hear back from PGP Corp.): uninstall and reinstall PGP 8.0. Yes, it's a pain, and I can't guarantee that it will work, but it's about your only shot for getting the email plug-ins to work. 1. Back up your keyrings. Copy secring.skr and pubring.pkr to another directory. The uninstall should leave the existing keyrings alone, and you should be able to point PGP at them on re-install, but best to be safe. 2. Back up your PGPPREFS.TXT. If you're on Win2K/XP, it should be here: C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Application Data\PGP Corporation\PGP\PGPprefs.txt ...where {username} is the account you're logged into. If you're on Windows 9x/Me, it'll be somewhere in your Windows dir. Do a search for it. Backing up your PGPPREFS.TXT will save you having to re-authorize (since you've got a pay version). It'll also allow you to keep all your current PGP options. 3. Uninstall PGP 8.0 using Add/Remove Programs. Don't forget to reboot. 4. After reboot, do a search on your Windows dir for files named pgp*.*. Delete any that you find. You might also scour the Registry with your favorite Registry cleaner for any stray PGP Registry keys hanging around. 5. Reinstall PGP 8.0 to the *same* directory. During the re-installation, PGP will ask you if you have existing keyrings and should automatically allow you to select the existing keyrings. If for some reason the old keyrings aren't in the PGP keyring dir (which is usually in your My Documents folder, unless you specified a different location), simply point the PGP installer at the backed up versions of your keyrings that you made earlier. 6. Before reboot, copy your backed-up PGPPREFS.TXT to the PGP user dir where you originally found it. Overwrite any existing PGPPREFS.TXT. 7. Reboot and then try the OE plug-in. As I said, I can't guarantee this will work. If the OE plug-in simply refuses to behave with the latest OE6/IE6 updates, then that's definitely worth telling PGP Corp. about. They are preparing a bug-fix/update for PGP 8.0 (not sure when it will come out). That the Current Window function also causes this problem when you hit Reply and attempt to sign is very odd. Not sure what to make of that. That almost (seems to me) points to some underlying problem with Outlook Express itself. Let me know if you have any questions regarding my advice above. Best, Eric L. Howes
Thanks Eric. I don't have time to try that today, but tomorrow after church I will give it a try. I will let you know what happens.
Eric, Excellent! I was hoping the plug-in troubles would be over with this new bunch, but I guess not? I don't use the plug-ins, but my PGP 8 is operating flawlessly. Thanks for your contribution here in this thread, and your greater contribution at-large through your website. It is plain and simple a must-stop for anyone serious about computer security and privacy. It's worth posting the URL again: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/main-nf.htm All the best, John Luv2BSecure
luv2bsecure: Thanks for the plug (and the link). Actually, I'm beginning to wonder whether this is a plug-in problem at all. AMH209 reports the same problem with the Current Window function, which (to this untutored observer) indicates an underlying problem with OE. And just now I was reminded of a problem that I myself ran into with Outlook Express 6.0 since applying the latest IE 6.0 w/ SP1 cumulative patch from a few days ago. Here's what's been happening: 1. I hit Reply to Sender to reply to a message in Outlook Express. 2. Reply to message window pops up. 3. I insert cursor and begin typing. 4. About 5-10 seconds after I begin typing my reply I get an error naming "Sysfader" (and I have no idea what that is). Upon hitting "OK" (why does MS force you to "OK" an error?), Outlook Express crashes. This error first hit last night or the night before after applying the latest IE cumulative patch. I hadn't thought much of it until it happened again and I remembered the PGP 8.0 problem with the Reply window. Could they be related? Seems a strange coincidence to me. I wasn't using PGP 8.0 in my reply, but it otherwise was a similar set of circumstances. I was eventually able to reply by closing IE and OE, clearing Temporary Internet Files, and then re-starting OE. Anyone else run into problems with OE after applying the latest IE cumulative patch? Eric L. Howes
Eric, I got a chance to follow your instructions this evening. I still have the same problem. I remembered I had not installed the updates on my desktop computer yet, so I went and tested PGP on it. No problems. I can reply to messages and sign them without any type of errors. I guess tomorrow I will try to uninstall the updates on my laptop and see if that corrects the issue. I will let you know what I find out.
AMH209: Sorry to hear that the reinstall didn't work. I'm really thinking at this point that there's some kind of glitch in OE that's been introduced with the latest IE update. OE crashed several more times on me tonight, each time after I'd hit the Reply to Sender and began composing a reply. This is very annoying. Best, Eric L. Howes
Just M$'s way of giving the government a helping hand in preventing people from using PGP. You don't have to get laws passed for a "golden key" to someone's password if you can totally sabotage the encryption program at the email program level. Pete
PGP support replied to my request and they suggested uninstalling and re-installing PGP (already had done that thanks to Eric). So their next suggestion is to uninstall the patches I installed. So, I thought I would try that, but I ran into one (actually two) little problem. Two of the three updates are not listed in the add/remove software. So, I can't uninstall the updates. I've sent them an e-mail back and waiting for a reply. Since I'm not always the most patient person, I thought about just doing a restore to an earlier time, but I really like to know what the problem maybe. So I went to MS messageboard and started searching and guess what..MS released a bad DLL. If you revert back to MSHTML.dll v1126, it appears to correct the problem. I have sent out about a dozen test messages without any crashes. The new DLL that seems to cause the problem is included in 810847: February 2003, Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1. So far just copying the old dll into the system32 file seems to have fixed the problem. Thanks for everyones help! Its nice to have a friendly place you can come and seek advice.
Everyone should have learned the lesson: Always wait for Mickey$oft to issue the patched patch before using any patch !
AMH209: Thanks for the updated info on this problem. Reverting to a previous version of DLL can be a pain (as you've undoubtedly discovered), but it is necessary occasionally. That's why I always keep previous versions of patches for a good long while. The downside, of course, is that by reverting to the previous DLL version you're essentially losing the protection against the security holes fixed in the updated version. Nice trade-off that. In some ironic way, it's a good thing Microsoft has been forced to patch so often in the past year or so. It shouldn't be too long before the next cumulative patch comes out. Perhaps this issue will be fixed in the next one. Best, Eric L. Howes
