ESET will not permit access to other programs

After using ESET Security for the free 30 day period I decided to purchase a license and installed the full version. That was this morning. This afternoon I started having serious issues. The software identified 2 current programs as Trojans and deleted both. The first program was Adobe Bridge – a component in Creative Suite; the second program was a set of games (for my nephew) installed under Big Fish. Later the software identified several Word documents as Trojans and deleted those. Now it will not permit me to access my own website – a graphic intensive site. My system has slowed to a crawl and surf time is ridiculously slow. The software will also not permit the opening of attachments in e-mail. None of these issues occurred during the trial period. In fact, the system ran quite smoothly and quickly with ESET installed, which, of-course, is why I bought the license and installed the full version. Please, can someone tell me what is happening and how to resolve this mess?

System Specs:

Pentium® D 3.20 GHz
4 GB RAM
OS: Windows XP Pro
Internet Connection: Cable Broadband

 

Could you please provide more details, such as the exact path to the files detected as trojans as well as the exact trojan name? ESS/EAV do not block access to attachments at all. As for slow performance, try using Process monitor from Microsoft to monitor what files are being accessed. Do you use default settings? Couldn't it be that you enabled advanced heuristics and runtime packers on access in the real-time protection setup?

 

YIKES – okay, you probably are not going to like this; however…I have no idea what you are talking about in your post. Perhaps I’m at the wrong forum – I am not a techie. I’m a writer/photographer with enough computer skill to get myself in trouble, but not enough to understand what you wrote.

ESS/EAV do not block access to attachments at all. As for slow performance, try using Process monitor from Microsoft to monitor what files are being accessed. Do you use default settings? Couldn't it be that you enabled advanced heuristics and runtime packers on access in the real-time protection setup?
Yes, I use default settings
What are “advanced heuristics and runtime packers?

I merely downloaded the software from the ESET site; followed the directed steps to install it on my system; allowed it to run what it needed to run (again, according to the directions supplied) and completed the setup. I rebooted my system, everything seemed fine for a bit and then all heck broke loose and continues to worsen.

I have tried uninstalling and then reinstalling the software. When uninstalled, all the issues disappear; when reinstalled, the issues reappear. My Internet speed without running ESET is massively faster; however, this is not much of an option for the obvious reason of security. Also, when ESET was not installed I had no issues with opening other files. As soon as the software was installed (both times) the system slowed dramatically.

Most puzzling of all – at least to my uneducated mind – is the fact the software worked great in trial version, but works poorly in full version. I cannot figure this out at all.

I am fully willing to admit I may well be the cause of these issues, or at least, I may have done something that created these issues. Unfortunately, I have no clue how to resolve them. Thank you for your input.

 

Since you installed ESS with default settings and haven't changed anything since then, I assume that advanced heuristics and runtime packers are disabled. These options provide better detection at the cost of higher impact on system performance and thus are enabled only for newly created files by default.

There is virtually no difference between a trial and full version as trial versions are actually full versions with a temporary username/password embedded. The only explanation that occurs to me is that the problem started exhibiting after installing the latest full version 3.0.669 which is a bit newer than the evaluation version.

At any rate, it'd be interesting to know whether disabling the real-time file or web protection makes a difference. Would it be possible for you to test it and let me know? I will send you a PM as well.

 

Hi Marcos – first, thank you very much for taking the time to help me figure this out. I sent an e-mail to tech support, but they have yet to respond. Hopefully, I will hear from them soon.

Meanwhile, I tried your suggestion of disabling Real Time. It seems to make a difference. With it disabled I was able to open Bridge and also the game module. And yes, I figured there was no difference between the trial and purchased versions – that is part of why I am so confused about this problem. I also responded to your PM. Thanks again.

Irene

 

Hi Marcos - I got a response from ESET that makes my blood boil (not a pretty sight). They said they are aware that the program is causing a large number of "false positives" and they are addressing the issue in an update...soon. I'm steaming because they do not seem to "get it" my system will not permit me to open my business files (Adobe) without deactivating the security suite first. This is idiotic - at least to my eyes. I need the security suite when online - which is where I spend much of my day - but, I also need to access Photoshop and Word, since I use these with my clients. What a *&*!!! mess! I think I just have to dump the thing and return to Norton or something else. UGGHHHHH... But, I really do appreciate your help and attempts to resolve this issue. Thanks again.

 

I'm aware only about one false positive that was fixed yesterday and it concerned only one specific game.

I have provided you with an older version of ESS so that you could test the very same version as you had been evaluating before purchasing a full version and confirm or deny that it makes a difference. Have you managed to install it eventually?

 

Hi there

This is a problem that has repeated itself on the wifes computer, she runs Vista and the most recent Eset program. 3.0.669.0

All her Big Fish were flagged as and deleted by Eset.

It has been resolved by a system restore and removal of ESET, now using a competitors suite for the time being.

I have 3 other machines which are all unaffected by the problem.

Not too helpful but I am highlighting that you are not alone, especially with the Big Fish games.

 

In the event of a false positive, it's possible to restore the file from Quarantine. EAV/ESS doesn't delete file from a disk without making a copy of it in Quarantine.

 

Poo Bear and Marcos – I need to clarify a misunderstanding: I am not concerned about my nephew’s games. He can play other games or play on the laptop. I am concerned about not being able to access Bridge and/or certain Word files. Bridge is absolutely essential to my work and, at least at this time, I cannot access Bridge without first deactivating ESET. This is what has me feeling frustrated. I do not know if this issue affects other high graphic/high RAM using programs or not – I’d be interested in knowing this.

Marcos – please check your PM about the link you provided. I receive a “cannot find” error message with that link.

Thank you, both, for your help.

 

Hi Carney,
you said: "The software identified 2 current programs as Trojans and deleted both. The first program was Adobe Bridge – a component in Creative Suite"

We are not aware of any false positive reported on Adobe Bridge. We have checked the content of the Adobe CS3 installation folder and it was reported clean. If it was actually flagged by NOD32, we'd need to know the exact path to the file as well as the threat name under which it was detected.

Which module in ESS do you need to deactivate in order to make it work?
As for the link, just type all letters lowercase and it will work. It was my fault, sorry

 

...Unless you are using a "cracked" Adobe Creative suite.

 

Hi Marcos – First, sorry for the delay in responding. I travel for my work and have been away from the computer for several days.

If it was actually flagged by NOD32, we'd need to know the exact path to the file as well as the threat name under which it was detected.

Not to be stupid (which, perhaps, I am) I think you are asking for the path to Bridge:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Bridge CS3
If this is not what you need, I need some guidance in how to find that info.

As to threat name, I get a message stating that this program is a Trojan; it will then be deleted/quarantined. I will need to reactivate ESET and run the program in order to get you more exact info. I will do that tomorrow morning when I go to work.

FYI: As long as I run ESET inactive, I can open and use all my other programs. As soon as I activate real time the Trojan warning messages start. In response to the idea that Creative Suite may be flawed; while I am not expert – by any means – CS had run fine with no issues until I loaded this software. It also runs fine when the software is deactivated.

 

Thank you in advance. It is essential to know the name of the threat ESS detected in your Adobe Bridge files. It is quite unlikely that it would be a false positive as we'd receive complaints from all Adobe Bridge users as well, but actually you've been the only one who has reported it. Also we've scanned our Adobe CS3 installation folder and no threat was detected.

 

Adobe Bridge and Photoshop (CS2) work fine on my computer but I am not networked to other computers and do not "share" my work

 

Hi Marcos – once again I have to apologize for the long delay between contacts. Work has been nuts lately.

This morning when I booted up nothing worked properly – Photoshop wouldn’t boot at all and getting online was impossible. I finally bit the bullet and did what I probably should have done before; I uninstalled Photoshop, Office, all games and ESET; cleaned the registry to remove any “remainders” and reinstalled clean copies of the above, minus the games. I used the CD from ESET instead of downloading from the net. Once I got through all of this I am happy to report that there appear to be no conflicts. I have not and probably will not install the games – those are for my nephews and they can use the old junker for playing. I suspect games create more conflicts than other programs and just really don’t need the hassle. Photoshop and the rest of the CS runs the way it should with no false positives for Trojans or other malware. I probably will never fully know what caused all of this, but am content knowing it went away and I can now work without interruption.

Thank you for all your help, advice and concern. Hopefully, this will be the end of the problem.

Irene

 

Hi Irene,
thank you for letting us know. The issue was really odd, especially given that you have not encountered any problems until recently. It could be either reinstallation of the games or Adobe CS3, or installation of an older version of EAV or even something completely different that resolved the issue. If you had a chance to install the latest version 3.0.669, I'd appreciate if you could do it. I don't expect any problems as newer versions basicly contain fixes for reported issues, but should an issue occur you can always uninstall it and install the older version from your CD.