PestPatrol has BIG problems

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

 

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

 

I'm glad it's not just me. 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.

 

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........

 

That's interesting. I was never told to do that....

 

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."

 

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.

 

Hi bellgamin,

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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?"

 

Thanks, Paul.

 

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

 

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.

 

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!

 

Thanks for information, Jan.

 

Guess what? The thread was removed.

 

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

 

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.

 

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

 

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,

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.