PG3 destabalising system

I've been using PG for a few days and, since installation, every session has ultimately ended in me having to switch off the electricity supply in order to be able to reboot and get my computer back!

Everthing seems to be going well then, after a couple of hours my whole system freezes so completely that I must disconnect from the power supply.

This has never happened to me before installing PG, the the only other new app I've had in the period is A2, which can't be causing this.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of buying the full version of PG without testing the free version first - so I really don't know how to sort this mess out.

 

Firstly, It may help to post a list of your current PG configuration (eg what global protection options are set) also did you have learning mode switched on for TWO reboots after installing PG? This is the default behaviour but people have been known to turn off learning mode straight away, and this can cause problems.
Secondly I would have a look at the Alert log in PG3 to see if any applications were blocked (you will have to open the log file from withing the alert tab in pg to see alerts from previous sessions), you will be able to see any alerts recorded just prior to the crash. This hopefully will show that a program has been blocked access to physical memory or a similar warning. Then you can grant the problematic program the required priviledge in PG.
The other thing to try is to turn on Learning mode, reboot and use the PC, opening your usual internet applications (IE, outlook, messenger etc) then reboot again and turn off learning mode.

One more possibility is that your screensaver may need to be added to the protection list, does the lock up happen when the screensaver is activated?


In my experiance the latest version of PG is extreamly stable once it is configured properly.
Hope this helps.
Tom

 

Initially I had no Global Protection options set. I had PG set to Learning Mode for two reboots (actually I did one more for luck!) and during this time I ran every program I could think of (other than rarely used ones).

After my second reboot I continued to put PG into Learning Mode on occasion when I came across processes I had forgotten to run initially, but by then I had ticked all four Global Protection options. I did need to give specific permission for a couple of processes to create Global Hooks (I think it was Rundll32.exe and msimn.exe (outlook express)) plus one prog (RegMon) to install a Driver.

Other than that it has merely been a case of giving very occasional permisions, usually on a once only basis, to things like Real Player, Windows Media player etc, when they wanted to do something for which previous allowance was not made.

I've been through the Alert Logs, but there is nothing to find really because I have been giving permission to everything in this initial phase. The only exception being the following entry:
"c:\windows\system32\hpzipm12.exe" was blocked from running".

But even here I had gone back and changed the 'Last Action' in the Security section to 'Permit Always', so it won't be refused again!

There is no obvious connection between what I was doing and the freezes, which always occur after lengthy surfing sessions for no apparent reason. I have however now put PG into learning mode while I use the screen saver (something I had not previously done) to see if this makes a difference - though I don't see why it should because the freezes have never occured while using screen saver.

 

I felt the same way at first but since learning how to properly use this porgram, I must say it is the best piece of software I have ever purchased...with the excpetion of BoClean

Make sure your system is clean and then keep PG in learning mode for a while. Launch EVERY program you have....including screensavers and update programs. PG shouldnt give you any problems if you do this. I have been up since release and not a single hangup.

 

Things were quieter today - maybe with a bit longer in Learning Mode it'll settle down.

I hope so, 'cos I really like that DLL Injection/Driver/Global Hooks etc protection; which is why I bought it after all!

 

Hi TopperID, You say :

I am not an A2 user but I believe it has a Guard and would not agrree that it could not be the problem. If this is the last program that you installed after ProcessGuard then I would remove or disable it before making such a judgement.

Pilli

 

Thanks for the warning, actually I've been using the free version of A2 without the guard. It is a new version (1.5) and has been having serious problems (it takes several minutes to load up it's sigs).

As it happens, I did not attempt to use A2 yesterday or today and I have not experienced the freezes either! So even without the guard it seems A2 could be the cause of the problem (though I don't understand how?).

It may also be that a longer spell in learning mode for PG is no bad thing, just to be sure.