SpywareBlaster is KILLING my internet connection !

Yes, on a Win98SE computer with a direct (cable modem) connection, all is well until I run a freshly installed SpywareBlaster 3.2. Right after the install the program comes up and gives the "please wait while loading database" green progress bar, which completes properly. Protection is not yet enabled. Tried to do a manual update and it hung up, eventually displaying the inevitable "Error connecting to update server. There was an error getting the update information from the server. The server may be temporarily unavailable, or there may be a conflict with firewall software installed on your PC. The update information file may have also gotten corrupted during download."

Thought it was just SpywareBlaster unable to get through (experimented with different options like direct connection/system settings/alternate). I quickly found out that the internet connectivity was somehow shut down? Never seen this before. One minute everything is fine, all programs can connect, IE6 brings up any web site. Then, start SpywareBlaster, and IE can't find websites, other programs can't connect, even trying to renew the lease using winipcfg gives the standard "DHCP error" you get when there's nothing there.

Restarting the computer is the only way I know to get everything back. Re-starting SpywareBlaster instantly kills the connection, even though it's "protection" is not yet enabled. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling - no change.

This is my sister'n'law's computer freshly formatted with Win98SE; all Windows updates are done, Spybot 1.3 is loaded, and McAfee VirusScan Pro is loaded (no firewall is enabled or loaded - this is purely VirusScan which does include adware and spyware filters). I "disabled" McAfee and retried - no change.

On my own Win98SE computer I also run SpywareBlaster and it works fine! I use Norton IS and Spybot 1.3 and Ad-Aware and a hardware firewall (router).

I have never seen a program completely kill an internet connection. SpywareBlaster is certainly doing something to block the connection on this particular computer, whether on it's own or as a result of a conflict. Closing SpywareBlaster does not restore the connection. I have to restart the computer (then everything's fine until I start SpywareBlaster).

Javacool's online knowledge base offers only a few FAQs, one of which is:
Can SpywareBlaster interfere with Internet connectivity? Their answer is "SpywareBlaster's protection should not interfere with Internet connectivity. To verify that SpywareBlaster is not the cause of any problems, please see Disabling SpywareBlaster's Protection"
As I previously mentioned, I have not enabled SpywareBlaster's protection - I didn't get that far!

Some serious help here please
I submitted a less detailed description at the end of a similar topic but nobody replied; hence the new thread...
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=41126

 

I have never, ever heard of this happening before, and I can't really see how it could happen either.

Needless to say, I'll try to duplicate it, but again I don't know how this could be happening.

My first thought would be it may be a conflict with a virus, trojan or spyware/adware already on the machine, but since it's a recently rebuilt computer (recently reinstalled Windows, etc.) that seems unlikely.

I'll take a look into this.

Out of curiousity: What version of McAfee are you running? (The latest, I believe, is 2005 - v9.0.) Thanks!

Best regards,

-Javacool

 

First theory would be the DHCP/BOOTP packets, some form of it anyways being blocked; and every time the software firewalls were the cause of it. If you don’t mind I like you to try something, release the connection using WINIPCFG, wait for like a minute and try to renew it. Also don’t disable anything you normally don’t disable to-do this, if I’m correct you should experience the DHCP error you saw. Now re-booting the system, and while loading Windows the DHCP query/reply can happen before the software security systems comes into roll.

 

Thanks Javacool. Yes, it's a strange and rare occurrence. Yes, it's McAfee VirusScan Pro ver 9.0 (2005), brand new download. That said, I have a Win 2000 Pro laptop with Spybot 1.3 and McAfee VSP 9.0 loaded, so I loaded SpywareBlaster 3.2 and the combo works just fine (on the laptop).

On the problem computer, I was having a problem connecting to Windows Update and McAfee (both https/SSL) and the fix was de-selecting "Auto-detect settings" in the connection tab of IE. That was before I loaded SpywareBlaster though. It's an ASUS P3B-F with Pentium III.

Spybot scans didn't pick up any adware or spyware. Neither has McAfee. She did use the computer for a week before I got McAfee loaded (the only protection was Spybot 1.3).

I guess the key is discovering what might "stop" an Internet connection entirely, in Win98SE (or any other OS). Hmmmm. Thanks again for reading my post and for any ideas. I just might have to load it from scratch again, loading SpywareBlaster early in the process, and test everything along the way. Maybe it's the ISA NIC (Pure Data PDI8023PlusII-16 NE2000 compatible)? Standing by for suggestions or any troubleshooting procedures.

Phant0m ... just saw your post come up as I was writing this. Will try that as soon as I'm able. Thanks

 

NEW INFO...

- First, I saw a post from cjenson saying his Internet options were locked; I had seen something like this once while SpywareBlaster had severed my Internet connection and I tried to get into the Internet Options ... can't recall the exact text used in the dialog that appeared, but I was locked out

- Second, to Phant0m, when I start SpywareBlaster and try to renew my lease in winipcfg, the IP Configuration Error dialog that appears says DHCP Server Unavailable: Renewing Adapter """" (unsure what the quotes are - I guess it can't retrieve the adapter name, which is "Novell 2000 adapter").
I can release the lease. If I wait for a minute and try to renew the lease, I can actually get a lease (after a long wait) but without an expiry date/time, without a DNS Server, without a Default Gateway. The same DHCP error appears and the Internet connection is not there.

- To determine when the Internet connection is lost, I opened Windows Update which creates a lot of activity on the NIC (red card and green network LEDs flashing like an Xmas tree) for at least 5 seconds. So I re-opened Windows Update and immediately opened SpywareBlaster ... the NIC activity stopped dead - Windows Update didn't even have a chance. SpywareBlaster locked the connection down tight, immediately; before the protection database had finished loading, or perhaps before it even started loading. Had to restart the computer to get it back. Very strange indeed.

 

From what you had to say in response, looks like I am correct, software firewall is blocking some form of he DHCP/BOOTP Query/Replies, and thus prevents you from making Internet Connection.

What Software Firewall did you say you was using?

 

Concerning the thread cjenson started and the SpywareBlaster problems....in particular Internet Options disabled. It was noted in that thread that SpywareBlaster does not have a feature that disables the Internet Options. There are however other programs that many users of SpywareBlaster use and one of those programs is Spybot S&D....which does have a feature that a user can select to disable the Internet Options selection in IE.

Infact cjenson has now responded back about his Internet Options being locked in the thread You\I mentioned.

 

David....there was a screw up on my end and what you posted is gone. Please except my appology and re-post what you posted.

Again....sorry for my screw up.

Bubba

 

OK, for Address Type: you using "Manually Configured" or Automatically Assigned?

 

Feee, sorry, unsure what option you're talking about. Under Network config, it is set to obtain an IP address automatically.

Phant0m, no software firewall - just Spybot 1.3 and McAfee VurusScan Pro 9 (no McAfee firewall or spam killer or privacy installed).
- all Windows updates

Bubba, I'll probably uninstall Spybot and McAfee and try again. Could it be the old ISA NIC ? I'll likely try all 3 of these possibilities before having to reformat and reinstall from scratch, cause that's a pain.

 

Just checking around the Net for similar problems:

- I see an Internet connectivity problem (another Javacool product) here:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=159739#post159739

- and here (a brief review of SpywareBlaster):
The Informer 11-Aug-2004 04:18:21 PM
"Interferes with internet connectivity"
I have used this in the past but about two updates ago it started to interfere with my internet connection. I had trouble logging on and loading web pages for weeks. The problems were consistent until I disabled protection for I.E. By then, I no longer had such problems.

(again, I had not enabled any protection yet - hadn't gotten that far)

 

Any update Davidbaldwin?. Im curious as to whether you got the problem resolved. I, too, am running Win98SE and considering SB. Problem is I'm really over cautious and always read the Official Forums for the products and therefore all I see is the probs everyone has with the program

Thanks

 

Hello Huwge,
Sorry I don't have anything further right now. I am successfully running SpyBot and SpyBlaster and Ad-Aware and The Cleaner, all occasionally, on my Win98SE system. Norton Internet Security runs all the time. No problems. It's my sis'n'law's Win98SE that has this weird issue going on where SpyBlaster kills the connection as soon as it starts. I haven't had the time or the opportunity to troubleshoot her computer any further. Next I will try swapping her old ISA NIC for a bus mastering PCI NIC ... perhaps With hardware and software and Murphy and human error, you just never know for sure until you try it. Nothing more from SpyBlaster folks either.
Dave

 

Hi,

Frankly, I don't have any better suggestions at the moment.

I'm still not sure why this is happening, but do let me know if that resolves the issue (it still won't make things any clearer on this end, but it would at least be a lead to go on).

Best regards and thanks,

-Javacool

 

I just encountered the same problem where I install SpywareBlaster on my XP computer and it kills the internet connection. I use Norton Security and Spybot Search and Destroy,

I know my gateway/cable modem is working correctly as I connect ok on a separate computer over the same switch.

Some how it seems that SpywareBlaster is preventing the DHCP address from being renewed/assigned ?? I don't know why?? Disabling my firewall or even uninstall of Spywareblaster does not resolve the problem ?

I'm not having any fun at this point. Does anyone know how to fix this problem ?

 

I had similar experience. Downloaded and installed latest versions of Spybot S&D and SpywareBlaster, which ran beautifully with broadband modem and router on Mozilla Firefox v1.0 and IE 6.0 for several days. Then rebooted, to discover that about 70% of the my bookmarks and internet URLs would no longer be found. Uninstalled Spybot and SpywareBlaster, got full connections by running directly off broadband modem, but same problem when added router back in. Hope someone can come up with answer, because I'd truly like to have the benefits of SpywareBlaster.

 

Greenhorn....I have split your posts and Phantoms into a separate thread so We can offer better assistance to your problem. Please follow the below link to your thread.

This Link---> SpywareBlaster and lost Internet Connection !

 

Update - no success yet...

Recap: same problem exists - starting the SpywareBlaster program instantly kills the Win98SE internet connection (through DSL modem) until restart. All other programs connect and work just fine (including McAfee AV updates, Spybot updates, Windows updates, SPYWAREGUARD (recently installed) updates, Ad-aware updates, IE6 web page connectivity, etc, etc, you get the picture). The moment SpywareBlaster is started, the connection dies. Winipcfg experiences problems finding a DHCP server (ends up with an autoconfig 169.... IP address.

I recently installed SpywareGuard (works fine), and reinstalled Ad-aware (works fine), scanned for viruses, malware, etc, even analyzed HijackThis logs and cleaned up a few strays that didn't need to be there, checked LSPFix for extra entries, etc. NOTHING out of the ordinary compared to my own Win98SE setup. That said, nothing has changed. SpywareBlaster kills the connection. After the connection is severed, there is no logical explanation why - everything looks just the way it did before the cut-off, with the exception that the IP address cannot be renewed (DHCP error messages as desribed in detail earlier in this thread).

I have not yet changed out the old ISA NIC - that is my next step.
Javacool? Any ideas since last post? p.s. Tried ver 3.3

db

 

I'm running SpywareBlaster 3.3 with Win98 and AOL 7.0. A few weeks ago I started having major connection problems too. It all started after an update of IE-Spyad but I didn't think my problems could be caused by that but tonite I uninstalled IE-Spyad and so far I'm having no connection problems. Hope this helps.

 

Hmmm. I don't have AOL on the problem computer, and I haven't installed IE-SPYAD on that computer either (although I am familiar with it). I can't see how IE-SPYAD would conflict with SpywareBlaster loading up - but I don't know enough about that. In any case, that doesn't seem to be my problem...