unable to install firewall on new computer with windows 7

I was looking through the event logs and found the report for critical errors all 3 times I tried to install one of the firewall software. I don't have any idea if it means anything or not. The error report is the same for each instance (except of course for the date/time)

Description: The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
Date: 11/3/2009 10:27:58 AM
Event ID: 41
Task Category: (63)
Level: Critical
Keywords: (2)
User: SYSTEM
Computer: Melissa-PC

 

If I ever have the time I may call dell. Mine did come with norton preloaded but I said above that the first thing I did after installing windows updates was to uninstall norton. I never activated it or anything and it seemed to uninstall fine. Of course I don't know enough about digging around in computers to see if there are any remnants left of it lurking. I did that before installing avira which installed perfectly. then i proceeded to install all my other software and was going to do the firewall last. I didn't have problems with anything until it came to trying to install a firewall.

 

If you cannot solve this problem then I would reinstall the OS from the Restore disk or partition. First make sure you have the latest BIOS. DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!!!

Use Windows Update to install what is needed. Then uninstall Norton. Install Comodo. See if that works.

Why would I do this? Because you just purchased this PC from BB. If the PC repeats the BSOD's after doing the reinstall then call Dell. If they do not resolve your problem to YOUR liking, I would return the PC to BB and get another one as it is still within the return policy. Why? Might be a hardware problem.

Bye the bye, I usually install the Antivirus last...just to be sure! Not that Avira is causing this problem. I've used Avira Premium before and great product.

Good luck,
Robert

P.S. Love the play on words for your name.

 

I knew someone would tell me to do a system recovery LOL and the thought makes me sick to my stomach after the HOURS I have spent installing my software and getting things running right. I just went through big problems with my laptop that caused me to have to do a system restore....which still didn't resolve the problem so i am preparing to send it to be repaired (hopefully). Anyway......the thought of having to do a system restore on this pc after only having it for a few days.....it makes me sick! I have tried running all the hardware troubleshooters and nothing comes up. I may call dell later this week IF i can find the time, before I do anything drastic. I do have 14days to exchange it at bb but omg what a pain in the rear that will be.

I am no computer expert but could it really be a hardware problem if booting in safe mode and doing a system restore to right before I tried installing the firewall fixes the problem? And so far I have had no other errors/problems of any kind. To me it seems like it is some sort of software issue......it seems like something is causing it to crash upon rebooting after installation. What that could be I don't know. Wouldn't hardware problems cause issues with other things and still persist after a system restore? Honestly I have no idea!

I never thought to install the antivirus last. Should I disable it and try to install a firewall again. although I am so scared of the BSOD I don't even know if I will bother. I DO want to know if this is a software or hardware problem though. UGGGG.

also i have no idea how i would tell if I have the latest bios.....so definitely don't know what i am doing there!

Thanks to everyone who has had suggestions.

 

Before you do anything go to Dell and see what the latest BIOS is for YOUR PC. Write it down.

I do not know what "key" to use to get into your Dell BIOS. Watch when the PC starts to see if a screen shows what to press to enter the BIOS. If not, maybe the 'delete' or 'F1' key. When you get into the BiOS it will tell you what version/date/etc you have installed. Compare it to what you have written down.

More than likely it is not Avira that is causing the BSOD's so disabling it will not help.

Yeah, reinstalling the OS and your app's is a pain to do again. But, software/drivers is just that; you only lose time, patience and your temper. However, if it is a hardware problem then you not only lose the previous but add MONEY if you are out of the return period or warranty!

Actually, if it was me, I would reinstall and if I get ANY problems, I am going straight to BB and exchanging it for another brand new one. Period! Yeah, a pain but I am not taking any chance with my money. I want it to work right out-of-the-box.

Robert

P.S. Quote- "Should I disable it and try to install a firewall again. although I am so scared of the BSOD I don't even know if I will bother." What you desire at this time is to KNOW if you will get another BSOD...you want to be sure! You do not want to "bandage" the problem and your return policy has elapsed; then down the road the bandage disappears but the intrinsic problem remains. Solve the problem!

 

Just a FYI. I installed Comodo on 3 box's all are x64 Windows 7 one is a Dell about 4 months old. all seems fine it has to be a hardware conflict somewhere.

 

To fully un-install Norton the user must run their latest special removal utility otherwise some destabilizing vestiges of Norton still remain. You can download the latest utility from their web site. This is very important.

 

Thanks...I am gonna try that first before doing anything else. If that doesn't work I may just proceed to calling dell tomorrow morning while the kids are at school and I will have some peace and quiet to concentrate. Hopefully they will walk me through some steps. I just don't know enough about computers to feel comfortable doing too much w/o assistance. I am just terribly frustrated with this....especially after all the problems I have had with my laptop! I HOPE it is just some sort of software/driver conflict and not hardware. I don't want to have to deal with bb and trying to exchange the processor. But, I definitely do want to look into this fully before my 14 days return policy is over.

Like I said I have had NO other problems with the computer at all so if I had never tried installing a firewall I wouldn't even know that there was an issue somewhere.....

By the way, is there another FREE firewall, besides comodo and pc tools, that is compatible with windows 7 that I could try? I am just curious if this will occur with any firewall I try to install.

 

My approach would be to try to get you back where you were before you hit this problem. To do that I'd remove any SW you have installed yourself step by step including this Norton thing.

If you are behind a router then you already have a incoming FW which maybe enough if you just surf and do email. In other words maybe you should stop messing with 3rd party FW's for a bit until your PC is stable.

You should have a solid AV though with Real time scanning going.

 

i ran the norton utility and it didn't pick up any remnants. I don't know if I want to go so far as to uninstall all the software i installed before i had the problem....b/c that is everything. I guess i should have put on the firewall in the first place but i have never had problems installing one before. If I had never tried to install a 3rd party fw on here I doubt I would have even had this problem b/c everything else has gone very smoothly. I can't decide if I want to call dell and try to do some trouble shooting or forget about installing a 3rd party firewall and just see how things go.

when you say behind a router....what does that mean? We have a router attached to our other desktop and the new one had a built in wireless card so I am connected wirelessly.

 

It's good you have no Norton.

I should have said uninstall all the "security" sw to be clear! My bad!


If you are wireless it is critical that you set a unique user name and password of maximum strength to prevent intrusion.

My sense is you are through no fault of your own out of your technical depth and should seek help from a competent service centre or freelance security specialist I don't think posts back and forth can get this done.

 

I agree....I don't think back and forth posting is going to solve this either. I first posted to see if anyone else had had this problem. The only security software I have right now is avira and superantispyware. I could try uninstalling those and then installing a firewall after that. I know enough to know that I don't know much about all this stuff!

We do have our home network password protected....it is a 20-25 letter+number random passcode to access our network. Is something like easily hacked? We have had a wireless set up for several years now and never had any problems.

 

I'll let the wireless guru's here answer your wireless psw question I know there are diferent levels of encrpyption 128 bit and 256 bit but I'm just now getting into that again.

A good feature of a firewall is to help you stop "other" stranger computers on your network. Then you would know if your security has been breached by a practice known as piggybacking. In my day we would have called it stealing. The worst case is the bad guy could download some real nasty stuff and you could be blamed as owner of the network!

 

Inless your network is High gain / High Transmit I would think you would notice a guy sitting outfront of your house on a laptop.

WEP = Bad stuff if your using that encryption its about as effective as a Keep out sign in my own personal experience.

~ Off Topic Remarks Removed ~

WPA or WPA 2 with AES is alot more effective. Tkip unfortunately has been found to have some glitches what can make it as variable as WEP.

Best thing to do is Google and read up on your security for Wireless if it has you concerned. But pretty much if you are using WPA +, Most people including the bad guys are not going to want to sit in one spot long enough to mess with you.

 

For what it's worth: On my Win7 64 bit I have tried with success: LnS 64 bit, PC Tools Firewall, Outpost Pro. After the last reinstall I have Norton Internet Security 2010 on my system and it works great too.

I have now an Acer Aspira M3641 running.

 

Hi:

Which version of W7 do you have? There are 3 levels from MS.

Thanks

 

Ultimate. In Europe we have more than three

 

I have windows 7 home premium 64 bit. I still have no resolution to the problem. I have been posting some on the windows 7 forum. I tried to install comodo again today and actually had hope it was going to work b/c windows shut down and then starting up and I even got to the welcome screen and then all of a sudden got the blue screen again. It stayed up and I did write down some of the info. the top part said

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

stop:0x000000D1

I was able to get back into safe mode and do a system restore to get running again. I am just so frustrated. I tried calling Dell but they won't help me at all b/c software support is not covered under the 1 year manufacturers warranty. I would have to pay $250 for them to even talk to me. The hardware department won't even talk to me once I say this happens after trying to install software. I talked to best buy and I can take it in to have their technicians look at it to see if they can either get it to work or if they deem that it should be replaced. I would prefer to get support over the phone rather than having to do that. But it is looking like that might be my only option. I contacted dell again and verified that all of my drivers and BIOS are up to date and they are. They recommended I proceed to contact Microsoft for advanced windows 7 support. So, I guess that will be my next step. BUT I just checked and according to the microsoft i can't get free support b/c it should be covered by the manufacturer but i haven't been getting anywhere with dell. I called dell back....again....and the person I talked to said it was likely a application driver error (with both firewalls) that is conflicting with some settings in windows causing the crash upon restart, but they won't help me solve it. A previous person I talked to at Dell said it was likely a faulty registry setting or something in the start files. I just don't know what to do at this point. I can take it to best buy and have their technicians look at it or I can just let it go and pretend I never tried to install a firewall in the first place.

 

IMHO, all this run around simply proves again that these help desks etc don't know squat. Here is my brutal but honest advice. It is probably similar to what was said before but here goes anyway.

1) You need to get back to a solid footing with this computer.

2) PLEASE completely remove ALL 3rd party security software after backing up any critical users data to external disk or diskette. Then run a defrag of this machine. Reboot and just live with it for a day or so see if it works to do the things you need without BSOD. The usual FW products talked about here don't seem ready for prime time on 64 bit/windows 7.

3) With the $ you save by NOT paying Dell or Best Buy a hardware FW called Alpha-Shield and place it between your modem and your router. This device is immune to software problems and is completely independent of your set up there. It will protect all PC's sharing your router from incoming problems.

4) Learn how to backup the whole computer or ant least burn the rescue disk and back it up.

5) Let us know when these steps are done, install no new security software for now. Then we will try to find a stable AV for you.

6) After a quiet week or two we can begin the step wise process of activating the embedded window 7 FW. There is no quick silver bullet here.


However, if you want to try this link, download the 64 bit version on TRIAL and see how she goes:

http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/download.php

The forum at OP is good and helpful!