Why won't ESET Smart Security launch?

I have ESET Smart Security 5.0.94 installed on Win XP SP3. Recently, any time I try to launch ESET, the splash screen will appear for an instant and disappear. Also, the ekrn.exe service is no longer running, which I thought it was supposed to do when ESET was active. I went to the ESET site and successfully ran an online scan of my PC and drives. It only found and removed two low-level problems. Other parts of the ESET suite will launch just fine. Any tips?

 

try reinstalling

 

All went well until I got this message during the install:

"The installer has insufficient privileges to modify this file: C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET Smart Security\Drivers\epfwndis\epfwnd_m.inf"

Which seems odd since I'm doing all this under the full Administrator account.

 

Hello,

That is an older version of ESET Smart Security. Are you trying to install it for a specific reason? If not, please uninstall it following these instructions:

1. Download the latest version of ESET Smart Security, v5.2.9.1, from download.eset.com/download/win/ess/ess_nt32_enu.msi using your existing license credentials, but do not install it just yet.
2. Follow the instructions in ESET Knowledge Base Article #2788, "How do I uninstall or reinstall ESET Smart Security/ESET NOD32 Antivirus in Windows 7/Vista/XP? (5.x)" to uninstall the currently-installed version of the software.
3. Reboot, even if you are not prompted to do so.
4. Install the version of the software you downloaded in step #1.

At this point, the latest version of the software should have installed correctly on your computer.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

 

Thanks I will try that.

 

I successfully downloaded the most recent version. That installer resulted in the exact same message about insufficient privileges. Can't understand why this is happening since the previous install was definitely removed using the Windows Add/Remove Programs tool. I would think previous ESET files were removed. If it may help, here are the contents of the inf file that it cannot modify ...

[Version]
signature = "$Windows NT$"
Class = Net
ClassGUID = {4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
Provider = %Eset%
; DriverVer = 10/20/2005,3.00.0.1
CatalogFile= epfwndis.cat
DriverVer=06/28/2011, 5.0.87.0

[ControlFlags]
ExcludeFromSelect = eset_epfwndismp

[DestinationDirs]
DefaultDestDir=12
; No files to copy

[Manufacturer]
%Eset% = ESET,ntamd64,ntx86

[ESET]
%EpfwndisMP_Desc% = EpfwndisMP.ndi, eset_epfwndismp

[ESET.ntamd64]
%EpfwndisMP_Desc% = EpfwndisMP.ndi, eset_epfwndismp

[ESET.ntx86]
%EpfwndisMP_Desc% = EpfwndisMP.ndi, eset_epfwndismp

[EpfwndisMP.ndi]
Characteristics = 0x29 ;NCF_NOT_USER_REMOVABLE | NCF_VIRTUAL | NCF_HIDDEN

[EpfwndisMP.ndi.Services]
AddService = Epfwndis,0x2, EpfwndisMP.AddService

[EpfwndisMP.AddService]
ServiceType = 1 ;SERVICE_KERNEL_DRIVER
StartType = 3 ;SERVICE_DEMAND_START
ErrorControl = 1 ;SERVICE_ERROR_NORMAL
ServiceBinary = %12%\epfwndis.sys


[EpfwndisMP.AddService.AddReg]
; ----------------------------------------------------------------------
; Add any miniport-specific parameters here. These are params that your
; filter device is going to use.
;
;HKR, Parameters, ParameterName, 0x10000, "MultiSz", "Parameter", "Value"
;HKR, Parameters, ParameterName2, 0x10001, 4

[Strings]
Eset = "ESET"
EpfwndisMP_Desc = "Eset Personal Firewall Miniport"

[SourceDisksNames]
;None

[SourceDisksFiles]
;None

 

Hello,

Are you logged in as the administrator of the computer? Have you made any changes to the administrator account on the computer?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

 

Is it default Windows Administrator account?

 

Yes I have been logged on as the administrator during this entire process. The admin account has not been changed in several years. I haven't even used the guest account in at least a year. That's what's so weird. I looked at the properties on that inf file thinking maybe it was read only or something but I could open it easily using Notepad++

 

Have you tried running the Uninstall tool in safe mode?

 

I will try the Uninstall tool tonight. Sorry for the slow response.

 

That worked fine. Little problem at the end with the license, until I realized it wanted any hyphenation in the username. Never run into that before.