bluebolt

I wonder if Autoplay is really off... If it’s XP Pro, you can turn off Autoplay this way: start / Run… gpedit.msccomputer configuration / administrative templates / system / turn off autoplay (“Enabled” for all drives)There’s also this information and “Fix it” link instead: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/967715

Please follow the instructions in this thread and let me know if it works. Basically, you need to create a GoogleChromePortable.ini file in the same directory as GoogleChromePortable.exe. http://portableapps.com/comment/217400#comment-217400 Once creating the .ini file, then add a line with --disable-infobars. Should look something like this: [GoogleChromePortable]AdditionalParameters= --disable-infobars Good grief, that worked (assuming the rest of you are still getting the nag). Wow. Thanks, sdfox7. Nice job.

Adding the “disable-infobars” to the end of the Target line on Chrome Portable kills the home page rather than the notification. I also use Firefox (current), with one exception: I use Google Chrome when I need its integrated translator. Precisely.

I wish this fix worked for Google Chrome Portable.

I've been racking my brains trying to figure out why I had a some errors showing up in my event logs. Man, what a crazy coincidence: I used the System Restore trick just today on another machine that had odd Event Viewer “errors” at every startup, which I was pretty sure weren’t real errors--and it worked! No more Event Viewer errors every time I boot up the machine. I was even thinking about starting a new thread about “Using System Restore to Remove Event Viewer Errors” except… I still have no idea how / why this works.

So Pale Moon says that installing POSReady2009 updates on Windows XP is “a dangerous thing to do…” Don’t you feel oh so very outré using the POS hack? Really living on the edge, aren’t we? After 20 months or so now, would anyone care to consider the actual number of ported POSReady2009 updates that have failed or had problems specific to use on an XP system? The problem rate for updates is probably better with POSReady2009 ports than XP-for-XP updates were.

My thanks go to member Bersaglio for the XP-compatible .net framework updates (and associated information) posted in this thread.

Avast works fine on W2k Pro; I was addressing AVG and Avira in terms of Post #1 rather than expressing any preference. I appreciate the information you provided as very useful for the OP (or anyone else) who chooses to go with Avast.

Now every time Zen infects one of my XP installations, I’m moving that machine to Avira (never used it before, but seems light and lean). Unfortunately, Avira doesn’t work on Windows 2000 Professional. I like Malwarebytes, too, but there’s no active protection with the free version…but at least there’s no active offense, which is more than I can say for AVG.

These are all instances of AVG free; I don’t have any paid version of AVG. Once a machine has been hit, and you uninstall Zen and reinstall your preferred AVG version (or simply manage to cut off your internet connection before Zen can install), Zen might leave that machine alone thereafter. So the whole thing seems as hit-and-miss as can be. Folks on the AVG forums have complained about the forced “upgrade” to Zen going back to at least June or July, so who knows how long it’s been happening. It’s obviously not a completely general rollout, because none of my machines were affected until last month. And, here in December, there are still new complaints showing up on the AVG support forums. Just need to keep our guards up, I guess, and be prepared if a 3-4 MB “new component” shows up in the AVG updates--that’s probably Zen ready to pounce.

Zen has now attacked AVG 9 builds, and the tricks get dirtier: Zen installation may auto-start when you merely open AVG Update! The attacks come and go, even on a particular machine; one day the Zen component tries to install, another day it may not. As an experiment on a W2k machine with AVG 9, I allowed the Zen component to install, but it didn’t, so Windows 2000 Professional may not be vulnerable in this regard. That would make one piece of good news in this ugly situation. We’ll see if it holds.

Zen seems to be some kind of cross-platform interface or portal to use AVG across multiple devices. I think Zen runs everything for you from behind the curtain, as others have pointed out there’s not really any settings available… On AVG’s support forum the main complaints concern the jam-it-down-your-throat installation: no notice, no choice, “no user permission.” When I was originally getting it offered (deceptively) as a “Program Update” and would click the “more information about this update” link, the link just led to a page about AVG updates generally -- nothing whatsoever about Zen. AVG says it’s part of a “campaign” push for Zen, and their responses to complaints are inconsistent or even wrong (e.g. it’s your fault because you clicked the free-offer button, no you can’t get rid of it, the update takes place automatically and there is no option to stop it, yes you can get rid of it by reinstalling but we don’t have an option to reinstall AVG 2012 version, you don’t want to run an old version anyway, etc.). Zen nailed three more machines in the last couple of days, so I’ve now switched all my 2012 installations to AVG 9, which so far has been unaffected. I noticed no complaints on the support threads except from 2012 or newer version users.

The process of clicking through these dot-net updates on a basic PC reminds me of that ominous line repeated in the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song...a three-hour tour… Hopefully you can avoid going through that again, and if so, three cheers for Belarc Advisor. Has anyone noticed that sometimes a faster machine doesn’t affect the user experience very much? Here’s an instance where it really does, reducing a three-hour task to: E8600 @ 3.3GHz = 12 minutes i5-2500K @ 3.7GHz = 9 minutes i7-4790K @ 4.4GHz = 7 minutes

Just a heads-up, AVG 2012 is now installing Zen even if you have turned off automatic Program Updates (has done it to two machines so far). Complaints on the AVG forums don’t appear to be stopping the rollout. I assume it will eventually reach all AVG 2012 installations, effectively killing off that version. More to the point, will it ultimately hit AVG 8.5 and AVG 9?

It’s no longer a concern (the problematic update having been replaced), but here’s where it begins: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/171814-posready-2009-updates-ported-to-windows-xp-sp3-enu/page-10#entry1094216

I downloaded your daily and extracted the contents as far as possible, scanned with AVG 9 on plain W2k, no problems found. Maybe your AVG error logs show something.

Same problem here, the AVG scanner would not initiate (whether general or file-specific). (Also, Resident Shield shows red on the console, so apparently doesn’t work). (The OS I tested on is tomasz86’s HFSLIP package from November 2014, and the extended kernel included there is of roughly the same vintage.) Then I moved to the vanilla W2k Pro machine (all official updates through EOL). I copied BWC’s latest extended kernel file to the desktop, extracted and scanned contents with AVG 9. No infection was found. I don’t know what unofficial package or updates you’re using, Tommy, but maybe it’s not the extended kernel per se, but some other problem with the unofficial modifications. EDIT: If you know the extended kernel version you’re using, and want me to scan it using AVG 9 on vanilla W2k OS, let me know.

In this context “vanilla” means a standard W2k Pro OS installation running with no unofficial updates and no modifications--and we find that AVG 9 works fine. However, when we try to use AVG 9 with unofficial updates involved, there are problems.

Tommy, I just tested on a vanilla W2k Pro machine (SP4 and Update Rollup, nothing unofficial) and AVG 9 installed and ran perfectly. All the components are green, updating works fine, and I’m running a scan now. So I suspect that there’s something in the unofficial packages that is the problem.

I noticed the errors at log-on when I test-installed 9 yesterday and assumed it was the particular W2k installation (it has some quirks). I haven’t tried a scan yet. And 8.5 had some problems, too. Could be something in the old unofficial W2k package, I will eventually test it with HFSLIP2000.

Avast 8.0.1497 for W2k is also available on tomasz86’s Google Drive. I’ve been using AVG 2012 on XP, but recently AVG--under the guise of a “Program Update”--has pushed out some horrid thing called AVG Zen. It can be a little tricky to get rid of (you need to uninstall AVG Protection before uninstalling Zen). Run a tool called AVG Remover to really do the job right. Then you can reinstall 2012 (turn off Program Updates to bar Zen) or install an earlier version. Not sure which one I’m gong to go with for W2k Pro, but I was pleased to come across these AVG full installers on filehippo, because indeed most sites claiming to have the old versions simply link to (what turns out to be) the newest version.

For now the free edition of AVG 9 is available to download at filehippo... http://filehippo.com/download_avg_antivirus_32/8004/

Dave-H, in Control Panel / Folder Options, is the “Remember each folder’s view settings” box checked?

Rather than use the Heading Bar, open My Computer, click “Search” then click “All files and folders” and enter a search term, then: View / Choose Details… The columns can be ordered there as well.

XP is working fine here, but Windows 2000 Professional is giving me the same error(s) as your screenshot. EDIT: After yet another attempt it just worked for W2K Pro, so I suppose all is well, or what passes for "well" in the wonderful world of Microsoft Update. Like an old TV...smack the top of the chassis, jiggle the antennae...