Symantec AV ****** *******s (yermom?)

[mdklatt]

How do you force Symantec AV to do a Live Update? This is an enterprise version that is centrally administered by OU IT, and updates are applied on a scheduled basis. However, I have a new installation that refuses to do anything until it gets an updated definition file. This is also a problem if somebody's computer is turned off during a scheduled update, because then SAV ****es and moans about an out of date file until the next scheduled update.

[RacerX]

have you tried doing a right mouse click on the icon by the clock?

[mdklatt]

have you tried doing a right mouse click on the icon by the clock?

Yep. That either lets me open the control panel or enable auto-protect--which is what I really want to do. There is no update option in the control panel, although lots of stuff is grayed out since this is a managed installation. When I enable auto-protect it immediately disables itself because of the outdated definitions. So instead of having out-of-date protection I have no protection at all--****ing genius. :mad:

What the hell is that icon supposed to be anyway? It looks like a mouse (the computer kind).

[Sooner_Bob]

I thought if you double-clicked on the icon in the system tray SAV would open up and then you could find your way to the LiveUpdate area and do one that way?

[GottaHavePride]

Quick, someone light the Yermom signal!


If it wasn't a network installation I'd tell you to dump the symantec and get TrendMicro.

[yermom]

have you thought about switching to Linux?

[mdklatt]

have you thought about switching to Linux?

Me? Yes. The rest of the department? No. Besides, I love me some Excel and PowerPoint.

So I guess you don't know how to make it do an update?

[yermom]

i don't even have a Windows machine right now... partially because i don't want to deal with Symantec AV... i really have nothing to do with any of that stuff

i'm assuming you have already contacted the helpdesk?

[mdklatt]

I thought if you double-clicked on the icon in the system tray SAV would open up and then you could find your way to the LiveUpdate area and do one that way?


You would certainly think so, wouldn't you? No such luck, however. The help file is anything but helpful, big surprise. This is the best part--there's an actual Live Update control in the Windows Control Panel, but that doesn't do anything either. The only way I've found to solve this in the past was to just wait long enough and SAV would eventually contact the mother ship and do it's thing. I've been waiting all day today, however, and nothing. I thought for sure it would do an update when the mandatory scan started today at noon (:rolleyes:), but it didn't. In fact, the mandatory scan wouldn't even run because of the out of date files. I always thought the update happened right before the mandatory scan, but apparently not. OU IT might be more to blame than Symantec.

A little dialog box sometimes pops up if the virus definitions are out of date, with a message to call OU IT for help. Here's a thought--instead of having the little dialog box pop up, how about you just download the damn update and carry on?

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Quick, someone light the Yermom signal!


If it wasn't a network installation I'd tell you to dump the symantec and get TrendMicro.

consumer reports disagrees

[jk the sooner fan]

my pc runs so much nicer since i took symantec off the machine and went with avg

[GottaHavePride]

consumer reports disagrees

I guess I was judging by the CNet and PC World ravings about Trend Micro... ;)

[mdklatt]

consumer reports disagrees

Give me a phone number for those bitches so they can tell me how to force an update, then. :D

[TUSooner]

I had a similar problem with my GI laptop. One of the IT guys had to go to a Symantec site and download something. It took all of 2 minutes, but I can't remmeber exactly what he did. Sorry to be no help at all. :O

[RacerX]

how about you go to their website and download it manually?

[mdklatt]

It's time to outsource OU IT to India. I finally gave up and called the help line. They told me where to get a virus definition updater that I could run manually. Here's a thought--ENABLE THE ****ING LIVE UPDATE BUTTON SO I DON'T NEED TO DOWNLOAD A SEPERATE UPDATE PROGRAM TO DO THE SAME ****ING THING. In order to run the updater, I was told, I needed to disable the Windows firewall. WHAT THE ****?? In order to make the damn computer more secure by updating the virus definitions I have to DISABLE THE ****ING FIREWALL? As it turns out, I didn't need to disable the firewall because the updater did a fat lot of jack ****ing **** whether or not the firewall was enabled. If for some reason the updater didn't work (good call), I was told to delete SAV from Program Files and reinstall it. NO, NO, NO! You NEVER delete anything from Program Files. Always, always, ALWAYS use the Windows uninstaller. After uninstalling and reinstalling SAV I'm back to where I started--it refuses to download definition files so it's just sitting there as worthless as tits on a fifth grader.

[yermom]

ok, my sources are telling me to try to run "luall" from the command prompt

it's supposed to bypass the OU stuff and get stuff from Symantec directly

[mdklatt]

Called the help line again. This time I was told how to run Live Update via the command line. Finally! So why do we have to use the command line instead of the "Live Update" button in the SAV control panel? Apparently it's a licensing thing. Does that make any sense? What's the difference if you run it from the command line instead of from the application, other than being a bigger pain in the *** for the user? Stupid Symantec. Symantec needs to be outsourced to India. Or maybe that's the problem in the first place.

Of course, finally running Live Update on the afflicted computer does a fat lot of nothing--again. No error messages or anything, just uselessness. GRRR.

[mdklatt]

ok, my sources are telling me to try to run "luall" from the command prompt


See above.


:bsmf:

[afs]

ttt