Symantec Live Update can't find a connection!

[Monica]

I've tried everything else I could think of, so maybe y'all can help. :)

Ok, my dad brought home Symantec Coporate Client Security (John Deere Edition) and installed it on our 3-computer network that's all in the same room and are all connected to Bellsouth DSL through wires. Ok, my dad just gave me this computer and he reformatted both of them (he got himself a new one) and mine had some freakish problems so he had to reinstall Windows again, but the second time he saved my settings in there without me knowing, which was nice but unnessacerry since it was only 2 days after the first one and I didn't have anything to save except my Trillian prefs but I would have just redone those anyway.

Well, now something strange is wrong with the thing. Ok anyone who has XP knows the setup right? The filename has the name of the computer whose desktop it is, etc? Well pretend like mine says /computer/docs&settings/me well mine looks like /computer/docs&settings/me/COMPUTER.mydocuments The computer name is in there twice connected to my name at the end. I think that's throwing stuff off because after I reset the computer it forgets some stuff like ZSNESW settings and that my controller adapter is plugged in...

Anyway, that's the backstory...my slightly immediate problem is that LiveUpdate works on both the other computers but not on mine, here's what I get:


The following Symantec products and components are installed on your computer.
> AV Engine 5.0 Definitions
> Avenge 1.5 MicroDefs2 Corp
> LiveUpdate
> Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Client NT

Initializing...
Unable to connect to host
LU1814: LiveUpdate could not retrieve the catalog file of available Symantec product and component updates. Please verify that you are able to connect to the Internet and run LiveUpdate again.
LiveUpdate session is complete.

My dad's tried reinstalling it and that didn't work. He says it's a huge pain to Uninstall because you have to clean a lot out manually. Now I've tried everything in the control panel (also the Configure option in Live Update is greyed out) And everything else on Earth will update just fine. I even went to the home page and updated LiveUpdate but that didn't help. :( I've also tried AVG and TrendMacro online and they didn't find any viruses. My dad says this computer has a problem with it. :( Any ideas?

[AtmaWeapon]

So let me see if I get the story straight: Your 3-computer network was working perfectly fine before. Your dad (whose computer experience is legendary) decides he can make it better. He decided to steal software his office pays a hefty license fee for and installs it on the network. He didn't know what he was doing and reformatted the computers to celebrate his theft. Now your computer doesn't work.I have some opinions on what is causing the described behavior. First, since your dad "saved your settings" I am suspicious that he performed an in-place repair install rather than a reformat and reinstall. These are, in my experience, 90% guaranteed to fail miserably. Problem 1. Solution: To save your settings between installs, save the contents of your Documents and Settings folder on another hard drive, format the current one, then copy the contents back.

The "My Documents" thing has two possibilities; first, the repair install could have done that when creating its own folder to avoid name collisions. Second, your father could have managed to tell your computer to join a domain. Unless you have NT Server, Win2k Server, or Win2k3 Server running Active Directory as a domain controller somewhere on your network you cannot do this. Right-click My Computer and select Properties (or, if you have a Windows key, use the super-sexy Win + Break combo). Click on the "Computer Name" tab. What are the contents of the "Full computer name" field? If your settings are correct and you aren't attempting to join a domain, it should be "<yourcomputer>." If it is <something>.<yourcomputer> then he tried to place you in a domain. I'll post how to get out of that if it is the case.

Next, since your LiveUpdate config is cancelled, I suspect that during setup your father chose the "client" option during setup since it sounds like a good thing if you don't read the description. I run Symantec Corporate that I legally aquired through my university, and during setup one of the first things it gives you two choices. One mentions "Use this option if you will connect to the internet for LiveUpdates", the other mentions "Use this option if you will connect to a LiveUpdate server" or something like that.

You aren't dealing with home software but corporate. There is one option that clearly states you will connect to the internet, the other is most commonly used by corporations. At my office, we have a LiveUpdate server that downloads the updates from Symantec, then every client in the network downloads the updates from our server. Additionally, the server client is meant to be managed by the Symantec Administration Service, which is why you cannot configure your LiveUpdate settings. Such things are to be set by the server adminstrator.

I suggest saving your important documents, reformatting your drive, and doing a clean Windows install. Defrag, then install Symantec and make sure to choose the option that specifies you will connect to the internet rather than an enterprise server. Defrag, then run all Windows updates. Defrag, then start reinstalling applications. :)

Also stealing software when several free (and in some cases, better) alternatives are available is wrong.

[Monica]

Not quite, Atma...

1: We had 2 computers, and I wanted a new one and so did dad.
2: Before he ordered the new one, he got the Virus scanner (I dunno how, but he is the service manager and runs the computer network up there, I hope he made some kind of deal with them :)) And LiveUpdate worked fine.
3: He ordered a new computer.
4: He reformatted the old one that I used to use and it had zero issues, and LiveUpdate works on it
5: His new computer came in
6: He moves this one and reformats it completely and gives it to me. It has issues
7: He reformats again and reinstalls windows just like before except he saved my settings
8: There are different issues then before and the messed up filename and LiveUpdate won't work. But he fixed it perfectly on the other 2, this one's just rejecting it...

[Beldaran]

With all due respect, that post reeked of "more qualified than thou" IT Professional elitism. I don't think she asked for you to insinuate her dad was a bungling fool, or a conniving theif, depriving the poor helpless millionaire CEO's of software companies of their five hundred bucks (probably a big chunk of the man's monthly income). She asked for help with her computer.

It's responses like that make it easy to tolerate gobal outsourcing in the IT world. I might not be able to understand my punjabi neighbors so well, but at least they aren't rude.

Anyway, Monica, if you ignore his entire post and just read the last little paragraph, you should be all set.

[AtmaWeapon]

Yes, Beldaran I realize my post sounded rather elitist but this is not the first post in the series of computer problems Monica has had where things stopped working once her father improved the network.

I find it increasingly difficult to trust that the man who will not use Firefox or Opera because he believes they are the cause of the viruses he downloads is an individual who will make wise decisions when installing software.

Symantec products are typically purchased through a site license rather than a per-client basis since it is easier to estimate the copies you need and buy more to allow for expansion than it is to buy a new license every time you add a node. While the individual copy of the application costs little, the license to use it cost John Deere several millions of dollars and was given with the understanding that individuals would not abuse the terms of the license. I stand behind my point that pirating commercial software makes no sense when there are free alternatives that perform identically (and in certain cases better) than the commercial software. Somebody spent time they could have spent with their wife and kids writing that software, and as we speak the same people are developing the next version of the virus definitions. If you think their product is superior to the free alternatives you should compensate them for their work.

I am not innocent of software piracy but when acceptable free alternatives to the program I desire exist I use them. The fact remains that her father is putting his job at risk in order to obtain software that he could easily obtain for free. I find that cost/benefit evaluation to be ludicrous.

The attitude comes partially from the fact that the typed word is a horrible medium for conveying emotion, and technical discussion always comes off as dry and emotionless. Posts on the forum require more information than verbal discussion, since I can make a general statement such as "Did he join you to a domain?" and provide more information as necessary. In a post the goal is to answer the question as well as possible to avoid having to make 10-15 extra posts, therefore I provide justification for my decisions. Perhaps if I had scattered some Windows jokes throughout the post it would have been interpreted more positively. It is more likely that I should have been more politically correct with my explanations.


Based on the new information, I would strongly suggest you reformat and try a clean install, Monica. It seems like everything worked before the last reformat, and the last reformat was probably an in-place repair. These are notorious for their failures, particularly if you have applied patches to the OS since it was installed from the disc (In fact, nearly everything convenient in the IT world has a high rate of failure; the boring stories I could tell :/). Give it another shot and be careful when installing the antivirus again.


I apologize if I was too harsh in my first post, perhaps I need to re-evaluate my posting style in this situation. Also I probably need to go eat some lunch since I tend to get a little grumpy when I'm hungry LOL

[Monica]

Thanks, if he reformats the computer, I know to save my files, and they all fit in thefilebin.com so that wasn't an issue. Also Atma he's gotta do all the reformatting and all of that stuff, I am currently Defragmenting as I type. I was just hoping there was something to help get LiveUpdate working I hadn't thought of.

[vegeta1215]

No offense Monica, but your Dad sounds like he is paranoid about security if he thinks you need a corporate security suite on your home network.

Really, all you need on your computer is a firewall (Zone Alarm is great, and it's free), a spyware removal tool (Adaware and Spybot S&D are great, and both free), and an anti-virus program (there are a few free ones, and Symantec makes one that is reasonably inexpensive and will get the job done) Not to mention, you get another level of protection if you happen to connect to your DSL connection through a router that has an internal firewall and does NAT.

[Monica]

I've used Norton, Adaware, Spybot, Spyware Blaster Microsoft Antispyware and AVG and there is a router firewall. Norton couldn't delete half the stuff it found, and AGV couldn't see what Norton saw but the Symantec Antivirus aterted us of 3 viruses that were on my sister's account, immediately when we turned on the computer or when they came. That horrible Twaintech I believe came out of a program someone downloaded. Right now I'm using Opera and Trillian and Trillian makes Generic Win32 Host and Tracing and Logging crash every time it loads.

My filepaths look like this: C:\Documents and Settings\Monica.HOME2\My Documents\Emulation\Super Nintendo :( That .HOME2 is not supposed to be there.

[vegeta1215]

Ugh...

I don't know what to tell you, other than buy a Mac (http://www.apple.com/macmini/) ;) (btw, Opera on Mac used to be terrible, but we just put Opera 7.54u2 on our Mac, and it has caught up with the Windows and Linux versions nicely)

[AtmaWeapon]

It is pretty easy to run Windows and not be under constant assault by viruses and malware. For the last 8 years, I haven't caught a single virus in Windows that wasn't my fault. Monica probably does nothing to introduce viruses to her network, but has established in previous posts that the other members of her network probably run every executable they get as if it were some kind of candy for them to eat. Once you let a virus onto your private network, you have problems.

Your "BUY A MAC, PROBLEM SOLVED" attitude is no better in my eyes than the first post I made, vegeta1215, and it is that kind of attitude that made me stop reading slashdot.

[Beldaran]

It is pretty easy to run Windows and not be under constant assault by viruses and malware. For the last 8 years, I haven't caught a single virus in Windows that wasn't my fault. Monica probably does nothing to introduce viruses to her network, but has established in previous posts that the other members of her network probably run every executable they get as if it were some kind of candy for them to eat. Once you let a virus onto your private network, you have problems.

Your "BUY A MAC, PROBLEM SOLVED" attitude is no better in my eyes than the first post I made, vegeta1215, and it is that kind of attitude that made me stop reading slashdot.


Agreed. Everytime I get a virus, it's because I was being a dumb ass and looking for something on a website of questionable nature. (lesbian porn!)

Ever since I began being security conscious about my internet activities, I haven't had any problems. My computer is clean as a whistle.

[AtmaWeapon]

Agreed. Everytime I get a virus, it's because I was being a DUCK and looking for something on a website of questionable nature. (lesbian porn!)This is where cost/benefit analysis comes into play. Did the quality of the porn and its perceived value exceed the frustration the virus caused? ;)

[Monica]

Hang on, Viruses spread to other computers? O_O This has nothing to do with the topic but at this very moment my dad is battling a NASTY virus that is opening a zillion programs in my brother's account. My brother and his friends like to play with foreign music mixers and stuff...:(

[Beldaran]

My brother and his friends like to play with foreign music mixers and stuff...:(


haha yeah because boys just cant wait to get the internet and download "foreign music mixers and stuff".

Ah, I remember the first time I downloaded some...ahem, "foreign music mixers". Those were back in the days of Pamela Lee. I learned so much that summer... :laughing:

[vegeta1215]

Monica probably does nothing to introduce viruses to her network, but has established in previous posts that the other members of her network probably run every executable they get as if it were some kind of candy for them to eat...

Your "BUY A MAC, PROBLEM SOLVED" attitude is no better in my eyes than the first post I made, vegeta1215, and it is that kind of attitude that made me stop reading slashdot.

I agree that it's probably not Monica's fault because I think she has good computer habits and is cautious when downloading things off the internet, so it has to be someone else on the network...

...however, the amount of work a person has to do to remedy situations similar to those she has been in is unneccessary and unacceptable. I'm talking about the "back-up everything, do a clean install, defrag, reinstall app" routine (and others like it) - a computer is meant to be a tool, and no person should have to spend that much time just to maintain it.

You may not like hearing me say, "BUY A MAC, PROBLEM SOLVED" but it WILL solve her problems, and I think she would be much better off using a Mac with OS X. I wish I could give her more advice than that, but I can't, and I find it ridiculous that reinstalling Windows is the answer to so many Windows related problems.

I don't want to throw this thread anymore off topic, so I will say good luck Monica.

[Monica]

Please don't say that about my brother, that isn't allowed in my house AT ALL. :( It was a real mixer, some DJ thing, I saw him using it the last few days. Thank you. ^^

Edit: Thanks for the suggestion vegeta but a Mac is completely impossible. Anyway all my other probs have cleared up except for the LiveUpdate thing (and apparently the viruses on the other comp)

[Beldaran]

I agree that it's probably not Monica's fault because I think she has good computer habits and is cautious when downloading things off the internet, so it has to be someone else on the network...

...however, the amount of work a person has to do to remedy situations similar to those she has been in is unneccessary and unacceptable. I'm talking about the "back-up everything, do a clean install, defrag, reinstall app" routine (and others like it) - a computer is meant to be a tool, and no person should have to spend that much time just to maintain it.

You may not like hearing me say, "BUY A MAC, PROBLEM SOLVED" but it WILL solve her problems, and I think she would be much better off using a Mac with OS X. I wish I could give her more advice than that, but I can't, and I find it ridiculous that reinstalling Windows is the answer to so many Windows related problems.

I don't want to throw this thread anymore off topic, so I will say good luck Monica.

I run windows exclusively, and it is such a turd. Unless you are highly knowledgeable in computer security (I am not) and/or a qualified registry hacker (I most certainly am not), don't lose track of your windows install disk, because you will NEED that sucker.

Because of bad computing habits and poor knowledge of security, I once had to reformat and re-install windows like three times in one month. Thankfully, those days are behind me. But sheesh.