ESET Smart Security 5 + XP 32 bit=Big Problems

A couple of weeks ago, I downloaded the trial version of ESET Smart Security 5, to try out on my IBM ThinkPad T42 which dual boots Win XP MCE & Win 2K Pro. I done this because my ESET NOD32 AV's subscription was running out (it now has).

After installing the trial version on the ThinkPad, everything was going well until I removed a flash drive (using Safe Removal). It BSOD'd on me. Being that it was a new install, and I had just put a bunch of programs on, I needed to make sure it was ESET. I reinstalled it, and it was the problem. So I'm thinking that's it's a ThinkPad issue, being that NOD32 ran quite well on all versions of Windows, from 2000 Pro through 7.

OK, it came time for renewal yesterday. It installed perfectly on both of my OEM installs of 7 Pro, another evaluation copy of 7 Pro, and an evaluation copy of XP Pro 64 bit. These two evaluation copies of Windows and the one I'm about to describe are on the same HDD.

The last install, Windows XP Pro (32 bit), BSOD'd on me before I could even enter the setup (username, password & contact screen). So now it appears that it's a XP 32 bit issue, rather than my IBM. The HDD with the last problem install of ESET Smart Security is on my HP desktop (2 entirely different computers).

My question is this: Does ESET Smart Security not work well with XP 32 bit? It's had 4 perfectly fine installs, and those are running well (even the XP 64 bit install). I bought Smart Security because I thought it would be an upgrade to their AV. But it's a PITA w/XP 32 bit.

Cat

Hi Cat,

One of us can look at the BSOD minidumps for you, if you are willing to follow the steps at How to ask for help with a BSOD problem.

One thing that is for certain is that anything is possible. I have personally installed ESET products on dozens of computer systems and have not seen this issue take place: not on XP 32 or Windows 7. If you are running a Peer-to-Peer networking program, this may be causing some problems with Smart Security. Remember that it is an entire security suite, so it is using more resources and is certainly scanning inbound and outbound connections.

XP is known to BSOD because it is growing on in years. The more programs you have, the more conflicts are possible. Vista and 7 went a long way in preventing these types of problems. Without additional information anything could be the cause, but you have identified a possibility by seeing that this is when the crashes started to happen.

Hundreds of millions still use Windows XP 32-bit, and ESET Smart Security and NOD32 are used by millions of people. It may be the programs, drivers, and other utilities in between that are causing a conflict.

One quick way is to simply uninstall all anti-virus software temporarily on the Windows XP system. If the system still crashes, you know it is not the anti-virus. Another possibility is that it is not the anti-virus at all. Still, ESET products are rated highly in independent lab tests like AV Comparatives, which do not necessarily receive paid endorsements and perform scientific lab studies and comparisons based on heuristics, detection, etc. Any anti-virus can cause trouble on a Windows XP system that has conflicting software. I do suggest uninstalling and see if the problem still occurs. If not, you can always use the BSOD forum for analysis.

However, ESET Smart Security and ESET NOD32 are not generally known to crash in Windows XP "normally". Additional issues may be causing the problem. For the most part, these programs are written quite well. NOD32 was famous for being written entirely in Assembly language. This is a highly efficient and very difficult way of writing software. The best way to find out here is to uninstall the program and see what is going on when it is no longer present in memory.

I know that I don't have the BSOD dump from the ThinkPad any longer, but it may still exist in the HDD with XP Pro on this PC. I'll have to plug the drive in in the morning to check it out.

Actually, I don't want to think that is the Smart Security suite, but something else. ESET security products are well known, trusted, dependable security apps around. Very light on resources, yet quick & smart enough to intercept any bad code that come's it's way.

Cat

Hello,

The system freeze you experienced running ESET Smart Security Home Edition 5 under Microsoft Windows XP when hot-plugging USB mass storage devices is a known issue, and for now, the recommended course of action is to stay on ESET Smart Security Home Edition 4.2, which can be downloaded directly from ESET's servers at:

http://download.eset.com/download/win/v4ess/ess_nt32_enu.msi

A fix for the issue is currently being tested in the beta test version of ESET Endpoint Security Suite (which used to be ESET Smart Security Business Edition). If you would like to download a copy of that to try the fix, it is available from ESET's beta test portal at:

http://www.eset.com/us/beta/endpoint/

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience with ESET Smart Security on your Thinkpad T42 and hope you will let us know if the new beta build resolves the issue for you.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Thanks Aryeh, for checking into my issue. ESET is the very best AV/IS solution that I've used. Combined with the lifetime license of MBAM Pro, ESET NOD32 AV & ESET Smart Security provides the best 1-2 punch against 99+% of all bad code that attempts to enter my systems.

Later today, I'll try out that solution that you posted. Will it work with the 3 PC license that I bought, the 1 year activation?

Also, I'm glad that ESET redefined their policy as to what 3 PC's means. My desktop has 3 HDD's, containing 7 Windows OS's. The ThinkPad has 4 OS's, on 2 HDD's, and my MSI notebook (listed in my specs) has only the OEM install of Windows 7. 3 PC's should be just that, not each HDD being a PC.

Cat

Thanks a Lot, Aryeh! That program (ESET Endpoint Security Suite Beta) runs perfectly on Windows XP Home on my ThinkPad. No issues with removing flash drives, then the OS BSOD's, as it did with Smart Security 5. The license for the program is valid until 04/30/12, so that gives ESET plenty of time to work any bugs out of the latest version of ESET Smart Security.

What I'll probably do, and I do this with F-Secure, is to sign up to be a beta tester with ESET. I do this for 2 reasons, one is that my VM's has decent security, and I don't like or care for MSE. It's at version 4 now, but still, it's done little to protect me when I needed it. One notebook that I no longer have caught a very nasty form of malware, and MSE was of no help. Had I had MBAM Pro installed, I would never have been on the site to begin with. Anyway, it took a clean install of Windows 7 to remove the infection.

Secondly,the only things that MSE blocked on my computers were programs that were known safe ones that I use. It blocks the SIW app from installing because it has Open Candy software, although I can run the portable perfectly fine. It blocks the Unlocker app because it has a toolbar that can be opted out of.

I can't speak for everyone, but my experiences with MSE were not the best, which led me to seek a paid AV with professional support, if needed. I had used the free ESET Online Scanner (on both my & my mother-in-law's computers, and it found & removed lots of missed items, including a few trojans, that MSE missed on all. This is why I chose ESET NOD32 AV early last year as my brand of AV, after reading reviews closely. Newegg's customers had it rated as 5 eggs, that was plenty good enough for me to make that choice.

Plus, Newegg had it (NOD32 AV 4) for only $29.99 for 3 PC's at that time, the same price that I paid for ESET Smart Security. I never pay full price for software, I know when my licenses are going to expire, and I begin looking for it's replacement 3 months in advance at Newegg. They send me at least 3 promos a week, at least once, if not twice a month, one can get a 3 user NOD32 or Smart Security for $29.99, and more recently I saw it for $22 & some change.

Anyway, thanks a million! My ThinkPad T42 (considered ancient to many) is now well protected. And on my other HDD for it, NOD32 AV 5 runs perfectly fine on Windows 2000 Pro (the 30 day trial version). Once that runs out, I'll try out this new software on it.

Cat

Hello,

The public beta test for ESET Endpoint Security Suite is an open one and can be installed on multiple computers regardless of whether you have a license for an existing ESET product.

One thing to keep in mind those, is that both ESET's and Malwarebytes' software have realtime protection functionality that may interfere with each other. I cannot really say for certain whether that will occur on the ThinkPad T42, because it can vary based on each program's version and individual configuration, but just something to keep an eye out for in case the system starts behaving strangely after one program or the other downloads an update.

Operating system-wise, ESET currently supports Windows NT 4.0 SP6a and newer (Windows 95 support ends in April, 2012), so there should be no issues running Windows 2000. Hardware-wise, the T42 exceeds the minimum system requirements, so there should be no issues there, either.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Aryeh, thanks for passing that extra info to me. Perhaps I misunderstood the EULA (I actually read that stuff).

As far as compatibility goes, the ESET installer checks for these things, it has found empty folders where another AV was installed & reported it to me. I then went back & deleted the folders. It doesn't flag MBAM or SAS as being incompatible.

However, I have XP Mode installed, with a beta version of F-Secure Technology Preview, the installer flagged MBAM, but not SAS, as being a conflicting product. Even the regular version of F-Secure Internet Security flags MBAM.

But I can say this, up until this week, ESET NOD32 AV 5 for the last year, combined with MBAM & SAS Pro on my main 2 installs (both Win 7 Pro x64), there's been no drag on my computers from the protection, and I've not had a single infection. MBAM blocked me from a few malware laden sites (they looked OK).

From time to time, I check behind everything with a third party online scanner, such as F-Secure, Kaspersky's TDSS Killer & the Microsoft Safety Scanner. No infections.

Although many Linux users doesn't use any kind of protection, I do. I have ClamTK installed, and do a recursive scan (full scan of my home folder, which includes my browsers) prior to shutting down the computer. I can even scan my Windows installs, one partition at a time, with it. BTW, I'm a part time Ubuntu 11.10 user. Low overhead, very fast.

Cat

Great News! I finally got my version of ESET Smart Security 5 installed on XP Pro 32 bit on my HP desktop. What I did was run the installer for a final time to see what happened. It showed NOD32 AV 5 as still installed, even though I completely removed it, and ran Glary Utilities Pro to find all leftovers. There was an empty folder (at the time after uninstall) that I deleted. Glary removed the registry leftovers.

So after seeing this message from the installer, I checked Windows Security Center, it reported NOD32 AV 5 as being there, updated & protecting me. Very weird, considering that I had uninstalled what I thought to be all traces of the program, including all restore points, registry backups, anything that I felt may be associated with the program. I tried again, no go. I even used the Search feature (that animated dog) to find any traces, it found nothing at all.

Finally, I decided a clean install would be easier & less time consuming than digging through every tiny file & registry entry to find the problem. Once I got XP Pro reinstalled, the drivers installed, and the initial round of updates, I once again attempted the install, and it went right through. I'm still updating the system now.

This was a big relief to me. However, I cannot understand, for the life of me, why the Security Center was showing me as protected, when no virus protection was installed.

Hopefully soon, I can find the answer as to why it causes problems on the ThinkPad. That beta link that Aryeh is running fine on it, plus I have a trial version of F-Secure Internet Security Preview on another install. That's good until 12/01/12. On my other HDD for that notebook (which has 2 installs & a data partition), I have a 30 day trial of NOD32 AV 5 (will install the beta soon), and a full version of AVG 2012 Internet Security that was given to me as a combo with a purchase of a wireless router from Newegg. I'm not crazy about AVG, but it's better than nothing.

Not giving up pays off!

Cat

Finally, I have ESET Smart Security 5 on all 3 computers, including the ThinkPad. I narrowed the issue down to 2 things, either it had to do with the excessive ancient IBM/Lenovo software installed, or (more than likely) a network card that I had installed, being that it didn't have a built wi-fi card. It wasn't the USB type, it was the type that slides in (an ENCORE ENPWI-G2). During the install, Windows was giving frequent warnings that the drivers weren't signed, although on the box, it was made for older OS's (like XP/2000).

Instead, I installed another one that I had laying around, a Netgear WPN-511, that's been a very good one for me, considering that I bought it used on eBay for $20 back in 2009. And had to download the software/drivers myself. At that time, it was a huge improvement over the built in Dell mini card that shipped with the Latitude D610. Whereas I had to go outdoors to pick up the public wi-fi 3 blocks away, I suddenly had a 4 bar connection indoors. And had plenty of speed, enough to even run my Magic Jack.

Too, when I installed this card, I didn't have these warnings. So it very well may have been the wi-fi card.

At any rate, all is good now, and I'm happy. All of my computers are well secured now, that means a lot to me. I take internet security seriously.

This thread is now considered solved.

Cat