When I switched on the PC this morning there was a popup from Comodo about a new local area network. I was requested to give it a name and authorise it.
As I have not created any new networks, and my wife wouldn’t know how to, it struck me as dangerous and so I blocked it. This was a mistake, as it was then impossible to access email or the internet.
After a fruitless period spent trying to amend Comodo – it’s too technical for me – it seemed that the solution would be to remove and reinstall it. But the uninstall failed with the message ‘Network Error. C|WINDOWSInstallerCFP_Setup.msi’. Attempts with Control Panel’s Add & Remove programmes, Absolute Uninstaller and Comodo’s own uninstaller all failed.
However, part of the programme had been removed, as the icons on desktop and task bar had gone and it was now possible to access the internet. This enabled me to get on with some work for an hour or so, hoping that the router and Avira premium would protect me, as clearly Comodo was not fully functional. Something called Geek Buddy had been added and kept unsuccessfully trying to update.
Returning to the problem, another attempt to remove the firewall failed, so it seemed that as it was not functioning fully it might be possible to install ZoneAlarm as a temporary measure. This was a disaster!
All went well until ZA scanned the pc and failed, leaving two partially installed firewalls. ZA and Geek Buddy both kept asking for an error report, which could not be sent as internet access was lost. Plus a series of pop-ups said Clipmagic had encountered a problem and would close, followed by similar from Secunia PSI, explorer.exe, Netgear and others.
By this stage the PC was unusable, it was impossible to access my files to see how to enter Safe Mode, but I seemed to remember it was P5 or P6. My guess of P5 was correct, I succeeded in removing ZA but not Comodo.
Internet access was restored and the PC usable, just the question of how well Comodo functions. There seem to be two options;
1. Geek Buddy finally installed and updated once ZA was removed. The terms state there is an annual fee, without specifying the amount. It would also involve the rip off charge that credit cards make on foreign currency exchanges. But I assume they would know how I should proceed.
2. An easier option would be delete Comodo from the programmes folder, but is this safe? A reinstall might mitigate any harmful effects, but I do not know.
Any suggestions gratefully received, as I’m not sure how secure the existing situation is. Certainly tomorrow I will be making several scans to see what I may have picked up in the meantime.
George
