GUEST Topsie

The AV guys and gals have to try to know all the holes in common computer systems, and make plugs for them.

At the same time, the guys and gals who build the common computer systems have to try to eliminate the holes (or at least move them around).

"Clinkers" like the one you're seeing are often the result of out-of-sequence patches for the same hole coming from two different places. Sometimes of course, they're just because "somebody goofed."

If you're using an up to date WinXP, you can look at Start|Settings|Control Panel and double-click on "Security Center" to make sure that Windows knows that you have an AV program and that it's supposed to use it instead of the built-in stuff. Occasionally (actualy rarely) a Windows security update will mess up the settings there.

(You should of course be set up to get the Windows and Office updates automatically if you're eligible.)

You could also try a manual update of your AV.

Probably, the problem will go away when you get another automatic AV update; but waiting can be annoying.

I recently got a recurring message saying that my Norton needed to be uninstalled and reinstalled. This was on a WinXP laptop that had been offline for at least a month, and was after a manual AV update and a Windows/Microsoft "catchup" update of about 40 MB. Norton, via support email, admitted they'd screwed up a "last update" and gave me a couple of filenames to create (with nothing in the files) that solved the problem. I did NOT get the same error on two other WinXP machines that got normal automatic updates from both Microsoft and Norton "in sequence."

Whenever there's any questionable happening, it is of course a good idea to run full scans with your AV, AntiSpyware, and whatever other security systems you have in place. If you don't have an AntiSpyware program or two, probably the best free ones are AdAware-SE and Spybot S&D, and you should get, update, and run them regularly.

John