SAS and Sygate Firewall incompatible??

[Jet]

I just installed SuperAntiSpyware at the suggestion of a forum member and it found a few things Avast didn't pick up.

After that I went to MajorGeeks.com and downloaded a free firewall, Sygate.

Now when I go to update SAS, it says it can't connect and to make sure your firewall isn't blocking SuperAntiSpyware.exe.  I go into Sygate and click the SAS icon and change it to "allow" and still get the same message.  Even when I check "allow all" or shut off Sygate completely, I still get the message.

Any ideas?  Or should I just delete Sygate and get a different firewall?

[Pondus]

Any ideas?  Or should I just delete Sygate and get a different firewall?

http://free.agnitum.com/

[DavidR]

There should be no incompatibility, they do different things.

The job of a firewall is to block unauthorised outbound connections or challenge changed processes, when the firewall still blocks when you have clicked allow, delete the entry completely and that will force the firewall to ask permission again.

All that said I wouldn't use Sygate, it is old and unsupported so isn't being developed and when effectively dropped had some vulnerabilities. So I too would suggest looking at another firewall which is still supported and being developed.

[Jet]

I deleted Sygate from my computer and disabled my Windows firewall....

and I still get a message when I try to run updates on SAS saying it can't connect, check to make sure firewall isn't blocking superantispyware.exe....

[DavidR]

Then in theory it isn't a firewall issue but another problem.

Though I don't like the term "I deleted Sygate from my computer" as it doesn't imply a correct uninstall, which could leave remnants of the firewall that could still cause issues.

Do you have problems updating any other security software ?

Try MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM), On-Demand only in free version http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/malwarebytes/mbam-setup.exe, right click on the link and select Save As or Save File (As depending on your browser), save it to a location where you can find it easily later. Once installed see if you can update that.

[Spiritsongs]

   Hi Jet :

 Although it probably does not matter at this point, I have BOTH Sygate and
 the FREE Version of SUPERAntiSpyware on my computer for years and have
 had no problems updating SUPERAntiSpyware .

 You MAY want to contact the Forums of SUPERAntiSpyware at
 http://forums.superantispyware.com  to see IF there has been a similar
 problem reported and resolved and/or start your own "topic" on those forums !?

[Jet]

Though I don't like the term "I deleted Sygate from my computer" as it doesn't imply a correct uninstall, which could leave remnants of the firewall that could still cause issues.

I meant "uninstall", I sometimes mix up the terms.

[Jet]

Do you have problems updating any other security software ?

Try MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM), On-Demand only in free version http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/malwarebytes/mbam-setup.exe, right click on the link and select Save As or Save File (As depending on your browser), save it to a location where you can find it easily later. Once installed see if you can update that.

I have MBAM.  Just tried updating  it and got an error message, just says report error code 732 to MalwareBytes support team.

[Pondus]

Is it 732 (0, 0)

Error Code 732 - Automatically Detect Settings in IE & Note for NetZero Users
http://www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=10138&view=findpost&p=162097

[Jet]

Yes, thats it, with the two zeros after it like that.  I did the recommended step in that link and I still get the error message.

[Pondus]

Tried restart?

if this does not help, MalwareBytes forum is the place
http://www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?act=idx

[DavidR]

Well now we have two security applications that have problems updating so I start thinking malware blocking rather than firewall blocking.

-- HOSTS file redirect a common malware tactic to block AV sites making it difficult to remove malware - 127.0.0.1 check your HOSTS file using notepad or a text editor of your choice, C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts or do a search for HOSTS to find it if not there.
 
Once open you are looking for entries with avast.com on the line, you may well see other AV sites, post the contents of the hosts file. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file

Whilst this could block security sites, it wouldn't normally come up with the error you mentioned.

[Jet]

David, this is what's in my HOSTS file:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

127.0.0.1       localhost
# Start of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy

.........and then a long list of entries.  I don't even have Spybot on my computer anymore!!!

Am I looking for certain things in these entries?  Or should I be looking for entries put there by other antivirus/malware programs?  Not sure what to do with this.

[DavidR]

Well having once installed spybot, I don't know how well it cleans up after you uninstall it.

So I would suggest, since you don't have spybot any more you remove everything below and including the line:
# Start of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy

Now save the file, make sure that you have the Save as type: value set to All Files and ensure that a .txt value isn't added to the Hosts file name.

[Jet]

Scrolling thru the list, it contains ONLY entries put there by Spybot.  At the end of the list, it says "end of list of Spybot entries" or something like that.  I'm not sure I understand your instructions on what to do with it, though.  Am I deleting the whole list but saving it first in a separate file in case it screws something up by deleting??