I have uninstalled Comodo (free) and it breaks my internet connection. I can’t repair it. Brief history as follows:
Computer: home build, AMD quad [at] 3.3GHz, 4gig RAM, runs fast and clean with no problems. Windows 7 Ultimate. Windows firewall is disabled. Wireless connection from router. Other computers in the home run and connect normally, I am using one to post this.
Original problem: Firewall consistently refuses to unblock programs it judges are viruses and blocks without my permission. I had to uninstall firewall using normal Remove Programs utility in Control Panel.
On reboot, internet connection is broken; “no connections are available” message when I attempt to connect. Other messages: “Windows cannot load drivers for internet card”.
My attempted fixes and checks:
**ran the Windows LAN repair utility, messaged that “Windows was unable to repair internet connection”.
**upon attempted fix, Windows messaged: “Windows cannot load drivers for this card”.
**In Hardware Manager, yellow marks next to my NIC and Realtech motherboard driver entry.
**reinstalled motherboard chipset and LAN drivers from the motherboard driver disk.
**reinstalled my wireless NIC drivers.Neither reinstall fixed the problem.
**I did a complete image restore of Windows from backup (I keep regular image backups) and internet access worked fine again. Then I uninstalled Comodo Firewall again (2nd time) and the same thing happened…broken internet connection.
**I did a complete cleaning of all Comodo registry entries in the registry (I did this correctly, and have been doing this after uninstalling dozens of programs for the last 8 years with no problems. Upon reboot, Windows 7 itself was damaged, and while it did load, nothing worked including shortcuts on the desktop, Task Manager, most desktop icons were missing, and black screen. I re-imaged again and am back to normal at present.
**I removed Comodo (3rd time) and again the internet connection broke.
I do not know where to go from here. It appears that somehow Comodo has integrated itself into the LAN settings for Windows and damages the operating system when removed.
So right now I have a working Windows7 system that will not run some of my programs to run and I cannot remove the cause, Comodo Firewall, without damage to my system.
Please suggest solutions.
Hi ranchhand,
Please see Eric’s suggestion in reply 3 of the following link, see if that is the cause of the broken connection after uninstall. Unable to install after uninstall
Thank you, Captain. Unfortunately, Eric’s suggestion assumes that I have recognized internet access options; my problem is that Windows cannot see my hardware, so therefore I have no “available network options”. I went into the registry and removed all Comodo Firewall Driver" entries, rebooted, and Windows still did not recognize any available networks. I have removed every Comodo entry that I can find, including searches for the word “comodo” on my C:\ drive. So…I am still at square one.
I am sure that something is still blocking my internet connections somewhere. Whoever is doing the actual coding for the firewall must have some kind of idea.
Other than this, my computer is running great.
I would like to run the 30-day trial of Revo Uninstaller, but evidently it requires some kind of online registration and since I don’t have internet access I don’t know how to set it up.
Can Windows see the network adapter in safe mode? When in safe mode let device manager run and let it look for new hardware. Can it find the network adapter?
Go to Control Panel. Click on Network and Internet. Click on Network and Sharing Center. Click on Ethernet, and then properties. You will probably see Comodo Internet Security Firewall Driver, and it is checked. Uncheck it, and then hit okay. I just had to do that myself.
I loved Comodo Firewall, just the firewall. It has always served me well. Last night the update totally wrecked my computer. I am just now getting back online. The computer was great, then update, and restart. Then it was awful. I uninstalled Comodo via Add Remove Programs. Then I couldn’t get online, nor was my computer right. Long story, and a very stressful situation.
Hello Eric, thank you for your reply.
I have since re-imaged my OS so I am back up and running again, everything working perfectly, including Comodo CIS. However, while I was down I entered Safe Mode and found the same problem. I also tried Safe Mode with Networking, no help.
I notice that when my NIC is working normally, the activity light blinks constantly. When I am down, the light is lit but steady, no blinking, so it is getting power but the system does not connect to it.
Again, Comodo seems to break, not just the internet connection, but the integration of the hardware to the operating system. That is why the hardware is not even registered and I get the “no internet connections available” message.
So, at this point, to fix this I am facing a complete wipe of the hard drive and the huge task of re-installing all my programs and creating and re-organizing folders. I don’t even want to think about it. Any additional suggestions are welcome.
[at]kkay…Thank you for your input. Your problem sounds really close to mine and I agree, it is very stressful. I entered Network and Sharing Center, but could not find any Ethernet header to click on. See pic below.
Bear in mind (as I said to Eric above) I re-imaged my OS so I am back to normal now, maybe that is a factor? However, I did enter Network Center while I was down and don’t remember seeing any Ethernet header then either. I did a registry search (I have a great utility that will do batch searches in the registry) and removed all entries for Comodo Internet Security Firewall Driver - there were several. No help. Thanks again.
Oh, I have a wired modem. That is why mine is showing ethernet. Look in properties for your connection. That is how I found mine. This update effected my operating system. I haven’t had it running again long enough to know if there are still problems. I couldn’t go into metro and use any aps, or anything. I couldn’t close them from the desktop. All kinds of craziness was going on. I have a Win8.1 64 bit system.
Well, I have searched every nook and corner and can find nothing with that search string. In fact, I can’t find the term “Comodo” in any of the Control Panel/Administrative Tools menus in Win7 other than in “Remove Programs”.
So…I think I am going to get a new 1TB HDD and start setting it up when I have time. Eventually I will pull the plug on Comodo on my present HDD and use the drive for other things.
Too bad. I have used Comodo for years and recommended it on the computer help website I mod on as well. IMHO there are now wayyy too many people posting with problems in this website, and that tells me that inadequate testing is the culprit. At this point I am out of ideas. Any suggestions are welcome, and thanks to the folks that posted in with suggestions!
Did you look under Home Network, from the picture you showed? That might get you to see what I was talking about. Home Network, then properties. You might have to right click to see that. I wish I could help more. I know how frustrating this can be.
However, while I was down I entered Safe Mode and found the same problem. I also tried Safe Mode with Networking, no help.
I notice that when my NIC is working normally, the activity light blinks constantly. When I am down, the light is lit but steady, no blinking, so it is getting power but the system does not connect to it.
Sorry for asking. What do you mean with while I was down? Was that before you reimaged?
Again, Comodo seems to break, not just the internet connection, but the integration of the hardware to the operating system. That is why the hardware is not even registered and I get the "no internet connections available" message.
So, at this point, to fix this I am facing a complete wipe of the hard drive and the huge task of re-installing all my programs and creating and re-organizing folders. I don't even want to think about it. Any additional suggestions are welcome.
Is this happening before you reimaged or after? I'm trying to keep track.
> Yes, because that is the version that is on the [u]backup image[/u] that I re-imaged from. I did not install fresh (obviously). Since then, I received the latest update from Comodo which is installed, and so far has not caused any additional problems.
Sorry for asking. What do you mean with while I was down? Was that before you re-imaged?
> Yes, you are correct. When I attempt to remove Comodo it breaks my internet connection. By "down" I meant the internet connection. The computer runs perfectly other than that. The only way I can get internet running again is to re-image the drive, which returns my installation of Comodo back to normal again.
Is this happening before you re-imaged or after? I'm trying to keep track.
> Yes, before. Initially, the start of this whole thing occurred when I deleted Comodo normally using the Windows uninstaller in Control Panel. That's all. Suddenly I had no internet access. After 2 hours of trying fixes without success, I re-imaged from my external drive (I use Macrium Reflect) and was back to normal. I did this 3 times over a couple of days attempting to remove Comodo without damaging my network access.
I am on a wireless network with a router. All the other computers in my home run and access the internet with no problems.
Just a side thought....once I entered the registry and removed all entries with the word "Comodo" in them. The result was a bricked computer, it totally trashed my Windows 7 Ultimate OS. After that came my 2nd re-image to get back up and running. I have not done that again since then.
**Just FYI....I know entering the registry is frowned upon by many, but I use a great registry batch search utility for targeting [u]certain[/u] registry entries (not a general "registry cleaner" that we all hate) and have been doing this for years and never once damaged my OS nor any of my clients.
Thank you for your interest, and any clarification questions are most welcome.
I did two (2) registry removal attempts as follows:
First I performed the normal removal of Comodo using Windows Remove Programs, and then immediately after I removed all Comodo registry entries (and only Comodo entries, no others). Upon reboot, my Windows 7 OS was totally trashed. I could “boot” into Windows, but the desktop was black with only the start button and a couple of other shortcuts showing, all were unresponsive and non-functional. Obviously, the network adapter was non-functional since I could not access Control Panel nor anything else. I had to re-image from my backup exterior drive.
After the reimage completed and I booted into Windows, all was good again. I then removed only the registry entries for “Comodo Internet Security Firewall Driver” and I did not remove the Comodo installation itself nor any other registry entries- only those specific registry entries. Comodo ran normally and my system was fine, including reboots. I then deleted the Comodo program using Windows normal program removal, rebooted, and Windows launched and ran normally but my internet connection was broken. And, yes, then the network adapter disappeared from my system.
I have not attempted Chiron’s method since it seemed to emphasize the installation of Comodo so as to not have problems, but did not address the removal of Comodo so as not to have problems.
It is virtually impossible to tell what the effects of your actions in the registry are making it impossible for me to comment if what we are seeing is a bug or the result of unlucky tampering with the registry. Even experienced people may incidentally make mistakes.
There is a safe manual way of removing the Inspect Packet Filter driver when it is left behind. Look up the properties of the network connection, select the Comodo Firewall driver and uninstall it. See the attached image.
I have not attempted Chiron's method since it seemed to emphasize the installation of Comodo so as to not have problems, but did not address the [i]removal[/i] of Comodo so as not to have problems.
Chiron's method starts with a thorough clean up.
I don’t know if you feel like testing but I am wondering what would happen when you would uninstall the firewall driver as described in the above instead of going through the registry.
I uninstalled Comodo via Microsoft add or remove programs. It left that driver. I tried to explain that. I didn’t remove the driver, I unchecked it. As soon as I applied that, my connection started going again. It took me forever to figure out the problem. Comodo needs to do their own uninstall program. The Windows uninstall left several files. I am afraid to delete any of them, for fear of hosing up my entire computer AGAIN.
Yes, it sounds simple enough. I am afraid if I try it though, something else might happen. I am going to leave it alone for now. At least the computer is online, and I have a good connection.
[at]Eric… Thanks for your reply.
Please bear in mind that the computer was running clean and fast before my attempt to remove Comodo. After each removal attempt it was re-imaged back to the identical config before this happened, so my registry removal attempts are irrelevant. I know this is frustrating and I feel the same way.
I also know that this is not a common problem; Kkay and I are the exceptions to the rule. I am not dissing Comodo at all; I believe it is one of the finest firewalls out there, and the fact it is offered free of charge deserves a tip of the hat from everybody.
I cannot find my Network Connections; please see the attached pic. I have no explanation for this at all, I don’t see how my network is running, but it is. I have never had this happen before. I do have the standard Network Connections running in my system tray, and my connection is running 5 bars.
Type in Network and Sharing Center. I have the shell classic menu button on Win 8.1…
You can also go into metro, type under search, Network and Sharing Center.
Oh, and my computer was running great before that update too. After the restart immediately following the update, it all went to you know what.
For starters let me start with thanking you for spending considerable amounts of time in investigating uninstalling CIS but for me the removal of registry keys is an issue.
Allow me to elaborate why. First of all the removal of them is undocumented. But more important, I am very much interested in the situation where your problem would arise using the Comodo uninstaller without any other actions. We would then be looking at a bug with the installer. Which of course would be worth reporting.