I really like CIS and have used it for several years. I used to recommend it to friends and family, but now I advise people to stay away.
The main reason for this is that I live in Norway where Windows uses advanced text services by default so it can process æ, ø and å among other things. CFP will hammer MSCTF.DLL over 1000 times per second with a default install of CIS on a default install of Windows. The bug was reported by me in 2009 and there have been other reports on this as well. I can fix this either by disabling the text bar or write a rule to accept it, so I continued to use CIS, but not recommend it.
Secondly, since a few updates ago, the CIS tray icon now grabs focus away from other applications. Why is a tray icon grabbing the focus for? (This is not when asking for permission, but seems to randomly decide to minimize any fullsreen applications)
Thirdly there are the nag screens. Every time CIS updates it resets the setting to disable them,
I typed define: Malware in google and got these definitions (among others):
A malicious or intentionally or unintentionally damaging software program
Software or software component that intentionally causes undesirable activities in a computer or information system
So by these definitions CIS is malware. It causes harm: the hammering of msctf.exe slows the computer to crawl if it is a fast machine, or crashes a slow machine. It crashes some games that don’t handle CIS taking focus. Lastly, it spams me with messages I have no interest in and purposefully circumvent the choice not to receive these messages.
It really saddens me because I think that CIS is doing so much great. I have two internet connections at home and the CFW is the only software FW that I trust enough to put a windows box directly online through the cable connection. The configuration options in the software proper is the best on the market IMO, both easy and with the proper depth for custom options. So I really wonder why Comodo is doing so much to make it an annoyance rather than the joy it used to be in older versions?
This is definitely not intentional!
Comodo do not have nag screens! A nag screen is really used if they want you to pay for something.
Post the bug about comodo tray taking away focus from windows in the bug reports - cis section.
Sorry to hear about your problems, and sorry I can’t help solve them. I hope someone can.
I can say Malware is intentional, wherever you read unintentional is wrong.
It may have unintentionally been read or written, but a program that is unintentionally harmful in any way is not Malware. It is more likely to be user error or a program conflict, bug etc.
If you believe everything you Google your head would be overloaded with contradicting results, please sift through any searches before deciding what is right and what is wrong. I hope you find a solution to your problems soon. Kind regards
This must be a bug since I experience none of the issues you speak of. I hope someone can help you with this issue as I hate to see someone go from a satisfied user of CIS to the other end of the spectrum.
Nag screen may have been a bad choice of words, so let’s call it spam instead
I reported the msctf.exe hammering in 2009. Others have also reported the bug at least since 2008, and nothing has been done about that. I could send a ticket about the focus grabbing, but since I stopped using CIS as of today and the other bug has not been fixed in three years, why bother? I might check back in the future and see if it has gotten better, but i don’t have high hopes for that.
While these things might not be intentional, though overriding disabled messenger center setting is suspicious, the point is that CIS is becoming too much of a hassle for me to continue using it. What I need is a good software firewall like Comodo used to have.
I realize I am complaining about a free product and that I could just move on. CFW has been one of my favorite applications, but every new version seems to just introduce more bugs and features I don’t need or want. So instead of silently leaving I wanted to tell why, almost like telling a friend why you don’t want to hang out with him anymore.
@ Lasse88: I don’t understand the point of your post. The first quote is saying I still don’t recommend CIS, and the second quote from the old post says exactly the same. Since the msctf.exe hammering started I can’t recommend CIS to users who are not computer geeks. Or you might be a really hardcore grammar ■■■■ to complain about a spelling error from over two years ago
@captainsticks: I obviously don’t believe in everything I read, hence the “(among others)”. I do think the second definition is quite good, and CIS does cause undesirable activities intentionally, like the spamming and possibly altering the setting for turning them off. Not fixing a show-stopping bug for over three years is at least willful negligence.
Yeah, me too. That’s why I posted this
So does anyone have any recommendations for a good software firewall, free or commercial?
There is a silver lining here. CIS can be customised to work around it.
Secondly, since a few updates ago, the CIS tray icon now grabs focus away from other applications. Why is a [i]tray icon[/i] grabbing the focus for? (This is not when asking for permission, but seems to randomly decide to minimize any fullsreen applications)
That problem was supposed to be solved but apparently not totally. I have seen a couple of other users reporting this problem
Thirdly there are the nag screens. Every time CIS updates it resets the setting to disable them,
I have seen one or two other users reporting this. It may be related to updating to the latest version using the program updater.
Yes, but that is missing the point. I know how to troubleshoot a program and spent some time figuring out what made CIS slow down the system. How many regular users have the patience or knowledge to do that though? The Nordic countries alone have 25 million people who all use advanced text services by default, and Arabic (~300 mill people) and probably Asian versions do as well (Lots of people :D). Every user from these countries who tries CIS wil find that it makes their computers unusable and will blame Comodo for a POS product, and rightly so. I understand if Comodo won’t bother with non-english users, but why then ask for translations?
It seriously baffles me that a company does not care about its reputation, and especially a security company that is dependent on trust from it’s users! It’s not a hard bug to fix.
I assume you are a voluntary mod, but if you have contact with Comodo staff it would be nice to hear what they have to say about that.
Hej Kjelltri
Could you please explain a little closer what to do about the MSCTF.DLL problem.
I also, like so many others, try to get Comodo working without eating all the processor power.
I have spend so many hours on this, and will probably end up with only using the firewall.
When you read the topics, they are filled with complaints about this recourse hugging.
There is never any solutions, only some users telling that they have no problem with their 6 core processors.
I did not read in the system requirements, that 6 core processors are required.
The problem with non-english letters is new to me, and I do not understand it. Could you please explain what rules you have set up to prevent this problem ???
Erm… OK. But, I thought it was useful, given the tone of your post. I assumed, obviously wrongly, that you were not intentionally being funny. I apologise. In any event, I cannot give you a reply to your post because (a) I’m not Kjelltri (who you addressed the post to) and (b) I’ve not encountered this problem myself (only 2 cores here).
My wife has a duel core laptop and doesn’t encounter any CPU usage problems at all with Comodo Internet Security version 5.3 on it with everything it has to offer running. Her CPU in idle runs between 3 and 7 percent total of both processors usage. My desktop quad core runs between 1 and 3 percent total processors usage. So I believe you may have something else hogging your CPU other than Comodo.
Only if I could understand what you mean by saying “hammering”. CIS will not allow MSCTF.dll to be loaded into its own processes because it is causing serious problems in CIS UI and message flow.
