Comodo became resource hog after v7 update

I’ve seen several posts similar (but not the same) as my issue. So this is to inform Comodo as well as requesting a solution.

Background. I moved to Comodo firewall several years ago after having problems with an update of Zone Alarm Pro making my machine unusable. I was delighted with Comodo initially, but the most recent update has repeated the same trick as ZAP and has possibly set me on the search for a replacement.

I’ve always have Comodo on auto update, so I can’t tell you what version I was on. I installed the latest update (V7.0… something - with the snazzy but pointless widget) yesterday and immediately my machine started to run very, very slowly. It also broke my MS ActiveSync connection with my PDA (yes, some people still have them).

Machine is XP SP3, NOD32 AV (and it has always played well with Comodo FW).

I shut down the open programmes (Outlook and Firefox) and reopened them - no difference. I shut down the machine and rebooted. No difference.

I checked using Task Manager and over 50% of the CPU was being used by a file called SYSTEM with PID 0 As all this had occurred only after the update I suspected either a corrupt update or an incompatibility that the old version of Comodo didn’t have so I shut down Comodo - no difference.

I then decided to uninstall Comodo using the uninstall link in the All Programmes and rebooted. I had a pop-up saying that Comodo couldn’t start one of its services (irritating, as the whole programme should be gone yet it still appears on the program list, even though if I ask it to uninstall again it says it can’t, as “the action is only valid for products that are currently installed”).

Anyway, Comodo gone (well, nearly I had the warning from Windows Security Centre that I my firewall was disabled so it’s clearly not working any more) and the machine is back to its old, fast self.

The problem is clearly with the update to Comodo v7. I’m not interested in trying safe mode, trying this or trying that, I just expect the program to work (which it used to). I’m annoyed that Comodo appears to have created a program as difficult to remove as Norton (which is notorious and only left my machine after a ground-up rebuild) - at least ZAP uninstalled cleanly.

I’m contemplating a clean reinstall of Commodo after I use an uninstall tool to try to get the dead bits of Comodo out of my file system and registry, but the prospect of using a free rival once my machine is free of Comodo is tempting, as I wouldn’t have to go through a broken uninstall process again. I’m looking to flatten my machine and move to W7 in a few weeks, but I’d want to be sure that Comodo was fixed before I let it anywhere near a clean install after my experience of the last 24 hours.

I’m currently on a hardware firewall and XP’s software firewall, with a nice, fast machine. So, over to Comodo and this forum - how do I get Comodo back to the flawless performance I had before? Preferably without hours of fiddling, reinstalling, removing and rebooting. And how do I get the dregs of Comodo out?

Or do I move on to W7 and another product?

Running processes (current, no Comodo) attached in two jpgs

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Update.

I’ve now run the removal batch file (that can be found elsewhere in this forum) twice, rebooting between each and with NOD32 and Windows firewall off for the last run.

I no longer get any warnings that Comodo can’t start but it still appears in the Program list - so even the batch file can’t get it all out.

The batch file also seems to have broken ActiveSync - it doesn’t sync and I get a black box in the system tray where the icon should be. I’ll report this in that thread as well. Looks like I need to uninstall and reinstall that now.

Further update. Another reboot seems to have fixed ActiveSync. Comodo still in Programs list, though.

This is becoming irritating.

Final update (I hope)

Having liked Comodo so much in the past (I said the same about ZAP, though) I decided to take the plunge and do a clean install after having used the uninstall feature then run the cleanup tool twice, rebooting as I went.

Well the PC seems to be back to its old self and Comodo is running happily in the background, so it looks like the problem was with my update/upgrade - either the updater didn’t like my system or my automatic update got corrupted.

I’ll monitor and post again if things change, but as the problem was instantaneous with the last update I’m feeling pretty confident.

I’ll leave this to help anyone else with a similar issue.