I’m using version 3.13.121240.574 of the firewall only (not the AV) on a Dell laptop running XP SP3, fully patched.
While looking through my registry for something this morning I noticed the HKLM\system\software\comodo key was huge. When exported it turned out to be almost 10 meg, which I thought was abnormally large for a single key. While going through it’s contents I found a tremendous number of references to programs that I had deleted a long time ago, so I began to dig a little deeper.
Using a registry scan program I immediately found 9 long ago removed programs, which constituted over 350 individual entries in HKLM\system\software\comodo! I was so shocked by that number I actually didn’t look any further, but I’m certain there are many more programs still lingering in their which are no longer on my system.
In order to remove those entries I went to Firewall\Advanced\Network Security Policy and Defense+\Advanced\Computer Security Policy and hit the Purge button. But to my surprise both of them stated there was nothing to purge, which was definitely not the case because the Comodo registry key is littered with programs the FW should not be concerned with any longer.
The folders those programs were installed in were already removed, but the Purge buttons still do nothing. So I’m wondering if the Purge function is broken and not doing it’s job, or is it I just don’t understand how it’s supposed to work? And if it is functioning properly, and not designed to clean up the registry, how do you go about getting rid of all the old junk in the Comodo registry key? Surely there must be some automated method to accomplish that, right?
My HKLM\system\software\comodo is almost 9 MB in size. Nothing to worry about. I am on a three month old Win 7 installation and couldn’t find traces of previously installed software in the registry.
Is this a clean or upgrade installation? If it is an upgrade installation; starting from what version of CIS did you do upgrade installations? (It’s my hypothesis for now that a number of upgrades may have caused the clutter).
I also checked my HKLM\system\software\Comodo and it didn’t have any old entries. I haven’t done a fresh install for about 2-3 versions or so. Did you ever use a regcleaner like jv16 PowerTools? I found that is not a good idea and to stick with the Comodo purge. Renaebayos seems to have had a similar experience with his regcleaning and now has to keep using it. It appeared to me that CIS expects certain sub-keys to be there and a regclean confuses it making for, I suppose, problems with the purge.
The only thing I can suggest is a clean install, and then to only use Comodo purge or the remove button for installs and such that you don’t want junking up the list. That will make it easier to keep the list clean and the reg key small.
Purge button is designed to clear rules, if you setup rules for a program and then delete the program, you can use this button to remove the rules to this particular program, if after using it the rules are still there then and only then you can say the puge button is not working.
EricJH Is this a clean or upgrade installation? If it is an upgrade installation; starting from what version of CIS did you do upgrade installations? (It’s my hypothesis for now that a number of upgrades may have caused the clutter).
I installed CIS about a year ago, using the most current version available then (don’t recall what the exact version was, but it was 3.x though). I’ve used Update option from Miscellaneous only twice since then, so I really haven’t done a lot of updating.
renaebayos It’s pretty much all because of orphaned Defense+ registry keys.
That’s what it appears to be for me as well, so I think we’re seeing the same thing.
MRCS Did you ever use a regcleaner like jv16 PowerTools?
I used a registry “scanner” type of program to see what all the entries were, but no cleaner.
The only thing I can suggest is a clean install
I might give that a try. In order to get back all my rules/configs all I have to do is Export everything from Miscellaneous\Manage My Configurations, correct?
distance Purge button is designed to clear rules, if you setup rules for a program and then delete the program, you can use this button to remove the rules to this particular program, if after using it the rules are still there then and only then you can say the puge button is not working.
This part seems to work; the Purge button will remove them from the list after the program and it’s folder have been deleted. The problem appears to be strictly with the registry entries. Those seem to stay regardless of what I do.
EricJH or someone else might be better to answer that. The only thing I have done is export the configurations as backup. It would depend on whether CIS exports the configuration from the registry keys or from somewhere in the “C:\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security” directory. If they’re exported from the reg keys you’d be back in the same boat. I don’t see anything in the Comodo directories except the original default ones, e.g. “COMODO - Firewall Security.cfg” My exported FW .cfg is in code so it’s not editable.
I did notice that after using the regcleaner that I had some blank lines in the Network Security Policy. I used the remove button on those and everything seemed to be back to normal. That’s when I decided it was not a good idea to use a regcleaner on Comodo keys anymore. Even though you did not use a regcleaner, it sounds like something somewhere is corrupted in those keys or in whatever Comodo uses to check the integrity of those keys. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
I’m on XP SP3 as well .The key I have is HKLM\System\Software\Comodo and it is 4.41mb in size and contains only references to things that are actually installed. I purge on a regular basis and also run 3 different registry cleaners. Auslogics, Registry Mechanic 7, and Ccleaner. The other difference is that I run the full CIS package. Maybe this is a reason why you should.
The first time I ran the registry cleaner in Ccleaner it found a lot of invalid references to uninstalled programs that the other cleaners had missed. I don’t remember if they were in the Comodo settings but they may have been.