It’s been several weeks since loading Comodo and things are going mostly well with it. However, I have noticed a couple of startup problems that never occurred before using it. Among the utilities I load are Mailwasher free and Bookmark Buddy, a separate bookmark app . With Mailwasher, 1 to 4 times/week the blacklist doesn’t load and I’m prompted for a backup copy. With BB, some days it’s loading but not making it to the XP Notification Tray, even tho it’s set up to do so, and has to be done manually. I can’t prove that Comodo is the culprit, but only note that over the several years of using both this behavior had *never occurred before Comodo was installed. I also note that while there are no Comodo popups concerning either, the way Comodo works when it does popup often causes timing delays, and perhaps there’s something like that happening behind the scenes here. Any ideas?
XP/SP2 Home up to date (single user)
Comodo 3 free 2.4.18.184
Comcast cable
Update: According to the developer of Bookmark Buddy, if something isn’t making it to the Notification Tray (or taskbar) that means explorer.exe is crashing during Startup. It reloads itself, but some items are often lost along the way. Since this behavior started only after Comodo was installed, I’ve wondered about the relationship. Is it possible?
Thanks. SSDP was already disabled. Under Services I don’t find any UPnP except as part of the explanation for SSDP. Would it be elsewhere or under another name?
Open Mailwasher → Tools → Spam Tools → Blacklist → List Options. Upgrade the time it takes before email addresses expire. However, the freebie version doesn’t have a “Learning” mode, so it can’t build a profile in the same way that the Pro version can.
I’m not familiar with the other app, but using Firefox, hit CTRL+I, then type in your search term at the top and the browser will list all bookmarks for that particular topic.
In Services, the full name is Universal Plug and Play Device Host. I don’t know why these two services impact the systray, but I’ve read it more than once as the solution.
Mailwasher: what do you mean by upgrade the time? Mine was at 90 days. The blacklist itself is a minor convenience for me, for marking rather than bouncing. My concern is some days the list isn’t loading as it should.
Bookmark Buddy: I don’t understand your point.
Re: UPnP (Little Mac’s reply): A search on the issue generally turned up the following helpful link: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/01/04/system-tray-icon-missing-from-system-tray-in-windows-xp/. So it’s a known bug without a definite cure in XP, short of manually logging in at each startup. Since it had never happened before loading Comodo, and having experienced Comodo messing with the timing of loading various things, it seemed worth asking about. I still wonder if Comdo could be involved in any way in my case.
As I understand it from software developers, Load Order on Windows login is a free-for-all; there is no set order or sequence of events - each application makes a grab for CPU time, and whoever gets it first is the one that gets it. CFP’s gui (cpf.exe) always seems to be one of the last things to load, though (in my experience). You may want to try a startup controller/manager, such as one of those they listed in the article; it might help.
I would suggest on Mailwasher and Bookmark Buddy that you check Application Monitor for rules to Allow them; make those rules as permissible as you can tolerate.
You might also want to start over clean:
Boot into SafeMode, and uninstall CFP.
Reboot into SM, run a registry cleaner (make a backup!) like ccleaner or regseeker
Reboot into SM, reinstall CFP (use Automatic, not Advanced/Custom).
This makes sure to reduce any possible conflicts during the process.
Then in CFP, go to Security/Tasks/Scan for Known Applications, follow the prompts.
Be sure to use the encrypted safelist (Security/Advanced/Miscellaneous/Do not show alerts for applciations certified by Comodo) and if you’re not using a proxy service (you’ll know if you are), make sure both “Skip loopback…” boxes are checked.
Thanks for the suggestions. Starting with Comodo, what choices are ‘as permissable as possible:’ Skip Parent check and Allow All Actitivies? Right now, both have the latter, while Mailwasher has Specify the Parent and BB has Learn the Parent.
By ‘permissible as possible’ what I mean is not defining ports, IPs, etc. In other words, you would want the rules something like this:
application
Parent: Learn (it will later be automatically ‘specified’)
Apply the following criteria
Allow
TCP/UDP
In/Out
Any Destination: IP or Port
Miscellaneous - Mailwasher you’ll probably need to Allow Invisible and Skip Advanced Checks; BB I’m not sure just yet.
This means that your Alert Frequency level should be at Low or Very Low (it will be Low by default), and respond with Allow and Remember for any alerts you get for those applications.
You may find it easier/more effective to remove any rules for those applications, set AF level to Low or Very Low (these are both still quite secure), and reboot. Run the applications every way you can think of, and respond with Allow and Remember to each alert.
My AF level has been set to Very Low per a recommendation by someone here, when I reported fatigue from chasing and remembering warnings soon after installing Comodo. It still occurs occasionally, but I’ve learned to short circuit it with the Allow button.
I took your last option and deleted both and rebooted. So far just an initial warning set with Mailwasher. Thanks