Why does Comodo have to make the update process SO DIFFICULT?
When I install a new version of Comodo firewall and an older version is installed, I get a prompt asking if I want to add/remove components or uninstall. So I choose uninstall.
Apparently, the uninstall process completes (there isn’t any notification at that point) BUT then Comodo tries to go to its webpage to ask WHY you are uninstalling. Since I have my browser closed, Comodo forces it open. But WHY would a security conscious firewall company try to open up a network connection when the firewall has been uninstalled??? Since I know Comodo always does this, I always disconnect my network connection before installing the Comodo firewall.
I happen to use Firefox as my default browser and had about 72 tabs open when I last closed it. Rather than wait for it to initialize and discover that there was no net connection for all these tabs, I close the browser window before it is fully initialized to save some time. But doing this caused me to lose most of my tabs when I finally reopened the browser later after the complete reinstall was finished. Again, being experienced in this process, I had manually bookmarked all my tabs and didn’t lose any. Others might not have the same foresight.
Once I close the browser, I then get a msg that the firewall has been uninstalled and that I must now reboot.
Comodo shouldn’t try to open up a browser page or make a network connection when the firewall has been uninstalled!
So then I have to reboot. After the reboot, I have to go back and click the new install version and then wait for the install to complete.
Then I have to reboot again.
After all that, I have to step through the Comodo settings and change the ones I had previously set (such as length of time to keep alerts on screen and a few others). WHY can’t Comodo remember ALL previous settings?
Since it takes me about 12-15 minutes to do a complete boot (Win/XP SP3 running about 80 apps including Windows system tasks), a Comodo update typically costs me over 30 minutes of total time.
Yes, and no user control either! I install to a non-standard location in a non-standard folder structure. So I can’t use the auto update.
And even if I did use auto update, does Comodo then not go to its webpage after uninstalling the old version to ask for feedback when the uninstall is completed?
One, I don’t like auto update processes and always turn them off. Two, I keep a copy of the install exe. That way, if I need to rebuild or reinstall, I don’t have to go hunting on the web site for it (and I may not even have internet access).
It’s good that Comodo doesn’t take auto updaters to the web page. Now they should do the same for people who are manually upgrading and are forced to uninstall in order to upgrade.
If you’re uninstalling your firewall, common sense would dictate that you should disconnect your modem/router from the world until you are back online with the new version…
Common sense isn’t all that common, to quote Mark Twain. I’d wager that at least 70% of users don’t realize that they should do this.
Regardless, one might expect Comodo developers to also have enough common sense to not open a net connection when they KNOW that the firewall has been uninstalled. D’oh.
Therefore, we should not criticize iamme99 for uninstalling before installing the update.
Since Comodo is trying to make CIS usable by the inexperienced users (the vast majority), I appreciate iamme99’s points about protecting inexperienced users during the uninstall. Consider that the browser may remember tabs for sites with spyware before the browser was closed and CIS was uninstalled. When I uninstalled Norton Internet Security, it asked me if I want to re-enable the Windows Firewall. Comodo could add this feature.
I agree with iamme99 that opening up the web browser during CIS uninstallation is a bug. However, this point was buried inside a generalized rant with a lot of other points that begged for comments and help. Now that you let off steam, iamme99, please consider resubmitting a bug report with a specific title, problem scenario and suggestion for resolution. You will potentially benefit thousands of Comodo users.
Yep, most firewalls do this. I made a wishlist post about this months ago.
The odd thing is that CIS does on some systems disable the Windows firewall. I don’t know in these instances if it would also enable the firewall, but it’s odd that it will disable it for some people…