ASUS & Windows 7 Pro - 64 bit (Software List for Implementation, including the experience as I do it)

A new computer is an ideal time to stop and work out what software you really need.  I consume the stuff like sweets and end up with more than I can possibly ever use.  So here's my list of the essentials! (The exclamation mark will be obvious if you get to the end.).  First of all the browser.  The 'browser ballot page is not a mandatory patch in windows update on Windows 7 pro!! - very naughty of Microsoft.

Firefox
Certainly better than IE, but mainly has the edge because of the extensions:

• Adblock Plus - get rid of a lot of the annoying adverts that ruin the browsing experience
• British English Dictionary - for the spell checker in English English
• DownLoadThemAll - quick download of pictures, by right click
• FastestFox - for the autoload of the second google page as you scroll down, and the ability to highlight a phrase and search based on it.
• Flashgot - an easy way to download from YouTube and the like
• Tab Mix Plus - better use of tabs - indicators for visited pages etc.

Migration of the bookmarks will be required: easy - export to html / import, but remember to restart the browser for the full effect!)

Thunderbird - email client
The only mainstream e-mail client that I've found that supports IMAP properly.  IMAP keeps your mail on the server, its what webmail clients are based on. this is a great improvement on outlook express or windows live. Add-ons here bring the functionality up to outlook standards for the work I do

• British English Dictionary (see above)
• Lightning - for calendaring - I'm still learning about this
• Signature Switch - for multiple signatures

Migration of:

• the address books (export / import via LDIF - easy!)
• the local folders (still TBA)
• the message filter rules (Thunderbird message filter import/export is the only thing I can find.  I tested it on Vista to the old XP - perfect!  In real life though - Vista to Win 7, it complains that the import is to a different folder structure I'm using IMAP, they can't be different, they're copied from the server!!)

Office Software - text documents, spreadsheets, presentations etc
OpenOffice.org 3.2.  Once possibly the poor relation, but since version 3 the functionality is there for everything I regularly do (except macros - which are much harder to understand in OOO).  The office suite of choice because it doesn't cost anything.
Microsoft Office 2007 - because I have an enormous investment in macros that I can't easily replace, and open office has driven the price down to a reasonable 3 licenses for £70.00

Desktop Publishing - PagePlus from Serif
Its easier to use than publisher, and I've yet to find anything open source that comes close.

Picture Management - Picasa

Picasa is great and integrates well with the PicasaWeb for publishing and sharing on Blogger.

Picture Editing - Paint.Net and The GIMP

Paint .Net is simple and easy to use for most basic needs - cropping a picture, adjusting the levels.
GIMP is loaded but rarely used, its there for the more difficult stuff.  It can be hard to understand.

Media Player - VLC
For me a media player must just get on with the job and not bother me for codecs, it must also play my youtube clips without any converters being required.  VLC does a great job on both fronts.  It also plays CD and DVD adequately.

Podcasts - ITunes
Chosen for its ease of subscribing and playback.

Web Site build and maintain
Nothing here!  I used to use Namo Web Editor 4 - but that was a while ago - I'm still looking for something that works and doesn't cost a fortune.  After all I only have 1 site and about 10 pages to maintain.

Instant Messaging - Yahoo
Chat clients seem to be a dying breed since the advent of FaceBook and the like, but they still have their uses.  I have Yahoo messenger for no better reason than that the guys at work use it.

Compression - 7ZIP
7Zip is free compared to WinZip and WinRAR which are both shareware (try before you buy).  It also achieves better compression in its native format.  It processes the other compression types well.  The only downside is that the GUI can be a little fiddly.


PDF Writer - CutePDF / doPDF
To emulate a printer and create a PDF (Portable Document) is now a basic requirement.  Cute PDF does a good job and often produces a smaller file than the embedded function in the application.  doPDF is a good alternative.


System Tools - Many and varied
Anti-Virus, anti-Malware, system watchers
Its good to have a combination here.  The system came with Trend Micro anti-virus trial, so I'll let that run its course and see how it does.  Then it will most likely be AVG as that seems to work and is easy to manage.
Spybot - Search and Destroy and AdAware together seem to provide good anti-Malware protection.  As a final safeguard there is WinPatrol which informs you of changes made to key areas of the system and allows you to revert them.

System Management
CCleaner - to keep the rubbish off the system - it deletes old un-required files and tidies up the registry.  I've had many registry cleaners, most do OK, but occasionally cause problems.  CCleaner seems more reliable in that area.
MyDefrag (formery JKDefrag).   Plenty of options or straight forward simplicity.  Will defrag the disk properly, unlike windows (at least in vista) which ignores large fragments!
Bulk Rename Utility - by Jim Willshire - this is a slightly quirky interface, but it is very comprehensive.
Backup - Cobian Backup - There have been many problems with Cobian and Vista.  It still just about runs, but I haven't found anything better at providing simple file backups.
Version Checking - PSI helps to ensure that I have the latest security patches on the system.

Development - VB 2008 - a microsoft freebie.  The visual development environment installs automatically and provides excellent development and debugging.  As I live in windows what else is there.  .Net provide good protection (mostly) from the oddities of the various environments.  

Then there's the specialist applications
For our Camera's
For our Phones
For the printer/scanner - Epson SX200 (don't buy one)
For the external network disk - Freecom 500Gb

Family Tree - Family Tree Legends
Bible Study - Pradis
Thought Organisation - Freemind
Project management - again, nothing of note has been found, but its a while since I looked
Song Projection - EasiSlides and OpenLp, until we decide which.



That's just the software.  It must be configured and in some cases scripts will be required.  So lots to do .....

Thunderbird 3 and Lightning

A 'problem' from my ISP saying that I've got too much e-mail prompted a look around to see if there were any good archive extensions for Thunderbird.  I'd looked a long time ago and not found anything that was really close to what I wanted.  I read the feature was in version 3, so decided to upgrade.  I use thunderbird because it the only e-mail client that seams to support IMAP properly.  Using IMAP, instead of POP3, means that my webmail client has everything in it when I go to look at my email somewhere else.
The upgrade itself was smooth enough, but I was rather surprised that it started all new folders and downloaded all my e-mail again.  Still not to worry - that is a one off process.
Not all the changes in Thunderbird are immediately obviously useful.  The main one you will see is the combined in-box, sent, deleted, spam/junk, archive folders - if you have more than one account.  I haven't got used to this yet.  Its especially annoying when I try to empty junk or deleted folders.  The folder must be opened and each deleted folder cleared separately, this is true for the others as well.  The 'tabbed browser' approach, rather than separate windows make it consistent with the browser which is a good thing, and the buttons for reply, forward etc. are an excellent idea.  The search capabilities have been improved and with them comes the penalty of indexing.  Indexing is intrusive and stops the client responding while it is occurring.

As to the archiving - I will be looking for an extension.  The message is move to the archive - no problem.  It is not put in a year folder - as suggested by the documentation, neither is its source folder structure respected, so I will just have one enormous archive.  Not as good as it should be.

One oddity I have noticed - the address book and the message filters do not open in tabs but are still put in separate windows.

One problem I've had is the constant requests for my IMAP password.  This has improved with the 3.0.2 upgrade, but is still occurring. 

I've tried Sunbird in the past - to try to get a calendar - like Outlook and Lotus Notes.  It was OK, but a bit clunky and I wasn't sure that the development was occurring.  Now I have installed Lightning.  The pretty calendar view that is on the extensions webpage is accessible from a small icon that appears to the right of the tabs - which is not immediately obvious - and the the calendar opens in a tab.  I haven't tested it with outlook yet.  That will come next week - so I may add to this review then.

btw - the picture is NOT the thunderbird logo - its just my sense of humour

Song Projection Software - a review of some available packages

This artice was originally published on 20 Feb 2010.

I will make updates and note them here as the project progresses.

A Christ Church we have a new projector and now also a new laptop - with Windows 7 64-bit.  We decided that our ageing SongPro (version 3) also needs replacing.  As the new SongPro (version 4) is expensive we decided to look at alternatives.

Requirements
To project songs on to an external projector, and manage the projection from the laptops screen.
To re-order songs (start with the chorus or verse 1 for example) without editing the text.
To display the copyright license (CCL number)
To import our Songs of Fellowship words.
To display video on the projector and retain control from the laptop screen
To manage song lists (orders of service)
To report on usage

Desirable Features
To display Bible and Liturgy in the same way as songs
To display notices in the same way as songs and auto cycle through them
To take a webcam feed to the projector
To play a DVD from the Laptop to the projector
To display power points
To display open office presentations
To provide some 'branding'

Of course all these pieces of Software must also run on our new Windows 7 Laptop.
What follows is a review of each of the pieces of software I have tried. There is a matrix of features and tests at the end.

SongPro3 (we are using on the old system)
SongPro 3 is a fully featured environment.  It is reasonably easy to use and provides most of what we need. Some of the finer controls are fiddly - you have to know when to right click and what to do with the subsequence menu. The major issue with SongPro is stability.  Too often it cannot cope with the simplest tasks.  Powerpoint integration almost always causes a restart to be required.  We have taken to running powerpoints from windows, but even this can cause SongPro to hang. Some of the 'features' have never worked reliably.  Screen blanking is the most obvious.  Blanking the screen is unreliable, but worse, un-blanking it is even more unreliable.

Openlp.org
Openlp.org starts in full screen mode and presents 4 columns - Media Manager (the song library and Bibles, presentations, video and audio are here), Preview, Live and in the final column Order of Service and below it the Theme Manager.
Orders of service are set up by dragging from the Media Manager across to the Order of Service n the far right.  The preview and Live Screens can be adjusted to make this easier.  A button is also available.  Tool tips are provided when the mouse hovers over a button.
Openlp.org performed well in the display test.
Import is available from CCLI SongSelect - files and website (both are untested by me)
Export is only to an SQLLite Database.

General look and feel and usage is good, but there remain questions about reordering
 verses and there does not appear to be a way to get from verse 1 to 3 without showing verse2.
I cannot find anything on usage stats.
There are tools that can be added, but they are not compatible with Windows 7 64-bit.

Openlp.org occasionally fails on shutdown - this is annoying but doesn't appear to affect subsequent operation.

EasiSlides
Initially additional work was required to get this package to run on Windows 7 64-bit.  The software opens in three columns, with the available songs, bibles etc. on the left above the Worship Service (order of service). Followed by a preview and live column.  Its primary purpose is to provide interleaved languages, a feature I have not tested.  The interface is richly featured, clear and largely intuitive for the service operator - it is the clearest one I have evaluated.

There are a few problems with easislides:
Some screens drop off the right hand side of the monitor on my test screen, but not on the projector.  This was the only piece of software that did not faithfully reproduce the preview screen on the monitor, although the problem was not apparent on the projector.
There also seem to be problems with the importer, although I'm still trying to build the files to import the words.
Some of the less obvious features are difficult to find, and will require instructions to be produced.

SongView
SongView has a very simple interface.  It does not appear to allow the preparation of orders of service. The Help does not appear to function.  It does however have the widest range of import options available, but the export is limited.

OpenSong
Starts with the tag line 'Church Lyrics and more'.  The 'more' includes Bibles (KJV)  and a 'Slides' feature, which looks remarkably similar to the Song Editor, and an image feature.  It is quite basic and has a rather 'old fashioned' look and feel, with help information for each function appearing in a bar at the top of the windows form.  The help information itself is extremely basic.  Import seems to be only from the CCLI website, but a message informs you that the site has changed and the function is currently broken.  The version I have is 1.5.1 (2007r2).

SNAP Projection
SNAP has a friendly looking crocodile for a n Icon.It has no songs provided.  Lists of songs can be managed. and songs typed into the system.  There does not appear to be an import / export function.  Powerpoints can be displayed, although this has not been tested.In single screen mode there was some difficulty removing the display.  There were also frequent failures (GPF's) during testing.

The following matrix summarizes the features:

	Openlp.org	EasiSlides	OpenSong	SNAP Projection	SongView	SongPro 3
Feature
Windows 7	Yes	Requires modification for W7 x-64 – applied OK	Yes	Yes*	Yes	?
Help	by .pdf	Yes		by .pdf	Not working?	Yes
Import SoF CD	No, but from the CCLI website	No, EasiSlides format inc XML or Access	An importer is required and can be downloaded	No	Yes, via the supplied RTF files
Service Order	Yes	Worship Lists	Yes, via sets	Unclear whether there is more than one	No	Yes
Verse order and repeat	No	Not directly, but the capability is attached to the song and does Not require the words to be edited.	Yes, by presentation order	No	No	Yes
Bible Display		Yes, but only small set of versions supplied – No NIV	Yes	No	Yes, NIV included	Yes
Usage Stats	No	Yes	Yes, song activity log	No	Yes	Yes
Branding / Styling	themes	Yes	Yes, by presentation order	Yes, via backgrounds	Yes, via Backgrounds	Yes
Display Preview	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes
Screen Blanking	Yes	Yes	No	Yes – test screen	No	Yes, but Non-functional
Video Camera Display	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Video File Display	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
DVD	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Embedded PowerPoint	Not tested	Not tested	No	yes, Not tested		Yes – some versions of ppt

Conclusion
That brings me down to two - EasiSlides - the favourite and Openlp.org - if I can get the import from the CCLI website working.

Free FLV Converter ** Warning **

It's very easy to capture video's from Youtube using FireFox and the Flashgot add-on. Now we have a decent projector, I can use video clips, but playing .FLV's (Flash Video's) is not the easiest thing to to.  For personal use VLC is great, but these have to go on the secondary screen and the controls have to be somewhere else.  I wanted something to convert the FLV's to something more useful, something my projections software has a chance of playing.  I admit, this was the first thing I found.

It installed with a Toolbar "Dealio" - but this one insists on installing and doesn't give you the option not to.  OK, as soon as the install was finished, I uninstalled it.  I'm not sure if its a problem (malware) or not (google search results), but I don't want it simply because I am forced to have it.  Well OK, I want the free software, but there are other methods of supporting free software.  I downloaded it from CNET - a site I have come to trust, but one which I will be treating with much greater caution that previously.

Here's why:  Free FLV Converter (or was it Dealio) also installed a Browser Helper Object (BHO) called SearchSettings.dll and ApplicationUpdate.dll - which I can't find much on..I have Scotty keeping watch - nothing much gets past him.  Prevention is better than cure, so when he barked, I did not allow the change, and began to investigate.  The uninstalls seemed to remove the offending programs, but there will be a Spybot and Ad-Aware scan later - just to be certain.


Free FLV Converter itself is simple to use, here are some results for just one file. The source file size is 3237Kb:

To Type	File Size (Kb)	Windows Media Player	VLC
avi	6546	Video OK, no sound	Video and sound OK
mp4	10336	Video and sound OK	Video and sound OK
wmv	6886	Video OK, no sound	Video and sound OK

I have Windows Vista with all the latest updates from Microsoft.

Norton 360 v 2 - More problems - Disable the Network Address Check

Disable the Network Address Check
I use the hosts file to re-direct certain addresses, and therefor provide additional protection. Norton removes all that protection at a stroke.

Every time I re-install I have to remember how to do it, so here it is:

1: Run the check - and have it fix the 'problem'
'Tasks' ... 'Run Scans' ... 'Let me choose' ... click GO
deselect everything except Network Address Check
When the check has finished click 'More Info ...' it should say
Network Address Vulnerabilities Found : 1
Network Address Vulnerabilities Fixed : 1


2: Disable it
Now go to 'Settings' ... 'Security Inspector' and select the Network Address Tab. The hosts file should be in the 'Undo List'
Highlight it and click 'Restore Item to System'.
Repeat the scan above and get the messages:
Network Address Vulnerabilities Found : 1
Network Address Vulnerabilities Fixed : 0

Prevention is better than cure.

To get this added PROTECTION go to google and enter "mikes host file", or get Spybot Search & Destroy. In fact, get it anyway, its less trouble than Norton, and its only doing one job.

More Problems
The Norton Support person left Live Update running but unable to move forward. Eventually Windows complained that Norton was out of date, and the latest downloads were the very day he hadn't fixed the problem.
The error messages indicated a re-install. It is hardly worth looking really, that seems to be where all the error messages end up.
So I downloaded the Norton (partial) removal tool, ran it and re-installed. I think I have later virus definitions (it isn't easy to be sure), but live update doesn't apply all the updates.

Having adjusted the settings so I can see whats happening, running LUALL gives a list of updates to install. The offending Norton 360 Security updates can be deselected and the definitions applied.

LU1812: A program that was part of this update failed when it ran. This update was not applied. Click here for more information on this error.

The link loads into Firefox, my default browser, but the upload of the error won't work there. Symantec only know about IE. So I copy the URL into IE and let it do the upload. It then goes and gets all that the support guys think they need, and fails to upload it. Or that's what happened last time.

The search string they suggest ( "360 2.0 keeps giving same liveupdate error") doesn't provide any hits!

So looking at the forum, there are some things to try:
1) Tamper update off

2)There is an updater available.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/norton360.nsf/0/4065bc926ae628226525736a0070b3e9?OpenDocument

This downloads a program called PIUpdate.exe. After this the LULALL takes alittle longer, but the result is the same.

- still fails

3) http://service1.symantec.com/Support/sharedtech.nsf/docid/2005072716150213
There is an updater for Vista, this is what the support guy said he did last time. The document does not refer to Norton 360. I have run the updater for Vista anyway.

- still fails
I tried the re-register anyway - it succeeded.

For each of the above processes the start run for luall must be done twice. The first time always reports that another Live Update is in progress.
- still fails
and the failure is getting messier - the failure occurs quickly, but now live update goes on dioing something. IO occurs and the progress bar grows.

... ands further down the forums:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/norton/support/special/sa/frm/_result.jsp?said=lu_patch&productstyle=&prodid=

which gives:

LiveUpdate Failed Patch Identification

Identify failed LiveUpdate patches

Automated Task Completed Successfully.

LuComServer version : 3.4.1.238 Patch error(s) found : 1 Failing patch(es):1223330807jtun_gear0304.x00.full.zip.

It doesn't say it's fixed anything, and indeed it hasn't!
- still fails

5) So to http://www.symantec.com/norton/support/kb/web_view.jsp?wv_type=public_web&docurl=20071203070434EN the description and process I've seen and done. That leads to this http://www.symantec.com/norton/support/kb/web_view.jsp?wv_type=public_web&docurl=20071130124653EN the instructions to re-install Norton 360 v2. NOT HELPFUL.

So it is posted on the community, and we will see what happens http://community.norton.com/norton/board/message?board.id=Norton_360&message.id=7093

Windows Vista Permission problems

Problem:
Files saved in 'public' (Vista) or 'Shared' (XP) are not accessible to other users. This is extremely annoying when the files relate to pictures uploaded from a digital camera, or backups of files in the same shared (or public) area produced by a backup application. You can tell the affected pictures because a preview is not presented.

Now the bad thing about this problem is that even Administrators cannot access the file, but fortunately they CAN change the permissions.

Investigation:
There must be some commands that will let me examine the permissions. The GUI is one of those 'way too small - non-re-sizable mini-windows'.

This is for one I can see	This is for one I can't see

The thing to note that is not shown is that the group 'EveryOne' is included when it works.

Now to the command line:
The command is icalcs.exe, which I found from here. Directory entries (via dir) and attributes (via attrib) are the same.

Starting a command prompt with 'Run as Administrator' and running the command:

icacls 100_066*.* /T /C
100_0664.jpg NT SERVICE\WMPNetworkSvc:(I)(R)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(F)
I530S\AUser:(I)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE:(I)(M,DC)
NT AUTHORITY\SERVICE:(I)(M,DC)
NT AUTHORITY\BATCH:(I)(M,DC)
Everyone:(I)(F)

100_0665.jpg NT SERVICE\WMPNetworkSvc:(I)(R)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(F)
I530S\AUser:(I)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE:(I)(M,DC)
NT AUTHORITY\SERVICE:(I)(M,DC)
NT AUTHORITY\BATCH:(I)(M,DC)
Everyone:(I)(F)

100_0666.jpg I530S\AUser:(I)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(F)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(F)
I530S\AdminAcc:(I)(RX)

100_0667.jpg I530S\AUser:(I)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(F)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(F)
I530S\AdminAcc:(I)(RX)

100_0668.jpg I530S\AUser:(I)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(F)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(F)
I530S\AdminAcc:(I)(RX)

100_0669.jpg I530S\AUser:(I)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(F)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(F)
I530S\AdminAcc:(I)(RX)

Solution:
So, now I've a Command file "Acl_ForPics.cmd" which contains:
icacls *.jpg /grant "NT SERVICE\WMPNetworkSvc:(R)"
icacls *.jpg /grant "BUILTIN\Administrators:(F)"
icacls *.jpg /grant "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(F)"
icacls *.jpg /grant "NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE:(M,DC)"
icacls *.jpg /grant "NT AUTHORITY\SERVICE:(M,DC)"
icacls *.jpg /grant "NT AUTHORITY\BATCH:(M,DC)"
icacls *.jpg /grant "Everyone:(F)"

Run from a directory prompt it will add all the access I require. Shouldn't have to do it, but something somewhere is not setting permissions correctly, so this is a fix.

The original permissions are left in place, they could of course be deleted (replaced).

I know of similar problems in other machines with executing from directories and installing into directories other than "program files" - I'll be looking at that over Christmas.

Dell I530S Video Drivers

I have been experiencing problems where the image on my MultiSync LCD 2070WNX would display adjusted off either the left or right of the screen, by about two centimetres. This left the 2cm at the other end invisible. The screen is connected through a Belkin keboard video mouse (KVM) switch. If the adjustment occurred while the screen was switched to the other PC the screen would report 'out of range' - and that was that. The only thing to do is press the power button, wait for the shutdown power off, and power on again, making sure the screen is correctly switched. This only happens through the switched VGA, not through the direct DVI on the other machine, so its either the switch (unlikely) or the video card or drivers (most likely).
When I had the network card problem with SP1 there was nothing worthwhile on the site, now there is lots. Dell have caught up a bit.

Intel G31/G33/Q33/Q35 Graphics Controller

Release Date:	10/10/2007
Version:	7.14.10.1322, A02	Other Versions
Download Type:	Driver
File Format:	Hard-Drive
File Size:	15 MB

Hopefully this problem, and the associated unnecessary restarts will now be a thing of the past.

Norton 360 v2 - Live Update Error

At last the free upgrade, and it installed faultlessly on all three machines, now only a couple of weeks later the problems start again:

LU1812: A program that was part of this update failed when it ran. This update was not applied.
Installation failed, error summary...
LU1806: LiveUpdate downloaded all of the updates you requested, but all of them failed to install. Please try to get the updates at a later time.

and on attempting to 'chat' (why? - its what caused all the IE problems before)

An error occured processing your request please contact the administrator or try again. Parameter invalid: Kernel::Kernel::sik_short_desc. Error Description:Input is too long.

Now its all in transit to Norton, who only work in IE, so as a FireFox user, I have to cut and paste the URLs as well.

It's rubbish - still.

Norton 360 (2)

So I followed up the attempt to get Norton 360 fixed with a visit to the on-line support, via chat.

Take 1 of this was just a first line guy, who wanted me to change the clock on my machine - which I wasn't really happy to do, but Norton recovered, I don't think he had done anything.

On Take 2, the call was escalated to a second level guy who took over my machine and played with the permissions in the registry for the user the doesn't work properly. After much messing around, and still being unable to get this to work he decided that it was time to re-install IE. He downloaded IE7, and ran the installer. All apparently OK. Now NONE of my limited accounts can initialize IE. Is this because of the install? Is this something Norton is doing? I cannot tell. IE is not very important to me - except to Microsoft Update, which has to be run from an Admin anyway. My system is very important, I use it a lot, so this is as far as I go - for now.

Now when he found that IE didn't work, he decided to do a system restore. The restore he chose did not work. In all my years in IT I've only known it work ONCE. What it did do was remove all the information from the system about how to connect back into the level2 organisation at Symantec. By then I'd given up anyway. He was clearly prepared to risk things on my system that I would think twice before trying.

So 2 protection products that do harm:
Bullguard, that I replaced because the system kept running out of memory when I copied lots of files form other machines
Norton 360, for the reasons above.

Norton 360

Technical Support [Incident: 071110-001695]
When my Norton Internet 2007 subscription ran out, I decided to take the deal that Symantec were offering and upgrade to Norton 360. I have 3 machines, and now almost 700 days left on my subscription. I downloaded the package without problems and set about installing it. All OK, until I logged on to mt personal (Win XP limited user) account. Norton reported:

Runtime Error! Program: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe

The application had requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way  Please contact the applications support team for more information.

After some considerable looking around, I reported the problem to Symantec.

Then one morning after a powercut had taken the machine down, Norton 360 insisted on being re-installed. After the re-install, the error did not occur, but the IE tool bar still reported "Engine Error". I don't use IE, so was not too bothered.

Yesterday I received a standard reply from Symantec.

As you could not find the file, then this issue can occur due to some corrupted files or due to improper installation of Norton 360. In order to resolve this issue we need to perform the below given steps.
1. Download and run Norton Removal Tool
2. Remove Remnant Symantec folders
3. Run Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.
4. Perform clean boot
5. Reinstall Norton 360.

Note: Follow the steps with utmost care.

To do so, I suggest you to follow the below given steps.

Step 1. Download and Run Norton Removal Tool.

Norton Removal Tool will remove any 2003 and later Norton programs installed on your computer. To download Norton Removal Tool, please click on the link given below. Clicking on this link will ask you to Save or Run the file. Please click on Save and save it on Desktop.

Title: 'Download and run the Norton Removal Tool'
Document ID: 2005033108162039
Web URL:
http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

Once you have downloaded Norton Removal Tool, please double click the tool and follow on-screen prompts.

After running Norton uninstall tool, you will have to remove the left over Symantec folders (Common Shared folders). Follow the steps as mentioned:

Step 2. Remove remnant Symantec folders

-- Configure Windows to show all files:

1. Click the Start button, and then click Computer.
2. On the Organize menu, click Folder and Search Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Locate and uncheck Hide file extensions for known file types.
5. Locate and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).
6. Locate and click Show hidden files and folders.
7. Click Apply > OK.

-- Now search for and delete the following folders, if they exist:

Note: If you are unable to delete the following folders, please boot your system in Safe Mode and try to delete those folders. To do, please follow the link provided bellow:

Title: 'Starting your computer in Safe mode'
Document ID: 2001052409420406
Web URL:
http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406

C:\Program Files\Symantec
C:\Program Files\Norton 360
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Symantec
 in this directory there is a folder that even in safe mode I can't access

Step 3. Run Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.

Running the Cleanup Utility will clear any suspended and corrupt installations from the MSI. Please refer the document provided below for assistance in using Microsoft cleanup utility:

When using the Windows Install Cleanup Utility, remove any item that refers to "NIS", "NAV", "Norton", "Symantec", "CC", "Sym", and "MSRedist", without quotes.

Title: 'Obtaining the Microsoft Windows Installer CleanUp Utility'
Document ID: 2001091412490807
Web URL:
http://service1.symantec.com/support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001091412490807
The Norton page refers to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=889482fc-5f56-4a38-b838-de776fd4138c&DisplayLang=en
but I think it should be
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301


Step 4. Perform clean boot

A clean boot is a restart of Windows with no applications running and as few extra drivers loading as possible. To help you in clean booting your computer, I am providing you with a document from our Online Knowledge Base. This document has steps to clean boot your computer and revert back to original settings. Please follow the Clean Boot steps first, then reinstall Norton 360, and revert back to original settings.

Please click on the link given below to see steps to clean boot your computer and revert back to normal settings:

Title:Configuring Windows XP to clean boot

Document ID:2001053014402339
web URL
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001053014402339

Step 5. Install Norton 360.

After clean booting your computer, please refer to the document linked below for installation instructions:

Title: 'Installing Norton 360'
Document ID: 2007022203353275
Web URL:
http://service1.symantec.com/support/norton360.nsf/docid/2007022203353275
After booting in "Clean boot mode" the msconfig issues a reset warning message, if the config is not reset Norton activation fails!

We thank you for your patience and co-operation in this regard.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance to you in using the Symantec product.

Regards,

I have followed these instructions, not that they are strictly correct. most notably the Installer clean up tool page refers to the wrong Microsoft Article. I am back to square one. I am now hoping that they will treat the problem seriously.

I used to be a BIG fan of Symantec, but the problems I have experienced with Internet Security 2005, Internet Security 2007, and now Norton 360, I'm beginning to wonder.

Look out for more interesting installments in the saga.