CAS Computing Services Blog

Are you still running Symantec Antivirus security software on your computer? If yes, it's time to remove/replace it. ETS has just announced that they are decommissioning the on campus management servers for that software package as of November 30th. Although this shouldn't affect your use of your computer, you should note that because Symantec hasn't been updated here on campus for several years now, you are not completely protected from the various flavors of malware that have appeared in the interim.

Recently the only running installations of Symantec Antivirus that I've seen have been on MacOS computers. I am sure though that there are still older Windows computers out there that haven't been updated.

Please take this opportunity to remove SAV, and if you have a Windows computer, replace it with ESET's NOD32 product, found at http://www.uvm.edu/software Unless you are running a 64 bit version of Windows, you need the 32 bit version.

MacOS users can simply remove SAV by opening Macintosh HD then Applications then Symantec Solutions. There should be an uninstaller application available. You will need to authenticate as an administrator in the removal process. At present UVM does not have a recommended MacOS antivirus solution, but since there are still very few instances of MacOS malware in the wild, we feel that it is reasonably save to run your computer without it.

Windows users should open their Add/Remove Programs control panel, locate Symantec Security as well as LiveUpdate and remove BOTH. Then restart your computer, and install ESET's NOD32 32 bit version from the location mentioned above.

Lastly, Windows users should get in the habit of visiting the UVM software download page to check for updates to NOD32. ETS does not make an announcement when they update the NOD32 client version and although NOD32 does update its definition files automatically, it does not update the client software itself. Having the most current recommended version of NOD32 is important in order to avoid performance issues and malware infection.

As always, contact us if you have questions. http://www.uvm.edu/artsandsciences/computingsvs/

Posted by at 4:25 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Are you still looking at a red "eyeball" NOD32 icon in your Windows XP or Vista system tray?

It has come to my attention that some are still waiting for NOD32 to "fix itself" as I mentioned it would back in November. The NOD32 license has long since been renewed and thus if you're still looking at a red "eyeball" icon, then there's something else wrong and you're going to have to take additional steps to get your anti-malware software working again.

Unfortunately at this point, you can't just install the new version on top of the old. So, please do the following:

1) Download the most current 32 bit version of NOD32 from http://www.uvm.edu/software to your computer.

2) Go to Start | Settings | Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs on Windows XP or Start | Settings | Control Panel | Programs and Features under Vista.

3) Locate ESET NOD32 antivirus in the list of installed programs, click it and uninstall or remove it. When finished, restart your computer.

4) Double click the current version of NOD32 that you downloaded in step one and allow it to install. Under Vista, you will need to confirm any User Control alerts that appear during the install process.

Ultimately you should have a green eyeball in the system tray and, if you "hover" your mouse over the system tray icon a pop up will appear and it should tell you that you're running version 3.0.684.0

As always, contact CAS Computing Services if you have questions.

Posted by at 9:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Enterprise Technical Services has announced that the ESET NOD32 Windows antivirus protection software license has been renewed and installed on our management servers. The orange "eyeball" should change back to that reassuring green all by itself.

Of course, if it doesn't, please contact CAS Computing Services for assistance on resolving the problem.

More from ETS here: http://www.uvm.edu/ets/?Page=News&storyID=13138

Posted by at 2:54 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Don't worry about the license expiration notice currently appearing on all Windows machines with UVM's NOD32 antivirus package installed.

ETS has informed us that they are aware of the notification and are already in the renewal process. ETS also tells us that this alert should disappear on its own with no user intervention required.

If you are running a Windows machine of any variety and do not yet have NOD32 installed (NOD32 is the normally green "eyeball" icon that appears in your system tray), it is time to make the switch.

Additionally, if you installed NOD32 more than a month or two ago, chances are you are running an obsolete version which can make your machine run more slowly than it should. You should upgrade NOD32 to the most current version.

To download the 32 bit version of NOD32 from http://www.uvm.edu/software

Remove any other installed antivirus software via the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or the Programs control panel (Vista).

If you have Symantec Antivirus of any flavor installed, also remove Symantec LiveUpdate using the same control panel.

Restart your computer, install NOD32 from the file you downloaded previous, and restart again.

If you are updating NOD32, the good news is that you can simply install the new client right over the old. The installer will remove the old version during the process.

Posted by at 10:14 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)