BitDefender Inavailable

I finally did it last Saturday (Oct. 3^rd).  I made the switch from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on this computer.

Oh my, talk about having mixed emotions.  For with some Windows 7 files on this computer being corrupted preventing me from installing Laravel 4 or Ruby on Rails in order to work on developing the new site, upgrading to Windows 10 for free looked like a great blessing.  Furthermore, the new operating system would allow us to keep our current computers for a lot longer.  On the other hand, with my eyesight still not being all that good, I was filled with dread over critical buttons not being easy to find on Windows 10 while I am very familiar with where what is on Windows 7.

With it not being very easy for me to read things, I could not do as much research on Windows 10 as I would have liked to, but what I did find proved to be mostly true.  For downloading and installing Windows 10 was just like downloading and installing a software update for Windows 7, which took around 40 minutes to complete.

Much to my delight, the Windows Media Player was still there after the smoke cleared from the switch.  Much to my dismay, the Windows 10 media player will not play any of the videos or music on this computer.  It seems that one has to upload their media content to a cloud storage account in order for it to play, and this is something I really don’t want to do—even for free.

In anticipation of possibly not having the Windows Media Player with the new operating system, I had installed the [VLC Media Player] ahead of time.  It plays all of my stuff just fine with Windows 10, but I would sure like to find out how to make the controls bigger until I can see better.

It was while checking out the media players that I had my first freak-out.  For I discovered that there was no sound coming through the speakers.  A check on Google showed that I was not the only one to have had this problem, and I proceeded to follow the instructions on how to get the sound turned back on.  Next came my second freak-out.  For I managed to uninstall my sound drivers, and the way to reinstall new ones given in the online instructions was not available to me.  Thankfully, Dell had a link on their site to download new drivers for Windows 10, and after they were installed, the sound was back on.

After going through all of that, I decided to get off of the computer for the day.  I got back on the next day (now) and this is when I noticed that the green BitDefender monitor circle that usually sits on the lower right of the desktop was missing.  The main program icon for BitDefender was also missing.  After finally finding the list of installed programs, [BitDefender 2015 Total Security] could not be found.  Hence, my third and final (so far) freak-out.

BitDefender did turn-up on a search of the apps/programs on this computer, but its status was listed as INAVAILABLE.  Inavailable?  Maybe it’s a technological term.

Ironically, one of the last things I checked on before making the switch to Windows 10 was whether or not BitDefender 2015 would work, and what I found was that it most certainly would.  I must have missed where it was disclosed that a reinstall of the program might be necessary, and after doing so, all of the BitDefender monitors, icons and official listings are as they should be.

When one installs BitDefender on a Windows machine, Windows Defender and Firewall are disabled in favor of what BitDefender has to offer.  So, I suppose Microsoft thought that it was only fair for a new installation of Windows 10 to disable BitDefender’s stuff.  In all fairness, Windows Defender and Firewall might be much better than it was before, but until BitDefender starts becoming ineffective, I will be staying with what I have had for the last three years of safe surfing.

As with everything else, Windows 10 is going to take some getting used to, but it seems to be pretty good so far.  Except for BitDefender, all of the programs I had on this computer before are still there.  I am writing this on MS Word 2010, and I do not anticipate any problems with the other old programs.  Be assured that you-all will hear all about it if there is.

Speaking of such, I am trying to get back into my old publishing routine, but I may not be able to keep up.  For my eyesight is still rather blurry in comparison to how it should be, and my cataract surgeries are coming up in November, which will probably cause me to take another 2-3 weeks off.  Until then, I will struggle to churn-out  the stuff that makes life more worth living unto you-all (I am sure).

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[Arlynda Lea]

[FishHawk Droppings]

[The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter]

Come Monday...The Symantec/Norton Virus?

“Come Monday…” is a weekly series that will involve a review of, or commentary about,  websites, movies, documentaries, television shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time.  Be assured that these reviews will be generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come Monday.”  This is subject to change, however.  In fact, I would be most derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while.  For rants promote change, and change can be good—right?  Therefore, since good is generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (so I’m told).

I realize that it probably sounds utterly ridiculous.  For [Symantec] is a widely-acclaimed producer of antivirus software under the [Norton] brand, but if you have ever had as much “fun” as I had over a period of around 36 hours last week, you just might start to wonder, as well.

The “fun” all started when YouTube stopped working on Firefox.  More specifically, I noticed that a YouTube video I had embedded in an article on here wouldn’t play.  Then I discovered that no YouTube videos would play.

A Google search for a remedy to the problem resulted in several suggestions to reinstall the latest version of the [Adobe Flash Player] on my computer.  It did not fix my problem.

Since YouTube appeared to be working just fine when I fired-up IE9 and Google Chrome, I came to the conclusion that the problem may be with my copy of Firefox 13.0.1.  So, the next move was to completely uninstall and reinstall it, with the complete uninstall including the deletion of the files that hold my personal settings.  The reasoning behind this was that the old Flash Player plug-in might keep the new one from installing properly.

I was wrong, I think.  In any event, YouTube videos would still not play on Firefox while they would on the other browsers.

Getting to what this is supposed to be really about, it was sometime during all of that “fun” I was having with uninstalling and reinstalling the Adobe Flash Player and Firefox that I obtained a link to install the [Norton Security Scan].  This was discovered when a new icon suddenly appeared on my desktop screen.

Yes, I am well aware of the fact that “extras” are often bundled with free downloads of certain software, but I didn’t remember seeing anything about the Norton Security Scan anywhere.  Now, there was an offer to obtain the the [McAfee Security Scan], but nothing about Norton.  Of course, with my vision still being significantly impaired, it could have been there in obscenely-flashing neon, and I still could have missed it.

Anyway, since the new icon was just a link to install the Norton Security Scan, I did not see (funny—huh?) any need for panic yet.  So, I just calmly deleted the icon, and when the search for where the install program might be hiding in my computer files revealed nothing, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I couldn’t help but catch my breath again after seeing that the Norton install icon had reappeared on my desktop screen as soon as everything came back up after I had rebooted my system.  With my eyes still being so blurry much of the time, I chalked it up to me just missing the file.  So, I repeated my previous steps, and then headed for bed.

The time for panic came the next morning when I saw a splash screen for the Norton Security Scan prominently displayed on my desktop screen.  Thankfully, the program was finally showing up on the list for installed programs that can be accessed through the Control Panel.  What happened to having to manually allow the program to install?

If you are wondering why any of this would hold any great concern for me, it has to do with the fact that more is most certainly not better when it comes to having multiple antivirus programs installed on your computer.  For they can sometimes cancel each other out, which would leave the door wide open for something really nasty to slither in and make itself right at home.

This computer came with McAfee, and I plan on uninstalling it and installing [BitDefender] as soon as I can better see what I am trying to do.  For I have about as much confidence in McAfee as I do Symantec/Norton, which is not much—be assured.

Okay, BitDefender can sometimes be irritating by blocking things that it should not, but that is certainly better than the experience I have had with Symantec/Norton in the past.  For I wound up having to completely remove everything off of the hard drive of our first computer (TWICE!) on account of a virus that was not detected by the Norton antivirus that came with it.

Yes, Symantec is often consulted by newscasters when reporting on internet viruses and other really nasty things, but does it not strike you as being rather curious that [Conficker] remains dormant and is supposedly on computers in places that are not all that easy to access?  After all, having something like that out there could sure sell a lot of antivirus software, and with Symantec supposedly being the experts, it would make sense to buy the protection that they have to offer.

No, I do not have any evidence to prove anything, and I am perfectly willing to accept that I probably don’t know what I am talking about.  Still, I wonder…

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and

[The Tribulation Times Herald-Exhorter]