[Manners]

I am subscribed to a Swedish Genealogical Record Program (www.genline.com). I have never had a problem accessing the records until this past week when they did a major update to their software which seemed to come at the same time Windows updated. I kept receiving error messages which seemed to indicate that a firewall was blocking. I did all I was suppposed to do in the troubleshooting pages to no avail. Then I talked to US Technical support and did all they suggested I do in order to get through the firewall, which did not work either. As a last resort, they told me to uninstall the program and reinstall it. So I have. Repeatedly. I can't even get the program to connect to them finish the setup of software now so I have less than I had in the first place. A bad situation was made worse.

I used to have Norton and uninstalled it. I believe there are some odd files left over. I now have AVG Free and Avast. I have disabled Avast's resident protection because I could not connect to the internet when it was running and I have heard that 2 virus programs on guard at the same time would be counter productive. So I use it as a backup scanner only. In addition I have Spyware Blaster, Adaware, Spybot Search and Spyad with Zoned Out. Sounds pretty paranoid, doesn't it?? They are all a result of 3 infections in 2 months.

Do I have another firewall I know nothing about? What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance for your help.

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hello and welcome to geekstogo,
1.name the firewall(s) that you have running, that you are aware of
2. Only one anit-virus programme is needed, if you have anymore then one they will have problems between one another, you can descide which one you want and don't want.
3. Remove all temperairy internet files, if you don't know how to tell me in your next post.
Please respond to everything that i have asked you in this post
Thanx
James

Edited by james_8970, 18 February 2006 - 03:12 PM.

[james_8970]

hello and welcome to geekstogo,
1.name the firewall(s) that you have running, that you are aware of
2. Only one anit-virus programme is needed, if you have anymore then one they will have problems between one another, you can descide which one you want and don't want.
3. Remove all temperairy internet files, if you don't know how to tell me in your next post.
Please respond to everything that i have asked you in this post
Thanx
James

Edited by james_8970, 18 February 2006 - 03:12 PM.

[Manners]

Thank you so much for your help and patience with me. I'm a super surfer but lousy at the nuts and bolts stuff!

I am using IE6 on XPsp2 for firewall with a cable connection. I think that is the only one I have. ???? I tried adding the ports for the program and putting the website in the trusted site list. The program (Genline Family Finder 2) is checked as an exception. The Swedish support has not been very good.

I have Avast disabled and am using AVG. I have never realy tried Avast (other than to just scan) because if it is enabled, it won't let me connect to the internet at all. The reason I had considered it was because it has IM virus monitering and I have 2 teenagers! I would be happy to only have one virus but am not sure which one is better. When I first downloaded Avast, it found a virus which had seemingly slid right past AVG. I run about 3 virus scans a day in addition to Edwido and all the other spyware stuff. One will catch stuff the others don't. The only one enabled all the time is AVG. I would gladly streamline the whole thing though (quite time consuming) and am willing to pay for a decent program. I have been thinking about maybe using Firefox instead of IE and eliminating some of my paranoia (and programs)! I feel like I have a mess of overkill going now and don't want to add to it!!!!!

I have emptied temp and cache using Clean Up. I have done this several times in the last day. Everything else has been working fine.

Could I have another firewall I know nothing about?

[james_8970]

no adding firefox, isn't over kill at all. It doesn't use active x, so chances are slimmer that something might go wrong. As for the firewalls, windows xp comes with one, however i'm currently asking you if you have installed another one such as Zonealarm?
Thanx
James

Edit: also in your last post you keep mentioning a program, what program is this

Edited by james_8970, 18 February 2006 - 03:38 PM.

[Manners]

No other firewalls that I know of. I have Zoned Out which came with Spyad. I was downloading things left and right from the pages here when I had the virus problems. I just ran a search though and do not have Zone Alarm.

The program I am referring to is one needed to access the subscription data at www.genline.com. It is called Genline Family Finder 2 or GFF2 and is downloaded there for free. Then you pay for your subscription and go into the actual data of Swedish genealogical records. All was fine until their major update this week which they say may require reconfiguration of firewall. I did what they told me to. Had them on the phone for hours yesterday. They don't seem to have any other customers with the problem of not being able to connect to them. So they say it is me.

Should I try uninstalling a virus program and then install Firefox to see if I can connect?

Sorry to be so long winded!

[james_8970]

ya i would go for that. But before uninstalling it i would have to say that you ought to try this if you havn't already.
start->control panel->internet options and make sure that security is down to medium.
next,
start->control panel->security center->firewall->turn it off.
tell me if this work, if it doesn't then its not the windows firewall that is causing problems or the possiblity of having an escalted security on IE.
Do you have a router?
thanx
James

Edited by james_8970, 18 February 2006 - 04:18 PM.

[StudentBusiness12]

Most routers have firewalls built in and tend to block everything. You using a router? Happened to me a while ago, couldnt do anything.

[james_8970]

lol great minds think alike

Edited by james_8970, 18 February 2006 - 04:19 PM.

[Manners]

No router. About to try above.

[james_8970]

k let me know what happends
James

[Manners]

I changed security settings and turned off firewall to try. Still doesn't connect. I will now try to put in Firefox and see if that changes anything.

[james_8970]

humf, i doubt firefox will change anything but its worth a shot.
thanx
James

[Manners]

You're right. No changes! But the switch to Firefox was simple and painless. I like it! Is there anything special I need to do to it for security purposes? Do I just never open IE and leave it as is? I know, dumb questions!

My original problem is still there though. Can we leave this thread open and I will talk to the people in Sweden on Monday again and tell them it is not my firewall? They aren't there over the weekend! That way, if it is on my end, I won't have to start all over explaining odd Swedish programs which connect to the internet to someone else. I will post one way or the other how problem was resolved or not resolved.

Thank you so much.

[james_8970]

No, there is no such thing as a dumb question this is how we learn. IE is great but since its so widely used it is more open to get an infection by using it. However using firefox its a bit saafer and faster so y not use it. You are still going to need IE in the future for sites that need active X controles, www.windowsupdate.com would be one example.
As for your continuing problem please feel free to post back whatever the result.
thanx
James

[Major Payne]

Any chance your IP has been (mistakenly) put on a banned list by the people in Sweden? Sometimes in changes of a sweeping nature, these things happen. Good ole spammers are responsible for causing a lot of European and other servers to ban each other. LOL

Any chance you could list your error messages after all this time? Does the program or site you need to connect to use any java, javascript, active-x stuff? Windows updates have a habit of changing previous default security measures without you knowing about it. Banned programs can be checked. I'm sure you probably have covered all this...but?

As to all your malware programs. Hang on to them. You have the right idea to use more than one as not one program can keep up with everything "out there". Just try not to run more than one at a time. I do run two anti-virus programs at times, but then I know what to do if they conflict with each other...let 'em battle it out and go for coffee! LOL

Firefox is a very good choice for surfing the 'Net. Even though IE 7.0 is out in Beta, IE 6.0 and 7.0 really only need to be used for those sites that absolutely require it and for DLing stuff at M$' site. Try some of the extension for FF to make your surfing smoother.

I take it that access to your stuff in Sweden is password protected? Possibly they messed up your Username, password or what ever else you need for access to your data? Is it a secure site?

Excuse the "butt in", but had to add my 2 cents.

Ron