Tech Geek and More

(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/computer_associates NULL.jpg)  One of the issues I have faced this week with a client is that they have CA A/V installed and on all 9 of their PC’s it would fail on update.  You would get a message that says that “Package failed to install” then it would automatically try and download the update and try again.  It seems that this can be a known CA issue (even though the CA solution did not work for me).  Here is the solution from the CA support site:

Problem Resolution

1. If updates have never happened in the past on this PC, then do check if your system requirements meet minimum requirements (http://crm NULL.my-etrust NULL.com/login NULL.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=3157) for CA Anti-Virus. (depending on your subscription)

2. Disable your firewall (http://crm NULL.my-etrust NULL.com/login NULL.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=2636) to check if this is causing a problem.

CA Personal Firewall will not block your CA updates.

However, if you are not using CA Personal Firewall, and if updates are working with your firewall disabled, then add the following websites to the exception list of your firewall (your firewall vendor or firewall help manuals will help you with this step):
http://consumerdownloads.ca.com/ (http://consumerdownloads NULL.ca NULL.com/)
http://etrustdownloads.ca.com/ (http://etrustdownloads NULL.ca NULL.com/)

3. If your computer is behind a proxy, then configure CA Anti-Virus with proxy settings (http://crm NULL.my-etrust NULL.com/login NULL.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=1888).

4. Force Update (https://remoteassist NULL.ca NULL.com/supportbridge/jsp/selfserve/processScriptRequestOwnWindow NULL.jsp?divisionID=7&scriptID=160) the CA Anti-Virus using our hot fix (https://remoteassist NULL.ca NULL.com/supportbridge/jsp/selfserve/processScriptRequestOwnWindow NULL.jsp?divisionID=7&scriptID=160).

5. Replace signature files manually:
a)  Delete or rename the following signature files (found in the location where you installed CA Anti-Virus):
C:\Program Files\CA\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\vet.dat
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\vete.dll
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\isafeEngine.dll
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\caavresource.dll
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\caavproduct.dll
C:\Program Files\ca\CA Internet Security Suite\CA Anti-Virus\modules.txt

b)  Empty your recycle bin

c)  Right click on the CA Shield icon on the bottom right, and choose Update Product.

6. At this point, if the update fails, then please contact Technical Support through the additional support options below.
7. To fix this issue without contacting Technical Support, please follow these guidelines:
a)  Go to Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs list and uninstall CA Anti-Virus alone from here.
b) Go through the on-screen instructions to uninstall and restart the PC.
c) Download a fresh copy (http://crm NULL.my-etrust NULL.com/login NULL.asp?username=guest&target=DOCUMENT&openparameter=3111) of your product, from your online CA account.
d) Run the downloaded setup and follow on-screen instructions to install.
e) Once the installation is complete, restart your PC and your CA Anti-Virus will be up to date.

I did everything CA said step by step and even after the reinstall CA would not update. I even tried on 2 of the pc’s before contacting CA support with no luck.  Once I spoke to CA support, I had about the same amount of luck as all they could say is that because CA was “broken” when Conflickr (Yep the same one) infected the pc’s on this network, that the only way to get CA to work again was to reinstall Windows.  (Yes like I want to have to reinstall 8 different pc’s and then reload software including some custom applications that are from a different vendor and I had no clue about).

So I got an “old school” idea.  Using the CA files already loaded and working fine from another pc. I went back in and uninstalled CA on one of the pc’s.  Then rebooted to clear the last of the files …… The I went thru the following steps

1. On restart – reinstalled a fresh copy of CA and rebooted again for safe measure.
2. On this restart – I went into Task Manager

a. To start Task Manager, take any of the following actions:

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then click Task Manager.
2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.
3. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar, and then click Task Manager

3. In task Manager – Highlight the following files and select End Process on each one.

• • CAVRID.exe
  • CCprovsp.exe
  • CCTray.exe
  • ISafe.exe
  • vetMsg.exe

4. Now go to c:\program files\CA\CA Internet Security Suite on the PC with a working copy of CA and copy all the files in the CA Internet Security folder  (Note I said copy not cut) onto a USB flash drive or other storage area (If you know how to transfer via the network you can do that to).  Once you have the files, go to the pc with the Bad CA, and paste all the files to the same c:\program files\CA\CA Internet Security Suite  location on the broken CA pc.  You will be prompted to replace files, say yes to all.

5.  Now go to start – programs – CA – CA Internet Security – Update Product and then select the update button.  CA will now update and prompt you that your Software is up to date.

6. Lastly reboot 1 more time and you now have a full recovered and working copy of CA.