OneCare upgrade brings headaches

Since November, Microsoft has been slowly rolling out an update to its Windows Live OneCare security software. Although the update was designed to bring in new features, such as the ability to monitor the health of multiple PCs, some say the new version has brought only headaches.

Robert Webb of North Carolina said he started having problems from the moment his software was upgraded in early December.

"My main problem has been that OneCare does not always start when the computer is booted," Webb said in an e-mail interview. "It has to be manually started."

Microsoft's online forums are buzzing with a host of complaints about the new version, with many people unable to get the software to work.

Microsoft confirmed that it is working on that problem.

"We are aware that some users are experiencing an issue with Windows Live OneCare when they start up the service after installing (version) 2.0," Microsoft said in a statement to CNET News.com. "The issue is being worked on and currently affects a very limited number of customers (about 1 percent of the install base), each of whom we thank for their patience."

In an interview Thursday, Microsoft lead product manager Larry Brennan said that, in total, the problems aren't causing a significant disparity compared with users' experience with the older version.

"We do monitor the overall status of the service," he said. "We can see that the servicing statistics for 2.0 are comparable to the servicing statistics for (version) 1.6."

Brennan touted the new features, such as automated printer sharing and centralized backup, as key improvements and said that with any upgrade, there are bound too be some people who have problems. Brennan said Microsoft is about halfway through migrating OneCare users to version 2.0 and that the company is continuing to automatically upgrade customers, despite the complaints.

OneCare, which was introduced in May 2006, is Microsoft's first entry in the consumer antivirus software business and competes with consumer software from Symantec, McAfee, and others.

Stephen Boots, the Microsoft Most Valued Professional who moderates the OneCare forum, has been trying to address many of the issues online, but has been suggesting those with other issues contact Microsoft's customer care.

"There were too many problems with the v2 upgrade and too many remain now," Boots wrote in a post on Friday.

For Webb, the problems have shifted his OneCare experience from positive to negative.

"I liked OneCare before these problems appeared because it was hassle free and not a resource hog," said Webb, who has been using the program for a year and a half and renewed his paid subscription last July.

Update: A Microsoft representative said on Friday that the company is planning to push out an update to version 2.0 on January 31 that it hopes will fix many of the problems that users have been encountering.

[RBOTS]

one care live updates

1% Ya Right!!! I have had problems with one care for a while. More on wednesday update with must reboot popup would not go away. Start up and adding more computers to same account problems also in the past. It use to work but now ?

[tbsteph]

OneCare

I've been using OneCare since the original beta. (3 machines including a Mac Mini via Bootcamp). While there have been a few hiccups along the way, my overall experience has been very good. Through the years I have used Norton and McAfee where I experienced many more issues with each.

The recent OneCare update occured without a hitch.

[suntzuwu]

Not enough testing for a security program

Microsoft's statement that an update will be released on January 31 just proves that 2.0 shouldn't have been released until January 31.

The claim that "one percent of the install base" are having problems needs clarifying. The update was halted for quite a while until a few days ago. Is this one percent of people that have received the update or one percent of the total OneCare customer base including those that are still running the old version? What percentage have been updated to 2.0?

[timber2005]

One percent using 2.0

Its one percent using 2.0. Its a 2.0 issue.

I was going to somewhat flack you and say that OneCare had a large testing base (I do know people on forums who tested it extensivly, since before 1.5 was released, 2.0 was worked on) but Onecare BETA, the testing was massive. Something like 1.5 million copies being tested.

I was wondering why my church system wasn't allowing the 2.0 update. I didn't realize they stopped. I got the 2.0 update automatically at home. One of my systems lags its onecare startup (my computer, the main of the hub informs me its off) but it starts itself after about 4 minutes or so. But the system is not often restarted either.

[RGMbrain]

The Upgrades are a mess time 10 to the 100th power

Microsoft is doing upgrades to this new Vista security almost daily....and then...you are hit with a trigger that will restart your computer in the middle of whatever you are doing and waste about 5 minutes to upgrade and re-load...

The are missing the boat on this one....bigger problems than we can all imagine

[giant_david]

New M$ anti crash product

Soon Ms users will need an extra anti-crash product, similar to the anti-virus or whatever this 1care is.

Shouldn't the OS provide a safe environment by itself?

[suyts]

They tried,

but the monopoly whiners came out in force to prevent MS from doing just that.

[paulsecic]

YES its called

OSX

[SteveinIowa]

I stopped Using OneCare

I purchased OneCare over a year ago. Almost monthly or more often, I would have to run the repair tool, go through steps starting and stopping things or just uninstalling it, then re-installing it. A big pain. It only got worse with the upgrade. I like the fact the one year cost covers 3 PCs, but the constant maintenance was a pain.

I am the Technical Support Division Manager for an ISP in NW Iowa and if I have had these problems, I really feel sorry for the folks who are not computer literate and have to deal with these issues.

I tested Microsoft One Care and it didn't work for me. I went back to my old trusted anti-virus AVG by Grisoft. I now use Genie-soft to back up my files and I use the firewall that came with Windows XP. No issues. No system hogging. Come on, Microsoft! You basically invented the PC...can't you make software that will work with it?

[jlstelling]

Windows Live One Care

I switched several months ago to One Care and Love it. My older computer has XP and a new one with Vista Home Premium. No problems at all.

[LKLINE432]

One Care support

I've been using One Care for a while on three machines, including my daughter who lives on bleeding edge of music/video sharing and haven't had a problem with it for over a year.

I have friends using Symantec/Norton and open source tools and do nothing but complain about them. Majority of the time when they ask me for help, it is the virus scanner or adhoc firewall that is the problem.

Microsoft is just like EVERY OTHER COMPANY out there trying to make a buck and hitting software delivery schedules. I love the MAC people, Apple's bug reports have tripled in the last year, wow they must be getting better...:)

[gman450]

DOT Zero releases should NEVER be installed

There will always be software updates for all software companies. Always wait for the .10 release.

[emancipated]

OneCare Upgrade, Delightful

The upgrade is delightful. There are no issues on the PC's in this household. This house has a cable modem with a wired and wireless LAN, multiple printers, ... I like the new Wireless LAN function. Thank you Live / OneCare.

I feel badly for the people where the installation was less than perfect.

[SW1911]

One Care

I have been using one care now for a bit over a year on 3 PC's and have had no problems with it, except for once and that was during the upgrade which was due to my own actions, which required me to use their fix to correct the problem, I have been running it on XP and Vista and have not had a problem.

[cross platform]

I Gave Up On Onecare

When I upgraded to Windows Vista from XP I had some issues. So I called MS and after hours on the phone I got everything straightened out except for Onecare. The tech asked me if I was going to uninstall Onecare during the installation. I asked " Can I just turn it off? " because I had previous problems with Onecare that took a long time to get straightened out. He said yes. Afterward it didn't work and he said I should have uninstalled it since Vista uses a different version. I wish he had told me that in the begining because nothing we did could get it to turn on correctly. In the end I got rid of it since the tech then said the solution was to wipe my drive clean and reinstall everything! Well since everything else works alright I gave up and went back to Norton for my virus protection. Onecare is great when it works but I've found that it very easy to get into a situation where it doesn't. The problem I had before was that it just stopped updating. And I had to call a tech to correct the problem. Now I ask myself should antivirus software be so difficult to work with?

[kmne68]

So far so good

I haven't had problems with my upgrade. My computer is about three years old. I used McAffee before. It ate up too many resources and they nickel and dimed me for total protection. And there were the occasional incompatibilities with other software. So far none of that has been an issue with OneCare.

[RussJr]

Overall I like OneCare

I too am happy. I have used Symantec, McAffee and Trend, with Trend the best of the trio. But I also got tired of the resources that these programs used up. Almost as bad were the incessant pop-ups, nag screens, upgrade notices, and so on that came with them. The cost of them just kept rising and rising. With three computers in the house I thought I would give OneCare a chance and I have been happy.
Here are the things that do bug me.

1) The system tray icon often claims a problem with security and to open OneCare only to find once opened that everything is fine.

2) At one time I was unable to switch between user profiles on Vista unless the user had Administrator rights. Research into the problem, which has since fixed itself, indicated a problem with OneCare.

Here are a couple of things I really like:

1) Price is great and covers 3 machines.
2) Automated backups that have already saved my from a fried laptop hard drive crash.
3) Easy setup for ActiveSync devices. (A nightmare with other products)
4) Easy and generally automated port openings on the firewall.
All said, however, this does not excuse a poorly tested upgrade that has cause a lot of problems for others.

Russ

[i_made_this]

onecare tested in beta & used in rtm

During testing, the firewall and anti-virus showed promise, the anti-spyware was next to useless and the backup function was useful for the home and home office user. They never seemed to quite figure out how they'd differentiate anti-spyware versus defender but it didn't really matter because this function didn't work anyway. Frequently, we felt it seemed so quiet that it wasn't even working, and upon checking discovered it wasn't running in fact. Even tho the happy green icon was smiling in the task bar. Well, we continued playing with it for an extra six months for free trying to get to work after it was released. Nothing changed. We ditched it in favor of AVG at home and Kaspersky at the office. These are both pretty good products and cheap at the price. You don't need to pay for AVG anti-virus and anti-spyware if you're using them for personal use and ditto for Zone Alarm firewall. Even free, onecare wouldn't be a competitive product.

[internetworld7]

STOP BEING IDIOTS AND SWITCH TO A MAC!

STOP BEING IDIOTS AND SWITCH TO A MAC!

[mpmacal]

Like a bad case of acne

Owning a MAC is like being a 14 year old with a bad case of acne. You don't have to learn to dance, (fight off viruses and Trojans, etc), because your not good looking enough to get asked.

I am not a big MS fan, but if my option is to greatly reduce options, and pay more for the priviledge, thanks... but I'll pass.

[close5828]

Macs suck

I know, because we have three in our home and each one has been in for repair.

Mini - Optical Drive
Macbook 1 - keyboard, display, motherboard
Macbook 2 - chipped topcase, mouse button, optical drive, and hard drive.


As you can see, Macs do clearly suck. I bought an Apple Care on all but the Macbook (still under warranty).

My wife's Vaio is 3yrs old and never had a problem, so she's gone back to using that and the Macbook just sits in its case. We'll probably either sell it or donate it...it's a piece of garbage. Not to mention, the snooty so-called Genius' who treats us like we're stupid (I'm ACDT and A+ Certified) and says they'll fix the topcase "one time only" yet it's a known-issue? I hate people.

Anyway, there's "our" Mac situation...three strikes for Apple.

[Benf]

Let me count the reasons to avoid a MAC

Too many app's that I use wont run on a Mac, Limited software avalable for a Mac compared to a PC, Closed Architecturem, only about 10% of the world market is Mac/Linux/Other, I have a Mac, I use it as a doorstop, Mac's are too slow and there OS is buggy and have too many security issues, me? buy a Mac? I Made that mistake once about 8 months ago, Never Again.

[mpmacal]

Security and the Home User

I am deliberately over-simplifying... but here goes.
1. Most home users need automation. They will not schedule or remember to implement security tasks. Kids get on to chat, Dad logs onto the bank, Mom checks movie times. Security is no one's job, and will not get done.
2. Automation assumes some specific parameters... networking, OS settings, BIOS settings, Software Versions - All which get more complex every day.
3. Security software has the worst of all worlds - selectively recognizing and halting harmful operations that mimic SAFE operations.

Here is where Microsoft blew it.... They implemented automation that few people ever use. By example, smart tags and community editing of Office documents created its share of security holes. When is the last time YOUR team gang edited a document using the latest Office automation? Yet the services, ports and Office tools that make this all possible are routinely hi-jacked by illicit scripts.
Secondly, MS blew it big time with Vista. Aero is a waste of resources (Like I need my OS to look and run like a video game. What 24 year old made that decision!) Each feature that was added to this "new" OS, is a potential a tool for hackers. This more secure OS is no more secure than a properly protected computer running XP. (AND IT RUNS SLOWER!)
Solution?
MS should focus on making Windows robust. WinFS, a good tool for registering services, and limiting features to "request only".

Example: The only way a service can be started is when the user requests the tool the first time. They only way the service can be requested is through a GUI (which will take some work because most Gui's are scriptable). That alone will greatly limit the types of attacks to which the average home user can fall victim.
Example: Instead of having to turn user info in Document files OFF - the user should have to turn it ON. - AND - this feature should not be scriptable.

I believe that Live One Care has fallen victim to the complexity of security management, but I would rather have MS solve the root cause of the problem - vulnerability from poorly controlled features, poor memory management (oops... another buffer overflow?), than more attempts at containing the problem through more complex software traps.

I can dream, can't I?

[cross platform]

Ok I'll bite

It's not Aero that's the resource hog. You can spruce the GUI with a new graphics engine on anything and not use too many resources. I have a meter which tells me how much drag is on my processor so I can tell when it's being taxed. The thing that bogs Vista down is MS's trying to cover all their security bases. And it's overkill. Vista spends a lot of time scanning itself for any kind of threat be a virus or a phoney copy of windows. All this obsession with DRM and validation is why it takes a hefty processor to handle every little movement. But sorry it's not the interface. Your graphics card does most of the work there.

[The_Decider]

The best you can hope for if caught in a protection racket

Is headaches.

MS caused the problem. Relying on them for the answer is the height is ignorance.

[tomaras]

No problems here.

Have been running One Care since beta and now have it on my Vista Box, XP Laptop, aging parent's Vista box with no issues. Other extended family members are running it with no issues. Just talked a friend with a lagging Vista laptop into uninstalling two anti spyware apps and McCaffe and replacing with One Care. Reports his computer is running much better now.

[taggartromkey]

Use Open Source Software Solutions

I hate to sound like a MS hater but all of their new products like Vista and OneCare are down right shoddy. I'm glad i ditched OneCare for Clamwin on my XP desktop box i use for web design work. Clamwin found 6 viruses that OneCare couldn't see. However Clamwin isn't perfect. You have to scan your machine manually but trust me it's worth it.

There are Operating Systems like Linux and Mac OS X out there that are impervious to viruses. I use PCLinuxOS on my laptop which take to school and so far no problems.

[rkinne01]

impervious OS?

There is no such thing my friend. Macs and Linux machines are vulnerable as well to viruses and attacks! Do some digging here on PcWorld.com to see what I mean.