Symantec NetDetect rescheduling itself

Hello all!

NetDetect is a component of LiveUpdate and it checks for an internet connection at a specified schedule to run Automatic LiveUpdate.

I have (on numerous occasions) set it to check every five minutes but as soon as it connects and runs ALU, it reschedules itself to check every four hours.

The setting I'm opting for is, according to Symantec NetDetect (Automatic LiveUpdate) and ... , the default setting and I even used the same initial time (12:05 AM).

Could someone, please, check their settings in Controlpanel > Scheduled tasks, to see what their interval is.

(I also have set it to run at user login but regarding the above, it makes no difference.)


Thanks for Your time,
Christer

 

Johanna,
the link doesn't work right now but it is a desciption of how to reenable the thing. It says to set it daily, start time 12:05 AM and 5 minutes interval. I assumed that this setting is the default.

Anyway, with 4 hours interval, when the computer is started, You can get anything up to 4 hours lag before it connects. It doesn't understand when more than 4 hours has elapsed if the computer has been shut down and soldiers on with 12:05 + 4:00 + 4:00 indefinitely. It can actually happen that connecting is too long ahead and before it connects, You shut down again. This means that it is possible to never get LiveUpdate automatically.

I believe that this is either another bug or that the load on Symantecs servers were too high ...... ...... and any LiveUpdate session changes the schedule to, for Symantec, convenient 4 hours interval.

(I am almost sure that the schedule remained at 5 minutes interval with earlier versions of LiveUpdate.)

I added a second schedule (it actually says so in the article) to run when I log in on the system because I don't think the other schedule is acceptable. I also have a shortcut to LiveUpdate next to the Internet Explorer and Outlook Express shortcuts and try to remember to run it before downloading e-mails.

I actually believe that it is vital to add the second schedule to make sure it connects every time the computer is started. This will cover people on broadband who are always connected.

People who connect to the internet manually via dial-up or broadband should run LiveUpdate manually immediately after connecting.

Christer

 

Johanna,

Well, I don't expect updates at that rate and I can agree that 4 hours may be more than enough IF there is a check at system start or user login but there isn't (unless a second schedule has been created, like I have). It may take anything from a minute to 4 hours to get a NetDetect and automatic LiveUpdate, depending on what time the start button was pressed. The user may have downloaded his/her e-mails long before that happens and get infected by a virus for which definitions are pending download.

As I mentioned, I have set it to check at user login too and in combination with that, I feel that 4 hours is enough.

Exactly my thought! I'm however not sure when it gets rescheduled. I will have to set my own back to 5 minutes and find out.

Christer

 

Hi Charles!

...... ...... exactly the opposite of how I experience and remember it ...... ......

Christer

 

I removed the second schedule, no NetDetect at login.

At 6:47 PM, I scheduled to check every five minutes starting at 6:50 PM. At 6:50 it checked and updated the "log ". Last run 6:50 PM, next run 6:55 PM.

I restarted and went back to check. I was not surprized to find "check every 4 hours from 6:50 PM ".

From my first post:

This is obviously wrong, it gets rescheduled on reboot.

Christer

Edited:

The statement in the first post was not wrong ...... ...... I was too trigger happy when restarting ...... ...... or posting, see post #10!

 

I set it back (again) to five minutes, stayed in the Control panel > Scheduled tasks and waited, after a few minutes it connected and did its thing. I was not impatient (since I had already tried rebooting ...... ......) and immediately after doing its thing, it rescheduled to 4 hours. I was right in my first post and will have to edit post #8 ...... ...... !

Christer

 

Yup, that's correct. What do You think about this:

I removed all schedules and started over.

I created #1 to run at system start and #2 to run daily, every 5 minutes for 24 hours.

After the first run, #1 was rescheduled to run daily, every 4 hours for 24 hours. #2 was unaltered.

I created #3 to run at system start.

Since then, I have;

#1 to run daily, every 4 hours for 24 hours but the start time is changed according the last run of #2 which means that #1 will never run.

#2 to run daily, every 5 minutes for 24 hours and it seems to stay that way.

#3 to run at system start.

It seems like I'm alone with this behaviour ...... ......

I'll check out Charles' link to the latest LU.

Christer

 

I didn't have the most recent LU but it made no difference.

Before updating LU, I removed all schedules for NetDetect.

After installing the new LU, I created a single schedule, to run daily, every 10 minutes for 24 hours. (10 minutes is actually the "default" suggestion.)

When it connected the first time, it did its thing and the "log" was updated. A few seconds later, the FireWall notified me of LuComServer_2_6.exe which requested access. If this is set to block, neither manual nor automatic LiveUpdate will work but I set it to block and checked the box for "always ". After 10 minutes, it did its thing again and the schedule was still not altered.

However, with LuComServer disabled, it's not much fun ...... ...... so, I went and set the FireWall to permit.
The next time it connected, the "log" was updated but a few seconds later, the schedule was altered to ...... ...... guess what!

The conclusion is that it doesn't happen on reboot (as I erroneously assumed a few posts back) but when LiveUpdate is connecting after NetDetect has done its thing (as I said in the first post).

...... ...... and it is possible to circumvent the behaviour as in post #14 ...... ......

Christer

 

Hello foolproof!

On my system, what You say is true up to but excluding (4). This assumes that the "log" in Control panel > Scheduled tasks is updated correctly.

I'm on and off this computer and I shut it down when I leave. NetDetect did its thing yesterday at 10:00 PM and the schedule was set to 4 hours. At 02:00 AM, 06:00 AM and 10:00 AM the computer was not running. I used it between approximately 10:30 AM and 01:30 PM. At 02:00 PM, it was again not running. When I restarted at approximately 03:30 PM, the "log" still reported last run at 10:00 PM yesterday and next run at 06:00 PM. It was still on the 4 hour schedule. At 06:00 PM I was using the computer and it did its thing. I've been on since then and the "log" now reports last run at 10:00 PM and next run at 02:00 AM tomorrow.

If it did work the way You describe it, then it would be a well managed "automatic rescheduling" but on my system, it doesn't. It is possible that it would work the way You descibe it, if the scheduling hadn't been tampered with by the user but left as installed. The next time I install Norton Internet Security, I'll keep off NetDetect to find out how it behaves. That may be some distance into the future, though.

As I said in an earlier post, the rescheduling occurs only on schedule #1. Any other schedule (I have added #2 and #3) stays the way the user set it.

Christer