My environment:

• Windows XP Professional
• Multiple Users
• Selected Folders
• Multiple Disks — C backing up to D, and vice-versa
• Running as a regular user, without a password, the most secure method.

There are several things that cause problems here.

• A user without a password can’t perform scheduled backups. This isn’t documented and there is no error logged to the events log. When it happens, the error is recorded in the Automated Tasks Status, “The scheduled task did not run because no user account password was entered.” Other tasks with the same user account, and lack of password do not generate this error. The Backup Wizard asks, “No password has been entered for the user name associated with this job. Are you sure you want to use a blank password?” The password question is asked two or three times, but only once does it give this notice, not the first time, and non of them specify that the job will not be run.
• If you run as different user, which the wizard dialogue gives you the option to do, then the parameters for the back up job itself are stored in the %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\NTBackup\data directory, of the user that is setting up the job. Whenever I do this I get the error , “The saved selection file ‘NT\NTBackup\data\BackupJobName.bks’ cannot be found.” As far as I can tell, this is a permissions problem, even though the job is running as the Administrator. Maybe it is something else having to do with a poor variable substitution, or I don’t know what. I have tried changing the permissions on the file and the directory, and moving the BackupJobName.bks file to the Administrator’s %UserProfile% directory, and chaning the path in the job, but I still get the same error either way.

That’s the don’t work list. Later, I’ll give you the don’t work right list, but to relieve your suspense, the solution to the problem is to either login as the Administrator to set the job up, or to right click on the Backup icon, and “Run As…” the Administrator, or some other user with a password.

Things that don’t work correctly

• There are separate text areas for entering the name of the backup file produced and the name of the job. Whichever you enter last will be the name of both. This is obvious the first chance you get, but when you change the job from a one time job to a scheduled recurrent job, the text area is clear, so you have to enter the name without it being in front of you. This is important if you are attempting to incrementally add to an existing backup file.
• The logging is broken. I mentioned that some errors go to the event log and others go to the Schedule Tasks Status Field. Having the errors in the Status field is nice, but they should be logged. As it is I was doing backups for a week without errors and assuming everything was fine.
• Backups either add incrementally to a backup file, or replace the backup file. I’d like to be able to keep my previous backup around when doing a full backup. The wizard offers no way to rename the existing back before starting the next.
• You have to enter the password of the Administrator 5 times to schedule a backup. 1x for Run As, 2x for scheduling, and 2x for backing up. I don’t know the ins and outs of the Windows security system, but I don’t see the need for entering the password 2x for the same dialogue. I have just tested that you have to enter the actual password to proceed, so why enter twice? Also, isn’t it possible to save the credential that the user established when logging in?

The normal uninstall process will not remove all Symantec files from your computer (this has been a serious problem with Symantec from the beginning). In the case of Norton Anti-Virus and Norton Internet Security, the remaining files will conflict with Trend Micro’s products. To remove them, go to Symantec’s website and download a file named “RnisUPG.exe”. Run it, and it will remove the offending files.

Thanks to Amazon reviewer Diego Banducci.

The revelvant page at Symantec.

I was doing some basic maintenance on my home desktop system and I had some extra time while the disk was defragmenting, so I decided to renew my subscription for Norton AntiVirus. The Live Update feature had been nagging me for a week or so and the subscription was due to expire in two weeks, so it seemed like the time was right. Boy was that a mistake.

I should have known better when the Subscription Services renewal dialogue said, “If you don’t have a subscription key, call Symantec Customer Service to renew your subscription. Click Workwide Offices to find the telephone number of the office nearest to you.” What? I have to make a telephone call? Haven’t these people heard of the Internet? If I didn’t have an Internet connection, I wouldn’t need virus protection.

So, still blissfully unaware, I click on the “Worldwide Offices…” button. Once clicked through, I find a long list of Country/Region, Phone, and Web Page. I think, “Oh great they have a web page.” I should have thought, “Oh, no, the first screen shouldn’t have passed QA. I wonder what other problems I am getting myself into?”

Clicking on the link opens a page in my browser. I select my product, and after checking the main screen of Norton AntiVirus, the version, “2003 Professional Edition.” (I don’t know why I have Profession Edition, maybe for Windows 2000 Professional/XP Pro? ) I click through, decline the upsell to Norton Internet Security 2005, and see my shopping cart with the one item and “Proceed to Checkout.” I fill out the form, give my credit card number, create a password (blah, why do I need a password?), and check out.

I get an invoice and it contains my Subscription Key. I copy/paste the Subscription Key into the still open Subscription Services dialogue. Whoop! “The number you entered is not a valid subscription key. Please check the number and try again.”

Hmmm. Maybe I didn’t copy the whole key, or copied and extra character? Try again. Whoop!

OK. Try typing the Unlock Code by hand, eleven characters, (no spaces to make it easier to read, Symantec spits on their users). Whoop!

Maybe that is a capitol “O”, instead of a zero? Whoop!

By this time I have received an e-mail from Symantec (well really from symanteccs@digitalriver.com, this is probably significant). I check that Subscription Key, it looks the same, but being an optimistic I guy, I think maybe it will work. Whoop!

Missing/extra characters? Whoop! Whoop!

Ok, now what? If all else fails, read the directions. The e-mail has a section, “Special Instructions for Subscription Orders:”

To complete your subscription renewal process, enter the Subscription Key provided above into your product. For detailed instructions on how to enter the Subscription Key for your specific product, please visit http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/subscribe/directions/

The first sentence describes what I have been doing, but maybe I am missing something, so I follow the link to get the detailed instructions.

To this point in the story, my experience isn’t so unusual. This is a fairly typical human-machine interaction. It is low-level annoying, but it is the kind of frustration we have come to accept. On Windows, this level of frustration is a regular feature, but I have similarly bad experiences on a Mac, installing audio equiptment, or even with my microwave. I am not saying that this is acceptable – I certainly do not want to ship software that has these issues – but it can happen and it isn’t the end of the world. Once I click through to Symantec’s detailed instructions however, we are through the looking glass.

The first page is innocuous enough, apparently the instuctions for entering the subscription key are not the same for all program versions (Symantec’s emphasis). Instructions on how to find your programs version follow.

Whoop! Turns out the instructions are the same for all versions on Windows (my emphasis). I am starting to get annoyed with being jerked around. I click through, little suspecting what is to come.

The page starts simply enough. Description of the problem, and a solution:

“Step 1: Find the subscription key.” A reasonable explanation of what to do if you there wasn’t a key in e-mail you received, including the oh-so-reasonable possibility that if you merely run live update, the server will take care of it. Unfortunately, I have a subscription key, so I press on to this:

“Step 2: Print this document and disconnect from the Internet.” I kid you not. Disconnect from the internet. To install software. Why you might ask? Apparently many have before, because they go to the trouble of explaining:

Note: If you do not disconnect from the Internet before continuing to step 3, then the correct windows for renewal will not appear. For why you need to disconnect from the Internet for this to work, read the Technical Information section on this page.

Well, I’m a curious guy, and this seems like an outrageous request, especially, since I am trying to run Live Update to renew my subscription for a product that I only need because I am connected to the Internet, so I read the explanation of the explanation in the Technical Information section.

Why you have to disconnect from the Internet

There are two ways to renew a subscription. This method is the “failover” system designed for use when our subscription servers are not available or when a customer’s computer cannot successfully connect to the servers for other reasons. To make the failover windows appear for the subscription renewal process, it is necessary to simulate one of those situations. The easiest and most reliable way to do that is to disconnect the computer from the Internet.

That isn’t really an explanation. It is more like an excuse. Roughly translated:

We are unwilling, or technically unable, to either write a software interface that allows you to enter a character string, or to describe to you a simple way of getting to the interface that we did write, so give us your paper and disable your computer to work around our incompetence.

Well great. At this point, my folly is becoming clear. Instead of renewing, I should have uninstalled Norton AntiVirus and gone to some other product. I really have no faith in either Symantec as a company, or Norton AntiVirus as a product any longer. If they cannot produce better software, and a better user interface, why am I letting them on my desktop. This is true for any software, but especially a component that runs 24×7, and regularly updates itself without my intervention

Logic fails to win out here. I have fond memories of using Norton Utilities in about 1985 to recover data that had been deleted, and well, Norton AntiVirus has the same name, and … (quivering lip, tears, …)

In for a penny, in for a pound, right? I disconnect my network connection, reopen Live Update, receive the expected “Could not verify” message, and I get to (drumroll …) the same dialogue I had beem trying to use all along.

It’s easy enough to predict what happened next. I go through the same series of actions: copy/paste the subscription key – whoop!, enter key by hand – whoop!

Defeated, I restore my network connection and close the dialogue.

This is a reasonable time to mention that closing the dialogue isn’t so simple because if you click any of the available buttons: back, next, skip, or worldwide offices, you are hit with the whoop! dialogue. You have to delete the subscription key that you entered before you can navigate away from th window. Obviously, this error makes sense if you click the next button. You need to have entered a correct key. And, I can understand why it happens if you are using the back, or skip buttons, even though from the user’s perspective it doesn’t make any sense, it is sloppy programming and it is pretty poor that the user isn’t told how to escape from this Renewal hell.

Clicking on the worldwide offices button doesn’t take you away from the renewal window, it just opens another window. You really shouldn’t be required to enter a valid key to open a new window. I can imagine the programming here. I can’t imagine the programmer, the tester, or the organization that produced this.

Having been through this several times earlier, I now qualify as an experienced user of Live Update, so I know how to work around the problems in the program. I delete the key, and click on skip.

At this point, Live Update runs.

I wasn’t really expecting this to happen, but it makes sense. I was running Live Update to renew my subscription, and my subscription is still current. It will expire in two weeks, but I am still entitled to new updates until it expires. So great. While Live Update runs, I check on the defragmentation, make/get a couple of phone calls, check e-mail, etc.

When I check back, Live Update has thrown up a dialogue. It has updated my software and I need to reboot my computer. There is one option presented, “OK.” Arggghh. No “reboot later” option, only “OK.” (I know I could close the window, not really the same thing.) I have five windows open, in various states of necessity. I run through them, closing, or completing what I was doing, except for the defragmentation which still has a while to run, so I decide to just kill it. I want to get this renewal done, and I am thinking that maybe the problem with my key is that I need this newer software to install – I still don’t know what this update does, I just ran Live Update yesterday – in order to renew.

Reluctantly, I click OK. The computer reboots and I work for a while on the laptop. I come back to the desktop, login, run Live Update, and attempt to enter my key.

Whoop!

I give up.

I am calling for help.

I remember the phone number under the Worldwide Offices button. I find it. It’s a 541 area code. Whoop! If I am going to call long distance, I’ll use the cell phone. I dial the cell phone on the land line, follow the rings to the phone and call the number. Whoop! The number has been changed. Now it is an 800 number. It is good that it is free. It is bad that 1) I hunted for a phone, 2) they didn’t update the phone number when I updated the software ten minutes ago and 3) even though they repeat the number once before hanging up on me, I don’t have a pencil handy and have to call back to get the number.

I want a refund. I quit with this piece of crap. Peter Norton and his utilities be damned.

I call the 800 number. Nine options. “If you want a refund, please press 8.” I press 8. “If you purchased from Symantec, please press 1.” I press 1. “If you purchased from Symantec, please dial 1-800-blah, blah, blah.” A third number. Whoop! I didn’t catch the number the first time. Whoop! They didn’t repeat it. Whoop! And they hung up on me immediately, with giving me any options. Whoop!

I did call back to get the number, but it occurred to me that I should check the web site instead. There is a customer service link on the renewal page, which takes me to a FAQ page, with a “How do I request a refund?” link. Golden. I follow that link and follow the steps. This is when the password comes in handy. Who knew? You would think that just by having the order number, the subscription key, my credit card number and my e-mail address they could have located the order and verified my identity. I’m sure it was easier for Symantec to require me to furnish a password.

Anyway I swore that I had destroyed the software that I was unable to install on my machine and finished with the ordeal. We’ll see how quickly they issue my refund. I’m willing to bet that it will take longer than they take to bill my credit card, by a week, at least.

So what was wrong here:

1) Poor communication. The text was inaccurate. I had to determine the version of my software, even though the instructions for all Windows versions was the same. They told me I would be calling a number, when I could also check the web site. They gave me the wrong number. They didn’t repeat the phone number. They didn’t give me the chance to return to the voice mail system, so that I could reselect the same option to hear the number again, or maybe select another option. (Maybe if I had been able to reach tech support instead of having to call back to get the refund number, I might still be a customer today.)

2) Poor design. The voicemail system was poorly designed. Nine options is probably too many and hanging up on the caller is always a bad idea. The human-computer interfaces were poorly designed. There is no excuse for trapping me in a dialogue just because I don’t have a valid key. There is no excuse for forcing me to interupt my Internet connection to enter a key. There is no excuse for forcing me to reboot my computer on the applications schedule. A dialogue with only one option is hostile.

There really is no excuse for the whole procedure. There is something fundamentally wrong with the Live Update subscription model and the way that Symantec has implemented it. I have a piece of software that communicates with Symantec’s servers every day. I have paid for a subscription to allow this communication and the results of this communication can be quite extensive. Symantec causes new software to be installed on my desktop. They add to the virus database and they actively filter new applicaitons. I have given them a very large degree of control over what happens on my desktop. Why does the subscription verification have involve me typing in an eleven digit number with no spaces? Could they update this information on the server side? Aren’t they going to have to update it their in any case? If I change to clock on my local machine to keep it 2004 forever, will they continue to provide me with updates?

3) Poor management. Who is checking this? Does anyone look at the systems and quality of the software and the interaction? Are they just so big that they can do what ever they want? Are consumers more trouble than they are worth? This has to cost them in both users and support.

4) Finally, they provide poor customer service. The whole phone-number-changing, voicemail-transferring, hanging-up-on-the-user boondoggle is just too much.

–
Can any one recommend AntiVirus Softwre? I have two weeks.

I got it working on my desktop following the instructions in this article.

The important bit:

If you want to get started with Bluetooth, then you might want to get the Bluetooth Hotync working. This will at least verify that the Bluetooth on your desktop and Palm are working properly and that they can be paired with each other.

Be sure to update your Bluetooth drivers as per the above section, then follow the directions in your device’s user guide. The Tungsten T-series and Sony UX50 and TH55E (Euro version) all have decent Bluetooth Hotsync information in them. If you are using an SD card, you need the Palm Bluetooth Card Handbook (PDF).

These instructions cover using a “Serial Profile” which is the easiest way to get Hotsync working. The Palm Connection should be to a “PC”, not to a LAN. You must have “Local” check in the Hotsync Manager on your PC and you must have the COM port for it assigned to whatever COM port your BT Serial service is attached to. In my particular setup this is COM5, but yours may vary.

If you also want to have internet connectivity from your Palm, then continue reading the rest of this article.

The downsides are that I need to remember to turn the Bluetooth on and off on the Palm, else it runs down the battery really quickly and I need to remember to manually synchronize. My dream is that I could just set the Palm down in the vicinity of the desktop and they would find each other and synchronize automatically. Why do I need to be involved?

Does anyone know if the throughput would be faster if I went to the trouble of configuring the Bluetooth LAN support?