Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 won't install on Z61t

[jrmwalsh]

I bought 3 x Thinkpad Z61t laptops a year ago. One for me, my daughter and my son.
When Norton anti-virus ran out I decided to change to Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 (TMIS 2008) because it is what I am used to, and what I run on my other computers at home.
I decided to try installing TMIS 2008 on my laptop first to make sure the installation went smoothly before trying the other two thinkpads.
I had a few false starts (by not eliminating all of the Symantec programs first) but I cannot get TMIS to install.

When I run the TMIS installation program, a TMIS window opens up saying "A security threat prevented installation of Trend Micro Internet Security". It then says "Click Next to download a diagnostic program that will scan your computer and remove viruses, spyware, and other security threats that may have caused this problem."
I followed this and allowed the program to download and run and scan my computer.
It finished with a message "Because the scan found no security threats, you can continue installing Trend Micro Internet Security".
I clicked on Next as requested, and the installation continued, but after a minute or so another message came up "An interruption prevented the setup program from completely installing Trend Micro Internet Security. The setup program has made no changes to your computer". I have repeated this sequence a couple of times.

I have had a TM technician try to fix this problem over the phone, and via a VPN-type connection to my computer, and though he was very helpful, and worked on it for an hour and a half, he was unable to get TMIS to install either.
Actually his attempts stopped my Wireless connection from working (the wireless would not power on) but after I did a system-restore from an earlier backup the wireless came good.

But TMIS still won't install.

I did try to install TMIS on daughter's Z61t a month ago, and the installation worked okay but then neither the cable or the wireless network connections would work. After I uninstalled TMIS, then re-installed it and uninstalled it a second time the network connections came good again, so I haven't experimented any further on her Z61t.

I've tried restoring from backups to get to an earlier setup point, but TMIS still fails to install, though the details of the failure are different depending on what point I restore to.

I have uninstalled Norton/Symantec via Add/Remove programs and I have run both the Norton home removal tool, Norton_Removal_Tool.exe and the corporate version Nonav.

I have installed TMIS 2008 on many generic desktop machines and the installations have all gone smoothly.

I have partitioned my Z61t into a primary partition of 30 GB for C: and the remainder, (except for the service partition), is allocated as a logical drive in an extended partition. Windows has allocated the letter E: to the logical drive.

I have spent many hours on this problem over a few weekends.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[GomJabbar]

I don't know if this will help, but if by chance you have a variant of XP Antivirus 2008 malware on your machine that could cause the problem. Try scanning your computer with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Also, if you have any software firewalls installed (such as ZoneAlarm), you might uninstall them and try again.

XP Antivirus 2008 anyone?

[jrmwalsh]

Thanks, but I don't have anything like that on it.
Norton was protecting it quite well until I decided to swap to Trend Micro.
And because:
I knew that I was planning on installing Trend Micro, and,
I knew that Trend Micro provides adequate protection, and
I know that its not good to have more than one anti-virus, or firewall running,
I did not install anything else or allow anything else to be installed.

thanks

[carbon_unit]

If you are having that much trouble installing Trend Micro, I would get a refund and find a different solution. Even a TM tech could not install it so they shouldn't argue about the refund.

[jrmwalsh]

Yes, I've been getting closer to reaching the conclusion that I need a refund too.
Maybe I'll have to stick with the Norton/Symantec solution.

[carbon_unit]

To be honest with you, I have had increasing trouble with TMIS lately. The quality of their product seems to be going down while the resources consumed is going up. It is unfortunate as TMIS used to be a very high quality product.
Please take a look at AVG or Avira for anti-virus and a combination of both Spybot and Malwarebytes for Spyware.
Very effective and light on the resources.

[jrmwalsh]

Carbon_unit, Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check them out.
I have been using TMIS for about 10 years now, but I have become less satisfied with it recently.

[jrmwalsh]

The Trend Micro technicians kept in touch with me to ensure that this problem was solved.

From where I left off last I decided to re-install the Thinkpad software from the service partition and try again.
The IBM software installs Norton as part of the software package, and Norton seems to be part of the problem.

The major problem is that after Trend Micro has installed itself, it will not allow any network connections (cable or wireless) to connect to any network. The PC is "isolated".

The steps, the problems that appear, and the solution, are as follows:

Using Add/Remove programs:
Uninstall Symantec Client Security.
Uninstall any other related Norton/Symantec products
Uninstall Live Update (Symantec). If you have uninstalled all of the Norton/Symantec products listed in Add/Remove Programs, say Yes to the Uninstall even though it says that there are still products registered. (It's lying)

Run NoNav, the Norton Corporate version uninstallation tool.
(downloadable from various sites)
Then run the Norton_Removal_Tool.exe, available from Symantec.
Reboot whenever asked to do so.

Install Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 (TMIS2008).
Allow it to Update itself via the internet.
Allow it to perform the first scan
At this point the network connections should still be working.
Reboot.
AFter the reboot, no network connections will work!
Go to
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Internet Security\ and run
TISSuprt.exe.
Select the tab (E) Uninstall, then select Uninstall Firewall and uninstall the firewall.
It will appear to hang there for a long time and there seems to be no way of telling whether it has finished or not.
I was not able to close the uninstall window.
After about 10 minutes, or when you think it has finished uninstalling, hit Ctl-Alt-Del and select Shut down to force your computer to shut down. (Or use the power button).
Restart, hit F8, and go to Safe Mode with Networking.
Click on Okay to let the computer start into Safe Mode.
When it Windows starts in Safe Mode, you should have network connections back working again.

Again go to
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Internet Security\ and run
TISSuprt.exe again.
Select tab (E) Uninstall, select (3) Install Firewall and install the firewall.
Click Install and follow the prompts; allow the computer to reboot when it asks you.

It should reboot into Normal Windows mode, with TMIS running happily and both network connections (cable and wireless operational).

There. Simple isn't it. (ha ha ha), and it takes less than 4 hours !!

Ah, the wonders of modern software. What will they think of next?

[RealBlackStuff]

Glad to hear someone is knowledgeable about TMIS.
I have a friend's PC here, that needed a new hard disk and re-installation of Windows.
He bought a 3-license family package of TMIS, but it seems not possible to (re-)install TMIS on the same computer, without having to pay again!
Any way around that?

I still have the 'old' HD with all the TMIS data on it. Can I transfer some files from old-to-new?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[jrmwalsh]

I think that it would be better if this subject was started as a new post but I'll continue here anyway.

TMIS does allow re-installation, and it allows transfer of a license from one computer to another if you want to. It is quite easy, and I've done it many times.

I have a couple of 3-user licenses and they are quite easy to handle.

Let's assume the following:
1) The 3-user license that your friend has is legal,
2) He/she still has the license number,
3) The license has not expired.
4) When he first installed TMIS he supplied a password to Trend Micro when it asked him to.
5) You are connected to the internet when you re-install TMIS.
6) Each computer has a name. (If not, then name them via Settings>>Control Panel>>System >>Computer Name>>Change)

Lets also suppose that the computers are named Monkey, Frog and Ape.

When TMIS is installed on the first computer, suppose its Monkey, TMIS asks for an owners name and a password.
You would enter your friend's, Fred Smith, and wxyzwxyz (or whatever you want to set your password to be).
That information is submitted to Trend's license database, and stored there.

When you install TMIS on the next computer, Frog, TMIS will ask for an identifying name so you enter Frog, and the name Frog is submitted to Trend.

When you install TMIS on Ape, TMIS will ask for an identifying name so you enter Ape, and the name Ape is submitted to TMIS.

Suppose that later on the HDD on Frog dies, so you set up the OS on Frog again and re-install TMIS on Frog.

When TMIS asks you to enter the license number and TMIS submits the number to Trend, the Trend database will say that the 3 licenses have been used already. But it will then allow you to transfer a license from a previously licensed computer.

First TMIS asks for the password you originally entered. You submit the password.
If the password is correct, TMIS will list the names of the three licenses already issued; as per:
Owner: Fred Smith (which is the computer called Monkey)
Frog
Ape

and it will ask you which one you wish to replace.

You would choose Frog, click "okay" (or whatever) and Trend will now transfer the license from the old Frog to the new Frog.

In this way you could transfer a license from say Monkey to another computer called Gorilla. Or transfer the license owner from Fred Smith to Prince Foobar.

Of course you need to be connected to the internet while you do this because you will be communicating with the Trend Micro license database over the net.

It is really quite easy, and if you run into problems the Trend guys are very helpful.

The details of this vary a little from version to version, which confuses things a little.
TMIS 2007 (I think) would ask for the three computer names, Monkey, Frog and Ape, rather than TMIS 2008 which asks for the Owner Name first, i.e., Fred Smith, Frog and Ape.

Once when I ran into a license problem I phoned Trend, gave them my license number and they sorted it out over the phone quite quickly.
(One time they could not sort out the problem easily so they just issued me with a new license number over the phone.)

But basically if your license is paid up they are obliged to sort it out.

They want to sell their product, so they want their customers to be satisfied, so they are motivated to be helpful.

regards

[RealBlackStuff]

Wow, that was some reply!

The license is all legit and is valid till September 2009.
I'll have to ask the owner what names he has used.
I'm still waiting for the new HD, then I'll battle with TMIS.

Thanks ever so much for this extended explanation.

[jrmwalsh]

No problem.

I'll be interested to hear how you go with it.

But don't forget. If you run into problems, call the Trend help line. They should set you on the right track.

regards