Problem with Sygate

[#1]

I've used Sygate Personal (Free) firewall for several years with no problems - until i started using Plusnet. I find that on boot-up, Sygate often experiences a "Problem" and has to close, usually taking Dr. Watson with it. On re-boot, it may well perform perfectly.
Another problem i have is that i can access the Plusnet front page, but i can't access these forum pages, nor upload anything to my webspace unless i "Allow All" through Sygate. This does make me a bit nervous, even though i'm still behind the broadband firewall (set to "Low").
Does anyone have any suggestions please?

[#2]

Plusnet are so dumb that they keep sending me reminders about referrals. I would not recommend Plusnet to Al Quaeda let alone a friend.
Please remove me from your subscribers list as you are positively the very last ISP I would recommend, even to  y worst enemy.
Simply put your service SUCKS.
I am now with another service provider. For the same cost they;
1. Answer the telephone
2. Speed is 4x faster
3. It works at weekends
4. The staff are not rude
5. Do not spam your email
6. Have a spam filter that works.
In short. Plusnet I wish you and BT a speedy and deserved bankruptcy.

[#3]

If you would like your problem to be dealt with Stephen, I suggest you try contacting customer support, or PM a member of staff asking them for assistance - posting off-topic on someone elses thread isn't the best way of being seen.
@agedhippy
Are you sure this isn't a problem with Sygate Personal (i.e. a recent update?) I can't comment much as I don't use the package, but I'm sure someone more able to will be along shortly

[#4]

Quote from: MikeWhitehead

Are you sure this isn't a problem with Sygate Personal (i.e. a recent update?)

Any update would be old as Symantec killed SPF off when they bought out Sygate.
@agedhippy
Have you tried reinstalling SPF?
Also worth trying is to go into the application settings and delete the entry for IE and Explorer, letting Sygate reprompt next time round.
Depending on the size of your list, it may be worth deleting all the application rules and letting it reprompt for everything - see if that helps.

[#5]

@MikeWhitehead,
Thanks for the reply.
It's version 5.6, build 2808, and as dhookham says, no more Free Sygate - though it's still available elsewhere.
@dhookham,
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, i've reinstalled twice.
I deny access to Explorer, IE and the Generic Host process, and always have done.
Perhaps i'll just have to put up with it. After all, an occasional re-boot isn't the end of the world.

[#6]

Just a thought... are you using it on XP or Vista?
If it's consistently crashing on boot, it might be worth disabling all the startup entries and see if that resolves it. (Then add them back one-by-one to pin down the specific one)

[#7]

XP.
What startup entries, do you mean other processes that load?
I have StartupList somewhere....

[#8]

I used to use Sygate under Win98SE and it ran without any problems whatsoever but as soon as I changed to WinXP , I had no end of trouble with Sygate and after much fiddling around, I ended up binning it in favour of ZoneAlarm. I know that doesn't solve your problem but I feel sure that Sygate doesn't "like" WinXP for some reason (or vice versa).
Regards .....

[#9]

I ran Sygate on XP with no problems. I only ditched it because it doesn't like Vista and I needed to find something to replace it; and with Symantec killing it off, there was no hope of further updates.

[#10]

Not being exactly computer-savvy, i wasn't sure whether it would make any difference if i used a fast ethernet connection or USB, so i tested the broadband speed tonight with the following result:
13-09-2007 23:25:02 2383.2
13-09-2007 23:30:07  2412.5
13-09-2007 23:27:37  3216.8
13-09-2007 23:40:59  3223.1

The top two tests were with ethernet, the bottom ones with USB, although the ethernet is (in the tray) claiming to be connected at 100.0 Mbps, and the USB says 12.0 Mbps
A little later:
I've just re-booted without SPF crashing, and managed to up-load a couple of files to my webspace via the USB connection without having to set SPF to "Allow All".
It seems to be a problem with the fast ethernet connection. Perhaps i'll stick with USB....
Having typed the above lines into a text-processor, i try to come to this forum, and have to Allow All...... *shrug*

@ road-runner,
Is there a way with Zone Alarm to stop XP chatting to Microsoft whenever one connects? That's why i use SPF. My XP is legal, but i think it's intrusive and arrogant of Microsoft to do this.
@ dhookham
Having come from the world of the Amiga, and Linux, i've actually got to like XP.... i think i'll stick with it.

[#11]

Thank you all for your guidance and suggestions, i installed Zone Alarm last night, and all seems to be working well.
Thanks very much indeed.
Warmest Regards,
malcolm

[#12]

A slightly belated reply ...
But for anyone else with a similar problem and running Sygate V5.6, revert to V5.5. If this cures the problem, it is possible that you have encountered the well-known bug in V5.6 where it gets upset and crashes with a Dr Watson display if you do not have an enabled Ethernet port. The latter does not have  to be connected to anything - just enabled.