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rsrace2
Former Member
Message 1 of 47

One computer has consistent dat update problems

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I have several computers running on a Total Protection subscription.  Most are working fine.  One of my computers has consistently given me problems - it fails to update the virus DAT file on its own.  When the DAT gets old enough I get the error message that updates were not successful and I should check my internet connection.  Today I verified that all my other computers have downloaded DAT 6706.0 the current file.  However, even by selecting "update now" I cannot get the problem machine to update the DAT file (it still shows 6705.0 which I loaded yesterday with a reinstall of the virsus software).

Background on what I have tried:

1. Uninstalled McAfee Total Protection and reinstalled Total Protection from "Myaccount" using the download icon (the latest DAT loaded but the file fails to update from that moment forward - "computer is unprotected" a week or so later)

2. Uninstalled McAfee Total Protection and used McAfee Removal Tool to clean up old files and remnants; reinstalled Total Protection with same results

3. Ran McAfee Virtual Technician and had on-line chat with McAfee tech - he reset Internet Explorer to factory settings; the DAT updated once so we declared success but then updates failed in future days.  I have tried resetting IE again without success (repeating what the Tech did exactly)

4. Downloaded Malwarebytes and scanned for viruses which might be affecting the McAfee installation; removed Malwarebytes afterwards.  No viruses found.

There is an "unused Subscription" showing in my account for this machine and it is current/valid/paid.  However the machine with the problem NEVER shows as one of my protected computers even after a successful DAT download.  In other words, I always show one subscription available and my account with McAfee never recognizes this machine as protected.

I am on a solid internet connection (ethernet, T1 line) and all of the other working computers are using the same connection successfully.  There is no proxy server and I can connect to the internet just fine with this machine using Internet Explorer (which I understand is required for McAfee).

The machine is running Windows XP and has all the current updates, service packs, latest IE, JAVA, and Active-X is enabled.   There are no other virus, malware, or adware programs on the machine (the McAfee Tech validated this as well).  The only differences with this machine versus the others (some of which run XP and some Win-7) is that the machine was once part of a client-server system (versus connecting directly to the internet and LAN as it does now, it once had to go through an on-siteserver - I mention this in case there is something in the registry which I am missing) and this has a hyphen in its computer name (e.g. computer-name) which I can't believe would affect updates.

I am stumped why this one machine is giving me problems.  Any ideas on what to try next?

1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
rsrace2
Former Member
Message 45 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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I am declaring victory - most of a week and the updated DAT's are still coming through fine.  In case others are having the same problem, the final solution was to run the MSCPRXFIX.exe tool which seems to have fixed something related to the old proxy server settings (I am not currently running on a proxy or through an internal server of any kind but connect direct to a broadband connection - and I had absolutely no internet connection problems).  I still don't get why it worked but, as long as it did I guess I don't have to...it fixed something which no one can identify.

Here is the URL where the file is available through McAfee:

follow the instructions and the link on this FAQ page (all through McAfee sites)

http://service.mcafee.com/faqdocument.aspx?id=TS100291

Thanks again to the moderators!

View solution in original post

46 Replies
JaiPrakash
Former Member
Message 2 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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Hi,

Please let us know the below details ;

What is the operating system of the problematic PC?

Have you tried running MVT ? If not please run the same from here : http://mvt.mcafee.com and let it fix the issues found.

Regards,

rsrace2
Former Member
Message 3 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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The OS is XP as stated above - and it has all the latest Microsoft updates.

MVT has been run prior to contacting McAfee, without success at fixing the problem.

rsrace2
Former Member
Message 4 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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Re-ran MVT. 

3 problems detected - a registry entry, DAT out of date, and Site Advisor update required.  I tried to Fix All.  Registry fixed but still wouldn't update DAT.  I manually has Total Protection run an update - same results...still have a out of date DAT.

Re-ran (again) MVT with two errors - DAT out of date and Site Advisor update required.

Session numbers were 38896410 and '485.

Both times MVT opened Firefox to do updates.  I thought McAfee used Internet Explorer for its updates according to the Mcafee tech I had.  Perhaps related to Site Advisor?

So I still have the out of date DAT file with this machine.

jmckee
Contributor III
Message 5 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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I have seen a similar thing on my XP SP3 system. The DAT updates have been working fine all along , but just over a week ago ,  had 2 days in a row where the update seemed to be going OK , but the "Downloading updates" went on far too long and showed as "0% Completed". After 20 minutes or so , it changed to "Update Problem" and to check the internet connection (it was fine). After 2 days of that , the updates went fine until the last couple of days when it started again.

okanaganfan
Contributor II
Message 6 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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I'm another one with similar updating McAfee issues. Actually, have several issues and have had for months with McAfee causing computer woes. This will be brief as I've tried posting a reply here several minutes ago and, again, lost my connection along with the attempted post ... grrrrr

So, I am using a Dell computer with Windows XP Professional with Service Pack - all updates are current. Also using McAfee Internet Security program, and trying to keep that up to date ...

I've not added any hardware, nor software. I've used the McAfee Virtual Technician, a number of times, and it's been allowed to 'fix' the problem found, BUT, I later discovered that the problem had not been fixed. I've also contacted McAfee's technical help and allowed remote 'fixes' to be done via McAfee's chat. None have ended up solving the issues with my computer.

Just wanted to add another voice to this DAT file and updating issue regarding McAfee ...

Hope we have a patch for these issues soon, eh?

Take good care of yourselves,

Erin

Message was edited by: okanaganfan
Thought I should add this to my post, rather than creating a new one. So...
I just finished getting a pop-up notification that McAfee had installed another update. I checked this out thoroughly, there was no new update, again. At least this time it didn't take forever, and my CPU usage didn't go through the roof, as it usually does. on 5/11/12 7:47:23 PM PDT
Hayton
Reliable Contributor
Reliable Contributor
Message 7 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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There is a McAfee tool available which will be useful for checking that your connection to the servers providing the DAT updates is working okay. You can download it from here :

http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/McInfraTool.exe

I downloaded it and ran a test to see what it does. It checks the network connection all the way from your PC to the remote server holding the DAT updates, and reports any problems with the connection. Then it looks in the relevant McAfee log files for error messages relating to this problem. The output goes to a .txt log file.

That at least will tell you if the problem is external or internal. If it's internal it could be files/registry settings (which MVT should detect), or firewall problems (no idea what though), or (don't overlook this possibility) some malware preventing the updates from coming through. If you want to double-check for malware your best bet is something like the Microsoft Safety Scanner and/or Malwarebytes.

Message was edited by: Hayton on 12/05/12 06:39:25 IST
jmckee
Contributor III
Message 8 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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Ran MVT and all it indicated was wrong was that the DAT was out of date (naturally).  Ran the McInfraTool and got the following:

------------------------------------------------------

NSLOOKUP to download.mcafee.com

------------------------------------------------------

Server:  nstot.proxy.aol.com

Address:  205.188.146.145

Name:    a2047.x.akamai.net

Addresses:  149.174.245.7, 149.174.245.15, 149.174.245.14, 149.174.245.5

      149.174.245.13, 149.174.245.8, 149.174.245.23, 149.174.245.29, 149.174.245.16

Aliases:  download.mcafee.com, download.cdn.mcafee.com

      download.mcafee.com.edgesuite.net

------------------------------------------------------

NSLOOKUP to whoami.akamai.net

------------------------------------------------------

Server:  nstot.proxy.aol.com

Address:  205.188.146.145

Name:    whoami.akamai.net

Address:  64.12.118.23

------------------------------------------------------

NSLOOKUP to download.mcafee.com

------------------------------------------------------

Server:  nstot.proxy.aol.com

Address:  205.188.146.145

Name:    a2047.x.akamai.net

Addresses:  149.174.245.15, 149.174.245.13, 149.174.245.29, 149.174.245.16

      149.174.245.5, 149.174.245.8, 149.174.245.14, 149.174.245.23, 149.174.245.7

Aliases:  download.mcafee.com, download.cdn.mcafee.com

      download.mcafee.com.edgesuite.net

------------------------------------------------------

NSLOOKUP to whoami.akamai.net

------------------------------------------------------

Server:  nstot.proxy.aol.com

Address:  205.188.146.145

Name:    whoami.akamai.net

Address:  64.12.118.24

------------------------------------------------------

NSLOOKUP to download.mcafee.com

------------------------------------------------------

Server:  nstot.proxy.aol.com

Address:  205.188.146.145

Name:    a2047.x.akamai.net

Addresses:  149.174.245.5, 149.174.245.16, 149.174.245.14, 149.174.245.15

      149.174.245.23, 149.174.245.13, 149.174.245.8, 149.174.245.29, 149.174.245.7

Aliases:  download.mcafee.com, download.cdn.mcafee.com

      download.mcafee.com.edgesuite.net

------------------------------------------------------

NSLOOKUP to whoami.akamai.net

------------------------------------------------------

Server:  nstot.proxy.aol.com

Address:  205.188.146.145

Name:    whoami.akamai.net

Address:  64.12.118.24

Message was edited by: jmckee on 5/12/12 4:52:15 AM EDT
Peacekeeper
Message 9 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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I wonder if updating the dat manually would kick restart the updates

http://www.mcafee.com/apps/downloads/security-updates/security-updates.aspx

read the readme file. Use the superdat file only if you need to update the engine as well

I assume the net works Ok there has been an issue with no net after boot for some users recently.

jmckee
Contributor III
Message 10 of 47

Re: One computer has consistent dat update problems

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After 2 days of not being able to update and getting the "Update Problem" message , today it worked fine. Beginning to suspect the problem is on the McAfee end - most likely a server issue.

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