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Old Clients just.. gone.

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snk-nick, User (Posts: 59)
Jun 13, 2019 1:08:29 am EDT
A client I had running v6.8.0.1 had all their devices drop out of my viewer. Their servers and some desktops were all on v6.10.8.0 or later and remained without issue.

I connected via other means to find that all of them were gone without a trace, as though uninstalled. The users to not have that level of access and I checked out the Antivirus and other logs to verify that it wasn't removed by that.

What could cause this? As much as I'd love to keep everyone on the latest version, some customers of mine aren't online that often, or have the stand alone agent saved somewhere to open when needed. I update when I can but I also don't expect old versions to simply turn off without damn good reason.
Conrad Sallian, Support (Posts: 3041)
Jun 13, 2019 3:24:04 am EDT
Hello,

Thank you for your message.

If this is an older version this looks like antivirus software activity. There is simply no other reason for the program to just get wiped from the computer. Remote Utilities Host doesn't have any self-destruction mechanism (why would it).
snk-nick, User (Posts: 59)
Jun 13, 2019 3:27:33 am EDT
That was indeed my thoughts on the matter, however the AV console has no record of removing them and didn't remove any of the new versions. I manage the AV for my clients so if it HAD been removed I'd have been notified and there'd be a record. Definitely not the AV.

So yeah. I have no idea, but it's gone and the only thing different about it is that it's an older client. Newer versions on the same network with the same AV policy running are fine.
Conrad Sallian, Support (Posts: 3041)
Jun 13, 2019 3:30:23 am EDT
Hello,

Unfortunately, far too often in the past we saw that a/v software didn't bother to warn the user about actions it made.

What antivirus software is used?
snk-nick, User (Posts: 59)
Jun 13, 2019 6:50:16 am EDT
It's BitDefender, fully managed by me with all the exceptions added in. Shouldn't even be considering it a threat.

Either way I've gone and reinstalled the agents. A pain, but not much else to be done.

Would really like to see improved update features for customised installs. It gets a little old needing to recreate my MSI/EXE/Agent from scratch every update and then push the files out individually. The application really should be capable of updating itself automatically without losing settings.
Conrad Sallian, Support (Posts: 3041)
Jun 13, 2019 7:23:37 am EDT
Hello,

Would really like to see improved update features for customised installs. It gets a little old needing to recreate my MSI/EXE/Agent from scratch every update and then push the files out individually. The application really should be capable of updating itself automatically without losing settings.

You do not have to create another agent/host installer in order to update your installations unless you want to change some Host settings in addition to just updating the program itself.

You can use simple update procedure to update your hosts in one click.

Hope that helps.
snk-nick, User (Posts: 59)
Jun 13, 2019 7:25:04 am EDT
Hi Conrad.. last time I attempted to use the simple update feature, it completely wrecked the installation and had to be redone from scratch.

Has this been updated recently (last couple of releases) as I did actually contact you guys about it and you advised me not to use it.
Conrad Sallian, Support (Posts: 3041)
Jun 13, 2019 7:33:25 am EDT
Hello,

There were some issues - again not with the simple update itself and not even with the program itself but rather with how MSI works on a Windows computer. In the end we had to make some changes how Host installation works. Now Simple update should work ok when updating Hosts 6.10.8.0 to 6.10.9.0. However, these fixes do not work restrospectively, i.e. if you use Simple update to update your 6.8.0.1 Hosts there may still be issues.

However, even if you use Remote install tool or even manual update you don't have to build a custom installer just for the purpose of updating. Use the vanilla Host installer - in this case it will update the program files and leave your settings intact.
snk-nick, User (Posts: 59)
Jun 14, 2019 4:47:59 am EDT
No worries, I'll run some tests on the next update and see how it goes.

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