"Security Alert" window

  • Thread starter Thread starter William B. Lurie
  • Start date Start date
W

William B. Lurie

One of my XP systems just upgraded to SP2----
Now comes to Desktop with a big superimposed
window entitled "Security Alert"......but the
window is empty, and refuses to close by any means
I am familiar with. Is this window generated by
SP2 somenow, and if so, how do I (first) close
it, and (second) stop it from showing up at all?

One usual method of closing a window is to click
the "close" or "cancel" button it contains....
this one leads sometimes to another window referring
to a file "center_failed.html" which, when closing,
leads back to "Security Alert"......

Thank you.
 
Thank you, eagle. I'm a bit at a loss as to how to
follow your advice. Weatherbug, I thought, was a
new addition to AIM, and I allow it, and it does
not disturb my SP1 systems. It does not pop up in
the SP2 upgraded system. And to get the SP2 system
installed and running, I'm using Selective Startup
with only System Services so I wonder if your diagnosis
addresses my problem. Could you be more specific?
W B L
 
Okay, eag..... I had spybot, ran it, it did
not detect Weatherbug. I did find it in Add/
Remove programs and removed it from there.
The problem,however, is not on this main XP
which is still SP1 and will not be updated to
SP2 until I get a drive working with SP2 and no
shenanigans. Like that "Security Alert" window
that I'm waiting for somebody (MVP?) to tell
me what it is, and how to close it.
WBL
 
Hi William,

I removed Weatherbug not only for the spyware that started showing up, but
also for the bandwidth it uses. It is a neat program, though. It has been
around a long time and if it is part of AIM it would be a very recent
acquisition.

Colin
 
Hi, Colin. I could be wrong about Weatherbug as part of latest AIM.
It only showed on my system, however, after I updated to the latest
version of AIM. I don't think I asked for it at all, and I'll do
without it until all other problem go away. (For me that's probably never).

Now that "Security Alert" window. I did some detective work and I'm
pretty sure it is part of the improved security that SP2 gives. I
found in Windows Task Manager two programs running when that
obtrusive window showed.....symwscno.exe and wscntfy.exe ......
Killing the second one killed the window but it wandered back after
15 seconds or so. Killing the first mentioned, it stayed gone. The
next clue is that I found two icons in my try at bottom right,
which opened up to "Windows security alerts", and told me that I
have the firewall not operating (as was my choice) and that my
Norton Anti-Virus is not enabled (also my choice until I'm ready
to go online). So all in all, I think it's a Windows+SP2 problem,
and while I don't like to call it a "bug", I don't know what else
to call a window that SP2 created that I have no way to close.

I have attached a screen shot of that window, by the way.

Maybe with that comment, one of the MVPs will care to step in.....
if they read down this far.

Bill L.
 
Normal behavior based on my system is that only one security alert shield
should appear and the balloon will include both the firewall off and
anti-virus off messages. I have seen duplicate tray icons for several
programs that follow some activity, but moving the mouse over one of them
causes it to vanish.
 
That makes sense, Colin. Maybe I had two because
I clicked several times and places to try to close
out the window. I mean, the window that was *empty*
and refused to be closed, I classify as a bug or malfunction.
 
The Security Center, Pest Patrol, and Virtual PC will put a new copy of
their icons at the left end of the line in the Notification Area on my
system if I invoke their respective programs from the Start menu. The
original one turns out to be the phantom. If I invoke them by right
clicking on the tray icon it does not happen. Other programs that have tray
icons don't seem to care how I invoke them.
 
My partial correction of the problem, of two days ago,
was not the solution. It may still be some interaction
between the Windows Firewall (which is off) and
Norton's NSW/Anti-Virus. In any case, ccapp.exe could
still be the root cause but Symantec (surprise!) will
not address the problem.

The question remains unanswered, as to how to close
an obtrusive open window which is empty except for its
identification at top, reading "Security Alert"....not
Windows Security Center....and in its upper left corner,
a symbol which might identify its source, like 2 dampled
sine wave cycles or just wiggles. This is satrictly an
SP2 problem. Further comments welcome.....
 
Colin said:
Hi William,

I removed Weatherbug not only for the spyware that started showing up,
but
also for the bandwidth it uses. It is a neat program, though. It has
been
around a long time and if it is part of AIM it would be a very recent
acquisition.


Hey all- just wanted to correct 2 things- WeatherBug is ABSOLUTELY not
spyware and we are not a bandwidth hog.

First, I just got back from NetWorld/Interop show in vegas where a lot
of IT guys tested our program and found out that it uses absolutely
minimal bandwidth- a 3rd party lab verified for our current version the
following:
The bandwidth consumption is:
Foreground first 1 minute: up to 10kb/sec
Foreground after 1 minute or Background: 39bits/sec.
All the background and branding images are cached. If the user clicks
on a Tab, it will load tiny Web pages and ads may rotate, this may
increase the bandwidth in the short term, but after that it will use
the same bandwidth as described above.
Since most of the users bring WeatherBug to the foreground for only a
short time, it should not cause any bandwidth issues with the network.

As for the spyware thing- it is 100% false. Let's forget the fact
that we wouldn't get within 10 miles of InterOp with 18,000 IT pros
if we had anything to do with spyware....here are some additional
facts:
For the record, spyware tracks web surfing activity and sometimes
reads what is on the user’s hard drive. WeatherBug is not capable of
tracking your overall web use or deciphering anything on your hard
drive.

I am not aware of a single spyware detector that lists us- even
incorrectly- and my team and I test 30-40 of them EVERY SINGLE week.
1 or 2 of those 40 DO call us adware but they are going to be removing
us- Norton started this misidentification about 3-4 months ago when
they changed their definition of adware but we met with them and they
should be chaning this. We serve NO Pop ads, and don't serve ads
based on where you surf or send data to 3rd parties to serve ads.

WeatherBug owns and operates the world’s largest network of weather
stations and is one of the top 10 Internet properties in daily reach
according to Media Metrix.

Our data is:
- viewed by over 80 million households a month, both on-line and
off-line
- accessible to The Department of Homeland Security for live,
real-time plume modeling and weather data, in the event of an attack
on our country, as well as having weather stations at 15 Coast Guard
stations, the US Naval Academy, Quantico Marine Base and USAF
Academy
- used by dozens of city, county and state emergency managers in
assessing the impact of current weather conditions on hazardous
situations and natural disasters,
- in 8,000 schools across the US, helping teach math, science and
geography, along with our WeatherBug curriculum which won a
Smithsonian Laureate and was selected by Media & Methods Magazine as
2002’s “Education Technology of the Year,”
- used by meteorologists at over 100 TV stations to bring
“neighborhood” weather forecasts and conditions to communities every
day.

NONE of those folks above, especially the military, would get
anywhere near us if we were what some of the rumors say we are.

Thanks for giving me a chance to reply and clear up any
misconceptions. you can write me directly at (e-mail address removed) if
you have any questions.

Thanks!
Jay Hoffman
WeatherBug Customer Support Manager
Click to expand...
 
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