I have really liked using Comodo Firewall Pro 3 x64 the last few months. It has done it's job well for me. However my overall goal has been, that when finances allow, I would buy a different, hopefuly as equally functional software firewall as Comodo. I run Vista Home Basic x64 by the way.
But I've run into some troubles. First I uninstalled Comodo using my Total Uninstaller utility, which does a pretty good job of getting rid of all of the leftovers. After that I even did a manual check for leftover folders and files and I scanned my registry for leftovers using Registry Workshop.
I was very careful to remove only entries that I thought were safe, and yes I do know what I'm doing with the registry. Then I installed Outpost Firewall Pro triall x64, but am even having some problems with that now loading a certain file. I have written Agnitum about that. in the meantime I'm probably will go ahead and uninstall the Outpost until I hear from them.
Also, I just happened to check Device Manager, to see if everything was ok in there. It wasn't. Under Network Adapters, it shows my onboard VIA Rhine II ethernet installed and working just fine.
But under that are are five references to Comodo Firewall Miniport, each with a yellow exclamation mark on them.
I right-clicked and tried to uninstall them along with the driver, but nothing happened. They're still there. I even tried disabling them, but they're already disabled.There seems to be no way to get rid of them! I then went to your forums about removing Comodo and found this page about removing certain Comodo registry entries:
I had already done that, so all that was left was the legacy keys, and I found them easily. I tried to follow the instructions that's on the page about changing permissions in Legacy keys, but I obviously did something wrong because I could not delete them. What I did, like the thread says was change permission on each one of them to allow "Full Control" to Everyone.
Then I rebooted, like it said and made sure I was logged in as administrator, which I always am by default. Still I could not delete them.
Ok so now it's your turn!! How do I fix all of this?
I am having the same exact problem and did all the things you mentioned also, but still no good, have you found a way to remove Comodo completely yet? Please let me know and Thanks. Tom
I'll try to pass along to you what I did to totally get rid of Comodo, which I have learned though searching, other people have the same problems with. First let me tell you my theory on installing and uninstalling.
Before I do that, tell me what operating system you are using. That let's me know whether you have System Restore or not.
There are many techs who will tell you that it's ok to leave leftover uninstall entries from a program and that they really don't hurt anything. I disagree, but that's a whole other issue. Anyway I run a program called "Total Uninstall" when I add or remove a program. It gets rid of most everything in a very through manner: files, folders, registry entries etc.
The only thing about using it, is that you need to make it the first program you install, right after a reformat, so that as you install a program under the "Monitored Installations" module, you are then set to get a fairly clean uninstall of a program, should you eventually decide to remove it.
I mentioned System Restore to find out if you tried that to get rid of the leftover Comodo entries that way. I think I did, but still many files and entries remained. In that case you can always try to reinstall the program, then try uninstalling it again.
But many times that still does not work and a person is forced to go into the registry to remove them. I used to just go into regedit and try to remove as many of them as I could by doing a search for Comodo. However with regedit, you sometimes don't know what exact entries to delete. And if you delete the wrong one, you can render your system inoperable.
Luckily I found an excellent Registry management program called Registry Manager: Resplendence Software - Introduction. It is a very professional and sturdy program, that will help you get rid of everything! Once installed, all you do is open up the search module and make sure it's set to "text search", then type into the search box, something like Comodo.
Then it will do a scan and display all of the entries. Most of them you'll find easy to delete. But some are Legacy entries, which are harder to remove. But for that Registry Manager even provides a solution. You just double-click on that entry and it opens up another window, similar to regedit, that points to the stubborn key.
At that point you have to "take ownership" of that key and Registry manager provides a way to do that. All you do is right click and hit properties, then highlight each of the security names like Owner, Administrator and so on, then click "Take Ownership". After that, the entry will delete easily.
I already know some of the Comodo entries that you will have to delete somehow. They are cmdguard and cmdhelp. Plus there are others. This program is really invaluable, if you can afford it. And it even works on x64 bit, which is what I have.
If you can't afford to buy that, your going to have to go into regedit and try to remove the entries in there, but you are going to run into those Legacy keys, which are hard to delete until you take ownership of them and I'm not sure how to do that without the help of Registry Manager.
The most important thing to know is what exactly those leftover Comodo entries are affecting, if any. Like for me, it was all of the entries under my Network card in device manager.
So what exact problems are you having? Tell me more and we can go from there.
Hi Jan: Thanks for the reply, I had just reinstalled the OS and was placing my goodies back on the pc and the only trouble I am having with Comodo is the Comodo SafeSurf. I deleted everthing else (even in registry) and as I think you mentioned, I ran the comodo remove utility and it even stated that Comodo was completely removed, which it was not. When I try to download and install Adope Reader safe surf stops it from completely installing each time and That Comodo Safe Surf is (I believe) under a different name somewhere on my second computer. I did make a system restore point but it did no good.
The funny thing is, even if you shut down and remove comodo, safe surf stays.
That is my problem finding it and removing it? I tried a couple of registry tools, but still no good! Were you able to get rid of comodo Safe Surf? If so how? Thanks, Tom
First of all, you still need to tell me what operating system you are using. I like to get all of the particulars out of the way before I analyze a problem.
Also, I am not familiar with Comodo Safe surf but I believe it's part of the Comodo firewall, correct? So if you had Comodo firewall installed at one time, I can guarantee you there are still plenty of leftover registry entries left. For right now, go into regedit and look for cmdguard and cmdhelp and try to delete those.
Also, what is Adobe Reader safe surf and why do you want to install it? Before I go on, I would like to mention a alternative to Adobe Reader. It's called FoxIt Reader and it's a PDF reader, that's even better than Adobe Reader, but without all of the bloat and the hassle of updates. It is a paid for program though.
Ok now that I've said all of that, let's get back to the problem. It sounds like you still have Comodo leftover registry entries in your regedit and you will have to somehow get rid of them. They probably are conflicting with Adobe.
One other question. You mentioned something about a second computer. How is that related to your current problem?
By the way, you asked how I got rid of all Comodo entries. I think I mentioned that in my previous post to you. I did it all with the program Registry Manager. There was no other way really to get rid of them all, without help in regedit. So your probably going to have to purchase Registry Manager. In my opinion, that's the only way, you'll completely get rid of all Comodo entries
Hi Jan, yes comodo safe surf can be installed with the newest comodo firewall pro 3
I am using xp home edition and I have heard of Foxit reader, but it does not matter what reader if you have installed safesurf, it would still do the same thing and stop it from completing installation because it thinks it is attacking the computer. The people at comodo are great but they dont seem to know how to fix this, as I mentioned there registry tool was suppose to remove ALL of Comodo, but it did not work.
Yes you are right there are still registry entries that have to be deleted, I just found (thanks to your reply) 4 registry entries that I managed to remove that belong to comodo, they are Legacy_cmdagent, Legacy_cmdhlp, Legacy_cmdmon, and Legacy_cmdguard. At first none of them would delete, I had to get FULL permission control first then I was able to delete them. I will go on my other pc and try to install adobe or foxit again and see if it is still being stopped by comodo safe surf!
The reason I mentioned my second pc is, that is where I tried to install Adobe after installing comodo, it is my older pc, I got back in 2001
BTW, I use only Free stuff myself,
I will get back to you and let you know if deleting those four items did any good. If not I will have to really dig deep into the registry for that safe surf. Did I show you a picture of the Safe surf blocking adobe, if not take a look at this attachment. Thanks>>>
Jan: I just want to Thank You for these extra items to delete in the registry>>
Legacy_cmdagent, Legacy_cmdhlp, Legacy_cmdmon, and Legacy_cmdguard
One of them (I dont know which) was the culprit that kept comodo safe surf on my pc, BUT now it is gone and I was able to finally download Adobe Reader without interuption.
I sure would like to find out which one was associated with safe surf, I like to keep it in my Tip collection!
If you ever find out please let me know, I am going to look into it myself. Thanks again, Tom
