Weird Happenings with Microsoft Beta AntiSpy

[dragon wench]

I'm not sure if this belongs here on in SYM, so obviously, please move if needed

For the last couple of weeks I was having problems with my Microsoft Beta AntiSpy programme. Every time I tried to check for updates it told me it couldn't detect an internet connection... even though I was surfing and my Gmail notifier was working perfectly...

Since I have become fairly paranoid about security I figured it was unlikely that it was due to some kind of virus or spy infection, and probably had more to do with a setting... so I went poking into "internet options," and found no answers. Finally, I decided to just deinstall MS AntiSpyware and then reinstall it. But I still could not update... Even worse, after I did that, I actually did seem to be offline since my browser, email etc. would not work, despite the fact that all the buttons on my modem were flashing correctly and indicating an online status.

I decided to attempt the "tried and true," shutdown and restart routine. Lo and behold... not only did I get online, I was also able to update Microsoft Antispy....

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might have been going on?

[Rookierookie]

It's a Beta from Microsoft, what did you expect? Their release software is buggy enough as they are

[stramoski]

An astonishing number of programs require a reboot in order to uninstall properly... IIRC, the registry is loaded at boot time, and any changes made to it (like by the uninstaller) might not be applied yet... I usually reboot after (un)installing any new program, just so I'll know exactly what caused to the problem.

Now that might be the answer to one of your questions... Beyond that, I'd side with Rookierookie...

What is a firefoxer like yourself doing with MS Antispy, anyway ? Don't like the new name?

[dragon wench]

I know that a reboot is often required after uninstalling something
I basically just couldn't figure out why it wasn't detecting my working internet connection for a while..

The reason I'm using MS antispy, in addition to a variety of other programmes, is that I've become somewhat paranoid. A number of months ago I ended up (through others using IE on my computer ) with a lot of spyware and a couple of really nasty viruses. No matter what I did, I could not get rid of them, and in the process I lost a lot of personal and valuable material...
So now, I'm running an excessive amount of protection.