Rosie's Reviews

By Sandra Rosenzweig
     
      Shavlik NetChk Protect
      Vigilance and freedom-for the right price
      A while ago, I switched my Microsoft Update application from automatic to off, cold turkey. Even though Microsoft now releases new patches every few weeks, and even though the Microsoft patches protected our networks from intrusion, I was concerned that Microsoft's update applet passed info about my computer (or my usage habits or my personal info, despite Microsoft's denials) on to the Big Boss. This is an even greater problem for lawyers, who must protect their clients' confidences "at every peril" to themselves. (I interpret California Business and Professions Code section 6068 (e)(1) to mean that you are obligated to do everything reasonable and within your power to patch, plug, and secure clients' facts and files. Nothing less.)
      This left me with the problem of getting those important security fixes and updates that don't automatically install anymore. My first work-around was to do a little research on the techie websites to see whether any of the patches cause other problems, then download only the necessary updates manually. That was before we all had to install a Microsoft-validation program to verify that our copies of Microsoft programs were legal. (If not, Microsoft wouldn't allow us to update.) And then Microsoft upped the ante and insisted I install its Genuine Advantage Update applet or I couldn't patch or update. Finally, Microsoft announced that Genuine Advantage would carry not only updates but free or special offers for other Microsoft products, supposedly available only to Genuine Advantage users. For example, several weeks ago Microsoft offered, for free, Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft Windows Defender (Beta2), Microsoft Carioca Rummy, and Media Center Karaoke Plug-in. For a fee Microsoft offered a local bonus pack worth up to $1,200 in products and services, Microsoft Office Outlook Live (at 28 percent off), and some MSN Games at half price. Feels just like another marketing push to me, but this time I'm tied to my chair while they flash this trash across my eyeballs.
      And then--cue the klieg lights--Brian Livingston, one of my primary sources for Microsoft patch info (www.windowssecrets. com), wrote two consecutive, rather techie reviews of Shavlik Technologies' NetChk Protect (www.shav lik.com), an alternative to Microsoft Update. The first piece described how powerful and effective Shavlik's programs are. The second review was prompted by Shavlik's announcement that it would distribute NetChk Protect free for the remainder of this year, with a promise of reasonable pricing when next year rolls around.
      NetChk Protect pulls in all Microsoft patches and updates (with no promise of a free dinner). If you set it to automatic, everything goes on behind your back, including patches to many non-Microsoft programs too, including Mozilla Firefox, Corel's WinZip, RealNetworks's RealPlayer, Adobe Acrobat, and Macromedia Flash (also an Adobe product now). Or, if you wish, you can "participate" by reading Shavlik's recommendations and choosing when and whether you need to install each patch. It also scans for, captures, and fixes spyware. Not bad for free.
      Once you set it up, it just works. Plus, it will install the patches on a single computer or on every system across your "domain" (they mean your network), all in the same session or one by one. Unfortunately, NetChk Protect suffers from TMI (too much information). Because Shavlik really is aiming this product at IT types, it provides the user with an overabundance of pie charts, lists, reports, bar graphs, and Fudgesicle words such as "remediate." (What's wrong with "fix"?)
      I'm not an IT person, and I don't need all that information all the time. The first time I started the program, I went into the Tools menu, then Options, and then I clicked on the Navigator choice. I unchecked most of the items included in the default display in the left-hand column (the Navigator). Then, in Options, I scrolled down to Scan, General, and unchecked View Executive Summary after Scans.
      Fine. Now I knew which updates and patches I needed. However, I still needed to deploy (install) those fixes. In the list shown in the Product Summary, I right-clicked on the computer (or group) I wanted to patch first, then clicked on Deploy Patches to [whichever computer], and then clicked on All Missing Patches. I adjusted the spyware-scanner settings to Remediate (i.e., undo spyware damage and terminate every spyware app with extreme prejudice). Also, I told it to quarantine anything NetChk Protect wants to imprison, and to remove temp files automatically and immediately. After that, all I needed to do was click on the Scan for Spyware button.
     

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