McAfee receives patent for "verifying" software installations

User Comments: 14

1. January 19, 2006 5:16 PM
   nathanskywalker said:
   [quote]"Proper software installation is an important aspect of a secure computing environment," said Christopher Bolin, chief technology officer of McAfee, in a prepared statement.[/quote]No kidding, and just one more reason to choose McAfee. that will make a very nice add-on.
   Reply
2. January 19, 2006 6:54 PM
   Kaleid said:
   I think the main objective is to "secure" moneyflow by stopping piracy. Forget about using no cracks for instance...the data doesn't check right? Well then you can't use the software.[Edited by Kaleid on 2006-01-19 19:43:20]
   Reply
3. January 19, 2006 7:56 PM
   MonkeyMan said:
   Hmmmm, this is great, it only improves the security features of McAfee. It only implies that McAfee is expanding thier software, and making significant improvements.
   Reply
4. January 19, 2006 8:40 PM
   paulwuzhere said:
   Always like McAfee, keep it up! and buy it. It keeps any system well maintained
   Reply
5. January 20, 2006 12:28 AM
   otmakus said:
   I think the software will only check if the installation checks with the database of a "good and proper" installation. It won't render the installed software unusable.I still agree with Real Black Stuff's opinion on McAfee though, it's a bit better than Norton, but there are lots and lots of better and cheaper (some even free) products out there.
   Reply
6. January 20, 2006 12:58 AM
   spike said:
   I still think Mcafee is a piece of rubbish. It's not hard to be better than norton. Being better than norton isn't enough to be a good product though.That said, some people just won't take telling. I recently gave my father an unattended install disk. I had it install a few programs, including spybot, adaware, rootkit revealer, process explorer, etc etc. I even did it so that it would reboot when finished, after copying an AVG and a Kerio installer to c:, and on restart would display a text file saying where they were, and why they should be installed.He STILL installed AOLs spyware thing and Mcafee. I guess some you just can't win.
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7. January 20, 2006 3:16 AM
   Nodsu said:
   I think everyone just missed the ball here. The news is not about McAfee coming up with a super invention. It is about yet another corporation getting a patent on something that is bleeding obvious and has been done before.Now, of course, if you dare create something even remotely similar to McAfee's "invention", you will be run over by a busful of corporate lawyers and if you are lucky, they will deman only 7-digit figures in compensation from you.
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8. January 20, 2006 8:12 AM
   Nic said:
   Software patents have gone far enough...only the lawyers make money. I hope Europe doesn't go ahead and introduce software patents as pretty soon it will be impossible to write any software without being sued by some company that already has a patent filed for some obscure sequence of keystrokes...
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9. January 20, 2006 10:08 AM
   Dave H said:
   Well I only been a member on this site for about 6mins and my question is problem is half answered. My son gave me an old computer for my studies but when i bought him it years ago it had windows 98 but he put on windows millenium. When i ran Mcafee it stated it detected i was using windows 98 but i am not i am on windows millenium. So the reason I joined this site was to ask why and how do i rectify. Sorry but dont know if i should of posted on different site
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10. January 20, 2006 11:48 AM
    Vaulden said:
    Dave H, I would post in the forums you can get some good help there.As for McAfee... well I haven't used thier products in 10+ years so I can't attest to them personally. But I've heard far too many comparisons to Norton which we use at my office and I detest. The idea that they have a patent on this bothers me. They are not the first to come up with such a method, but perhaps there is something that sets thier method apart from the rest? As long as the patent is specific enough that other can do similar independant work I don't have a problem with it... but if it was given to a vague idea problems could arise.
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11. January 20, 2006 1:42 PM
    PanicX said:
    I doubt this patent would stand up to a court ruling. Software Installers/Uninstallers have been doing this sort of thing for years. You could argue that even CRC and Checksums violate this patent.
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12. January 20, 2006 1:43 PM
    vigilante said:
    The idea sounds good. But isn't that the function of any program claiming to monitor and manage software installs? Like even Nortons own installer/uninstaller?I would think this couldn't work that well, as a lot of programs update themselves and download new files. So the original install is nothing like the current one.I agree with Nodsu on this one.
    Reply
13. January 20, 2006 9:35 PM
    DragonMaster said:
    [quote]Software patents have gone far enough...only the lawyers make money. I hope Europe doesn't go ahead and introduce software patents as pretty soon it will be impossible to write any software without being sued by some company that already has a patent filed for some obscure sequence of keystrokes...[/quote][quote] I doubt this patent would stand up to a court ruling. Software Installers/Uninstallers have been doing this sort of thing for years. You could argue that even CRC and Checksums violate this patent. [/quote]Yes, this feature existed for a lot of time and if the software patent is introduced, sorry, but there will be no more software. Hey, what if I patent installers just to point out that patents are completely ridiculous? The patent system itself is dumb. There are so much patents now that it's impossible to build anything hardware also. Hey, what if I patent switches? Connectors? Wires? Everything? IMO, patents are just a piece of c***. I think the original intention was for people with bad intentions to copy the ideas from other but what if you re-invented it without knowing it?
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14. January 22, 2006 6:31 PM
    AeonXX said:
    I can see this technology giving off a lot of false alarms, so I wouldn’t want it on my system or any system that I may intend to work on. I used Norton Anti-Virus in the past, and I am never looking back. I have witnessed McAfee Security Center, and I don’t want that kind of software on my system either. It’s bulky, extremely invasive, and it makes itself known a little too often. I’m currently using Nod32, and I’m very pleased with it. It’s fairly light-weight, it runs in the background, and only shows itself when there is a real security threat. As for the patent itself, I think it’s just another way for McAfee to make money by suing other companies with similar technology, and to draw in more customers by saying, “Look at this patented technology that only McAfee has!”
    Reply

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