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I recently upgraded NIS 2004 to 2005 and no matter how I configure the Internet access for the program "Microsoft Printer Spooler Service," NIS 2005 randomly notifies me, via the pop-up in the lower right corner of the display, that "Rules are automatically configured for the program: Microsoft Printer Spooler Service." In addition, this pop-up notification continues to pop up and down for at least a half a dozen times before it goes away. No error messages are involved, and no other program is affected.

It would appear to me that NIS 2005 does not recognize when the Microsoft Printer Spooler Program has firewall Internet access rules established. Thus, since it is a "safe" program, NIS 2005, automatically sets the rules, notifies me, does not recognize that the rules are set, so it sets them again, and the cycle is continued, over and over again until the Spooler program stops asking for Internet access. I guess that the apparent random nature of the occurrence of this cycle is correlated to the Spooler program requesting Internet access.

I have been communicating with Symantec India, but it is like wading through a lake of alligators in order to get at that kernel of truth. Any ideas? I'll even consider the elimination of the notification function provided it does not affect the error & risk notification functions.

Did you ever get a fix for this problem? I'm getting it too. Thanks,
Bob

thank god I found this thread.....

Im suffering from the same problem.

I have not yet found a solution. Surprisingly, the problem is occurring less frequently, but will not go away. I am living with it for now because the only help I have received from Symantec is to un-install/(safe)re-install NIS, which I prefer not to do at this time, and will do only as a last resort. I will post any solution I find.

Did you completely switch off the XP firewall?

I have the problem, and XPs firewall is disabled. The problem occurs no matter what setting you set for the spooler (and I mean any).

I echo guru101: The XP Firewall is off; no matter what program setting you have for the Microsoft Printer Spooler Program, NIS 2005 does not recognize the setting and, thus, continues to establish automatic access every time the program attempts to access the Internet, resulting in the incessant pop-up notifications. No other program is affected.

Found this, maybe helpful:

Thanks for the input.

I have two printers, Lexmark (default) and HP LaserJet. I was able to change from "spooling" to "print direct" for the HP LaserJet; I was not able to change for the Lexmark.

When attempting to change the Lexmark, a notice appeared: "Printer Properties: Printer settings could not be saved. Operation could not be completed." Also, every time I tried to make the change with the Lexmark, the same annoying notice from NIS regarding the printer spooler program access rules kept appearing.

I have switched the "default" to the HP LaserJet (which is now in "print direct"), and I will monitor events to see if this has any effect on canceling the NIS notice regarding the printer spooler program. I will post any changes I find.

Get rid of that Norton/Symantec crap.
If you want a package, check out Trend-Micro.
If you are happy with freeware, AVG7 from www.grisoft.com and Personal Firewall from www.kerio.com or the free version of Outpost from www.agnitum.com

The Printer Spooler Program pop-up returned, so I removed the Lexmark and continued with only the HP LaserJet, which was in "print direct" mode, and the NIS pop-up regarding the Printer Spooler Program continued to appear. So it looks like switching from "spooling" to "print direct" does not mask the "glitch" in NIS.

I have ZoneAlarm Firewall installed and running for some time now, and I have downloaded AVG for installation and evaluation, as I move to become less reliant on Symantec. Until then, I will continue to try to eliminate this annoyance.

I have been using Symantec Internet Security 2005 for 5 months and I have not had any problems until I installed a Lexmark All-in-One driver and software few days ago. After installation of the Lexmark Driver, I noticed the same pop up messages that you had. Since it was something new related with printers, I finally got the conclussion that it could be the Lexmark drivers and software. I also noticed that the Lexmark printer became my default printer. To test it, I just decided to make my other HP printer the deault. The problem was gone right away. I would suggest to verify if you removed completely any software or driver related to the Lexmark printer you had. Also, since the problem was with an All in one or multifunction machine, check if your HP printer is one of that type.

lol, I too have the Lexmark All-in-One driver and software..obviously related, maybe searching for an updated driver off Lexmark could solve the prob.

I will say this, there was an update for NIS today, and Ive not had a pop-up since...could be wishful thinking tho

For Garracrema: To my knowledge, I do not have an all-in-one driver. The printers on my PC are single function, Lexmark Z65 and HP LaserJet Series II, each with their own driver. However, considering the possibility that Lexmark may be a contributor to the problem, I uninstalled the Z65, and reinstalled the latest software/driver. During installation the pop-up appeared, but I have not seen it since.

For realblackstuff: Even after installing the latest Lexmark driver, I still am not able to switch from "spooling" to "print direct" for the Lexmark Z65.

For guru101: I also installed the latest NIS update today and I, also, shall wait to see if the pop-up's days are over.

I appreciate everyone's input.

Last ditch checkup: does the spoolsv.exe program have/want internet access in your firewall? Try giving it and/or try removing it from the firewall.

if you read thru the previous suggestions you'd have seen that this has already been done.

for the record, the latest update didnt solve my issue. going to uninstall NIS and try AVG/Zonealarm.

thx a bunch Symantec :unch:

First, the pop-up has returned with a vengeance.

Second, I have sent an e-mail to Lexmark regarding the inability to change from "spooling" to "print direct," and I will post whatever results I get.

Third, the NIS firewall has an automatic access procedure for programs it considers safe to allow them access to the Internet. You can also manually configure these "safe" programs to automatic access, deny, permit or remove. In the case of the Microsoft Printer Spooler Program, no matter what you set manually, the automatic access procedure either does not recognize the setting, or ignores the setting, and sets access to automatic. It then ignores or does not recognize that it, itself, has established the setting, resets it, and continually alerts you, via pop-up, of what it is doing. I have set the MPSP to every conceivable setting, to no avail.

However, in reviewing the firewall configuration program in NIS 2005 in order to reply to your request, I got an idea which may work. You can turn off the "automatic program control," which then requires you to manually configure any program which wants access to the Internet. Well, once you have operated for a reasonable period of time with the automatic program control on, your most commonly used "safe" programs will have requested and gained access to the Internet automatically. For programs not in the NIS safe list, but used frequently, you will have been notified by NIS when the program wanted access and you would have manually and permanently set the rules for Internet access. Consequently, since I installed NIS 2005 on 2/21/05, in the intervening 6+ weeks, I most likely have established access rules for most, if not all, of my programs which require access.

Consequently, I have 1) turned off the Automatic Program Control and 2) changed the Microsoft Printer Spooler Program access to "permit all" from "automatic." If this works, the only downside is that I will be notified by NIS when a program which does not have Internet access wants access, and I'll have to manually set the rules. As a last resort, with the Automatic Program Control off, I could remove the MPSP. But I do not want to do that until I learn more about the Lexmark situation (above). Whatever happens I'll post the results.

Is there any way you guys can only disable/uninstall the NIS firewall, and install a freebie instead, e.g. the free firewall version from www.sygate.com or www.agnitum.com or www.kerio.com or even the (resource-hogging) www.zonelabs.com

The experiment involving disabling the Automatic Program Control did not work. It reminded me of one definition of euphoria: "The period between the moment you had, and implemented an idea, and the moment you find out that your idea wasn't worth crap." What happened is that the MPSP popped-up and asked for manual configuration, which I provided, and then proceeded to pop-up over and over again, requiring me to take action with each pop-up, which is a worse situation than the automatic pop-up notification.

I finally found out how to remove the Lexmark from "spool" to "print direct," and I now have both the HP and the Lexmark in the "print direct" mode.

For now, I shall conduct business as usual with both printers in the "print direct" mode, the NIS 2005 Automatic Program Control enabled, and the MPSP set at "automatic." If and when the MPSP pop-up reappears, I will disable Automatic Program Control and remove MPSP from the Internet access list.

I will keep you posted. If this doesn't work, all I can think of is to uninstall and safe re-install NIS 2005. In any event, I have ZoneAlarm and AVG up and running as an alternative to NIS 2005, should I give up on Symantec.

I'll keep watching with interest m8

keep us updated, I'd like to see where this one goes....