Conquering Anti-IMC Software?

typochondriac · #1 02-05-2009, 01:52 AM

I'm so sorry if this is the wrong forum (still a bit of a noob, you see).
I didn't really see an "Ask a Software Guru" forum and it seems others
have brought software-related issues here, so...

The thing is, the laptop I've been using for the last couple of months
(a Dell, Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU, running Windows XP Pro) isn't
actually my laptop - I'm borrowing it until I can replace my crashed
laptop with a brand new MacBook (yay!). This machine was given to
my dear dad by his place of business to replace his laptop.

Although this computer doesn't serve as a business tool, it was issued
by his business and is therefore protected by Sophos Anti-Virus and the
powers that be have chosen to block all IM clients from their work-issued
machines. Gotta love a company that installs Windows XP Pro and denies
its employees the right to use one of its most useful programs: WLM.

Aaaanyway (man, this is long-winded), I want to be able to use Xfire.
I've spent a considerable amount of time in various forums,.searching
for any way at all around the Sophos IMC block (as Xfire is, essentially,
an IMC), but all suggestions so far have fallen short. I've tried simply
disabling Sophos through the configuration menu, but WLM and Xfire still
won't open and the items are still sent immediately to quarantine. Sophos
seems to be controlled quite liberally by me, but I'm unable to authorize
any IMCs quarantined & they don't appear on the blocked programs list.

I can't uninstall Sophos, as it isn't my computer and I have no idea what
my father intends to do with it once I've given it back to him. What I'm
wondering is if there's a way (and a god) to bypass the block without
removing the program completely. This is driving me crazy.

Does anyone here have any ideas? Is there anything that can be done?

-Molly Jean

koji042 · #2 02-05-2009, 02:05 AM

http://www.sophos.com/security/analy...ons/xfire.html

Maybe that link above might give you an idea about how to bypass the IMC block (the part about re-authorizing)?

Hope it helps.

typochondriac · #3 02-05-2009, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koji042

http://www.sophos.com/security/analy...ons/xfire.html

Maybe that link above might give you an idea about how to bypass the IMC block (the part about re-authorizing)?

Hope it helps.

Heh... Yeah, I can't re-authorize. I've already tried.
For some reason, Sophos won't let me authorize IMCs.

I guess the problem is that it isn't simply a blocked application,
it's a controlled application. I hadn't made that distinction until
I'd visited this page... Thanks very much for linking me there!

I s'pose my new question is: Is there any way to bypass a
controlled application within Sophos?

I'm thinking there probably isn't.

Grrr....

koji042 · #4 02-05-2009, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by typochondriac

Heh... Yeah, I can't re-authorize. I've already tried.
For some reason, Sophos won't let me authorize IMCs.

I guess the problem is that it isn't simply a blocked application,
it's a controlled application. I hadn't made that distinction until
I'd visited this page... Thanks very much for linking me there!

I s'pose my new question is: Is there any way to bypass a
controlled application within Sophos?

I'm thinking there probably isn't.

Grrr....

Here's another link: http://www.sophos.com/support/knowle...cle/17142.html

From what I got from skimming through it, the administrator at your dad's work probably disabled the application to avoid any distractions.

Unless you can get the administrator to allow it, you're probably out of luck.

typochondriac · #5 02-05-2009, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koji042

Unless you can get the administrator to allow it, you're probably out of luck.

Yeah... it does begin to look that way...

Thanks so much for all your help!

At least now I know it can't be helped!

Me =

KaimerasPain · #6 02-05-2009, 06:03 PM

Just a thought here, but I ran into this issue with a work laptop and it worked for me.

I downloaded RegCleaner 4.3.0.780 and loaded it. Once it was loaded, I hopped into safe mode, ran RegCleaner, went to the startup items tab and removed anything "AV" related. If the app cant kick off, you cant be locked out!

Only issue here, is it may load before you are actually in the OS, or its set in a GP to force it. That and you may get in a little trouble for stopping the app from launching..... then again, when your done, you can always drag the .exe to the start up folder-

Without actually messing up the app, I dont see any other way of getting around it.

Kaimera-

rabb1t · #7 02-06-2009, 12:41 AM

My only suggestions, and I'd guess this isn't possible would be...

- Create a partition and reinstall everything you want into that partition. (I don't know if you can do that without reformatting the entire disk. Never done it.)

- Create a new user profile where said program does not load. (Again, I don't think you'd be able to do this, as there is likely an administrator login with full rights and your dad's is limited and wouldn't be allowed to created new users.)

I'm guessing that your dad works at one of the places where the laptop is considered the companies property and your dad isn't supposed to be installing anything which isn't work related.

I think there were some cases recently where people had personal stuff installed and they were let go and the company effectively said 'nope, too bad, you can't have any of it back because the laptop was our property and you weren't supposed to be using it for personal stuff.'

I take it you can't just temporarily disable the program? Most anti-viruses let you do that.

Dasturminata · #8 02-23-2009, 08:38 PM

You could try buying a new hard drive, remove your fathers HDD, replace with the new one, Install Windows. Then when your dad has to give the laptop back just slot the original HDD back in. Downside is the cost of a new HDD and a copy of XP.

rabb1t · #9 02-24-2009, 12:19 AM

One option, but most laptops aren't exactly 'hot swappable'. I've never owned a laptop, but what I've heard/seen of HD changes is that it would take a while. (Not long, but you certainly wouldn't want to be doing it over and over if the dad used it for business.)

I'd actually recommend just conning dad into getting you yer own laptop. If you don't need anything super powerful you could consider a netbook, like the Asus 1000HE at $375 (do bounce it up to 2 gig though, about $25 more) or the Asus N10J-A1 currently $700, but usually around $650, again, bounce it up to 2 gig. Netbooks get you half the weight and double the batery life of regular netbooks at the cost of higher resolution. (The screens are 1024x600.) The 1000HE isn't really gaming capable, but people do play on them (just search youtube and you can find several examples). The N10J isn't amazing, but seems to do just fine with current games if you don't mind lower settings (and obviously the lower res). For most student peeps a netbook is far more attractive than a full laptop if you have a home base to go back to and do the majority of your work on.