Join The LU1803 Club

Perhaps the only connection to helping seniors in today’s article is the fact that both my wife and I are seniors. It could have happened to anyone.

We both have 2004 vintage Norton anti-virus software installed on our respective computers, and both installations are the same build since I got them at the same time on a special (see previous articles for how I scrounge for bargains) rebate. Also we have the same operating system, and talk to each other through our LAN. Both machines are maintained by the same technician (me). Therefore I was surprised when she said her LiveUpdate had bombed. She got a notification that Norton had some anti-virus updates, but the LiveUpdate feature could not function and should be run again or reinstalled. That was odd. My machine had just recently completed a normal download of things from Norton with no problem.

That was my introduction the LU1803 error message. Why do things like this happen? One machine works well and the other bombs, but both are nearly identical. They suggested reinstalling LiveUpdate. That didn’t help. So I decided to reinstall the whole Norton package on her machine, but for those of you who have been there, this means un-installing it first, re-booting, installing etc. When I was all done, guess what? LU1803 was alive and well. So before going to their Web site, on impulse, I Googled on LU1803 and was not surprised to learn that enough other people had the same problem that we could easily form a large club. The consensus of how to fix it seemed to be to download a recent update to LiveUpdate itself. So I tried that, but her browser could not see the indicated Norton download site. Now I began to get paranoid. So back to my machine with the same commands. In moments I had downloaded the fix. My paranoia seemed to be justified. Something was different about her machine. I had to root around and find out what it was.

As those of you who have ever fixed or maintained a spouse’s computer know, one does not lightly do anything to a loved one’s computer, even when it is the right thing. Even when you know no harm can be done-don’t do it! This is the voice of experience.

Instead of going for the quick kill, I prudently installed the fix on my machine first even though nothing was wrong with my machine, and then tested it. Everything looked good. So I copied the fix to her machine and installed it. Within minutes she was looking good too. Since I was still paranoid, after the installation and download was complete (and the various re-boots waited through), I initiated a complete scan and was pleased that her machine showed clean even though that is what I expected because in the meanwhile I had a good idea of what was going on with the download problem.

Several items should be noted here. First, we both get a healthy dose of attacks on a regular basis since both of us are active on the net and attacks come with the territory. So my paranoia was not entirely mis-placed. Secondly, the paranoia level increased when she couldn’t see the download site. That was a mistake on my part. My machine is set up to deal with FTPs and she has never had a need to download from an FTP site. This is simply because I have a need to access more files in more places than she does. That might have been the issue. I haven’t returned to the scene of the crime to investigate her settings.

As to why my machine seemed to have the latest version of LiveUpdate already installed and hers did not, we can only speculate. A possible scenario is that it asked her for permission and she accidentally denied it. Maybe. But that does not explain all the other poor souls who have posted LU1803 cries for help. If only a few people have a problem, we can blame them, but if a lot of people have a problem, then we can also blame the system in which they find themselves.

The situation is similar to driving a car. If you cause an accident, then you are at fault, but if enough people have similar accidents, then you are not totally off the hook, but surely other elements of the system share the blame for your accident. While I like and use Symantec products, and there is the distinct possibility either my wife or I did something incorrectly, the evidence is that Symantec shares responsibility for the LU1803 problems.

Anyway, thinking about such things keeps me from carping on Microsoft. Both Symantec and Microsoft make good products, even excellent products. But that doesn’t mean they make the best products they could. In a similar vein, I grew up with the best telephone system in the world. That doesn’t mean it was good. It just means it was better than what was available elsewhere. And the service is better now. It’s better because telephones now have real serious competition. If your cell phone gives you the equivalent of a BSOD or an LU1803 error, then you can switch.

So we will stick with Norton simply because we have it and it works well most of the time, but I would surely feel better about it if things like the LU1803 did not happen.

For more in-depth tips on tutoring seniors, see the complete tutorial here. I also have posted a tutorial on elementary decision theory for those who might question a physician’s diagnosis (important for seniors) or anti-terrorist activities (important for everyone) but haven’t had the framework to analyze the data. That tutorial can be found here.