Trusteer Rapport problems [OT in uk.d-i-y]

[Roger Mills]

Anyone out there using this evil pernicious bit of software?

In case you haven't come across it, it is supposed to protect you when using on-line banking by warning you if you inadvertently enter your banking passwords into bogus sites, as used by phishing expeditions. It's often provided free by banks "for your own good". Mine was provided by Nationwide.

So far so good. Except that it uses a lot of system resources *and* embeds itself into the kernel of your OS - like a rootkit virus - making it difficult to get rid of.

I have had it installed on my (W7 32-bit SP1) system for a couple of years without too much ado *but* it has just updated itself (to v3.5.1205.20) and keeps crashing. Every time it crashes, it freezes my browser (Firefox) for a few seconds. Then it attempts to re-start every couple of minutes and crashes again . . .etc.

I decided that enough was enough and that its nuisance value exceeded its usefulness - so I tried to get rid of it. Nothing I have tried so far has worked. Although the application itself will not run, there are remnant processes and services still running, and these refuse to be stopped in Task Manager.

I've tried to uninstall the application in Control Panel/Programs and Features. It goes through the motions but doesn't *actually* uninstall.

I've tried doing it in Safe Mode but that can't find the Installer program to do the uninstalling.

I've tried restoring the system to a restore point prior to the update. Again it goes through the motions but then reports that it was unable to complete the restore - so nothing has been changed!

Anyone else had similar problems? Have you managed to sort it? If so, how?

TIA.

[Tim+]

Sorry, no. But thanks for the warning. ;-)

Tim

[Philip Herlihy]

+1

[Peter Taylor]

I suspect the only sure way would be to back up everything and reinstall Windows.

[RJH]

An utter world of pain when I tried using it a couple of years back on a Mac. Spent hours with bank and software support. Removed it.

Rob

[Dave-UK]

RBS foisted that crap on me a few years ago and I got so fed up with it leaving randomly-named folders everywhere I removed it. Maybe when you tried a system restore it screwed up the uninstall routine. Try re-installing it then uninstalling again.

[Mellowed]

Try Advanced Uninstaller Pro

(Free). After the basic uninstall it searches the Registry and other places to get rid of remnants. Don't know if it will fix the problem, but the price is right.

[Roger Mills]

Thanks - but unlikely. The restore attempt was my *final* act - it wouldn't uninstall *before* that.

[123Jim]

Try re-installing the program and then dropping to safe mode to remove it.

[R. C. White]

Hi, Roger.

Yes, I remember Rapport - and not fondly. :^{

One bank, BBVA Compass, provided that application free so I used it for perhaps a year, about 5 years ago. It was intrusive and created hassles with few benefits, so far as I could tell. As I recall, it took some effort to remove it, but I don't recall the details. I don't miss it!

Part of the reason I don't remember how I got rid of it is that I've upgraded my computer, both hardware and Windows - and Quicken - several times since then and those migrations might have completed the removal process for me.

RC

[Bill]

I installed it on an XP machine about 2 years ago, and found it slowed down Firefox, especially when using banking related services eg Paypal, and also caused FF to close suddenly and unexpectedly.

I asked on their forum, but had no response. I may have contacted them, but can't find any record of this now.

I lived with it for about a year till the end of 2011, then got annoyed, and removed it.

Unfortunately, I can't remember how, but I remember having to have 2 attempts before it was "gone". After this there was one service still running, visible in Autoruns (the SysInternals program), which I stopped some weeks or months later. I have just checked this old machine, and some folders and files are still there.

After the "removal" all the Firefox problems disappeared, so I assume the remaining service and folders didn't cause trouble.

There are a few removal methods listed on the Trusteer site, the basic method, via safe mode and via removal software that they send you. I can't find the removal software on the old machine, so I assume I didn't get as far as needing that.

I won't ever put it back, but my bank nags about it every time I log on.

[Roger Mills]

I'll give it a go - thanks.

[Ed Cryer]

HSBC are still pushing the stuff. They also have an online advisor; Ask Olivia.

It's worth a try asking the lass how to uninstall it.

Ed

[newshound]

My experience too, on PC (XP). I seemed to be able to remove it OK then. Santander are currently pestering me to reinstall.

[Ramsman]

Thanks for the warning. I'd already decided I probably didn't need it anyway.

Santander suggest I install it every time I log on. What's a good (i.e. bad) Spanish phrase for telling them to go away?

And the rate of interest on their savings accounts is crap.

[Tim Streater]

Mmmm. Another reason I'm glad I use a Mac. In any case, Safari automatically warns me if I'm going to a suspicious site and gives me the option of going there or not.

[Roger Mills]

Thanks. I had a go but all she said was:

"I know you're asking about trusteer rapport, but I'm not sure of your exact question. Please visit Trusteer Rapport for more information."

!!

[Chris Bartram]

I can say for sure it's a vile, useless resource hog.

[Mike Barnes]

Ramsman :

My Spanish is crap, but using Google Translate: "Su servicio es una porquería. Me gustaría cerrar todas mis cuentas inmediatamente".

You know it makes sense.

[Gene E. Bloch]

Just a couple of remarks, for what they're worth...

A couple of replies suggested reinstalling the software and then trying to uninstall it again, but you seemed skeptical.

That is often a good idea, in that, if your uninstaller has gotten messed up, reinstallation will set up the uninstaller properly - under normal circumstances.

I used to have Norton Antivirus. That is also very hard to uninstall, but at least Norton provides at their site a tool to uninstall its software. Perhaps Trusteer has something comparable.

Other than that, I hope you don't have to resort to a stick of dynamite.