Unusual computer activity after Installing PSP X7

[mikerg]

Hi All,
I recently decided to take the plunge and upgrade my Paint Shop Pro v 8 to v X7. I know, maybe a little rash of me.

I am now wishing I hadn't..

The software and all the bits and pieces that came with it installed and worked fine.
The problem I have now is that my computer spends most of the time with the mouse pointer showing the busy icon, lights on my router look like a firework display and during these periods, when I move the mouse it moves in jerks.

I have since found out that during the installation, copy protection software is installed which for some reason connects to the internet regularly.
I have now uninstalled Paint shop Pro x7 and all that I thought it had installed but the problem still exists..

My PC is not a slouch, It's an I7 3.2GHz with 24Gb RAM and has always been very quick.

Does anyone have any ideas how to remove this undesirable takeover of my PC and return it to it's normal self.?

Thanks for reading.
~Mike~

[Kathy_9]

Sounds like you are describing Protexis Licensing Service. I must admit I've never experienced the "takeover" you described though.

You can disable it under Services and the display name is Corel License Validation Service V2, Powered by arvato. The file folder is located C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Protexis\License Service on my Win7 Pro PC.

[Ken Berry]

Can't you just do a System Restore? But like Kathy, I too have never had any problems at all, let alone of the type you describe, after installing any of my Corel products...

[JoeB]

Like the others, I do not find that this licensing service creates any issues on my computer and it's an older, less powerful model, and given the thousands of people using X7 without reporting this issue I'm inclined to believe that something else caused your issues, albeit it must have been reasonably concurrent with your installation of X7. I'd get the free Malwarebytes and run a complete system scan if I were you, because I suspect you have some type of malware present. I also suggest getting Hitman Pro and doing the same thing. Between the two of them you should get a good scan of various malware that may be present.

You should be able to reinstall X7 after you have gone through all of the scans and cleaned anything you find, because that program works for everybody else without these issues and you'll find that it's a great improvement in many ways over PSP8. JMHO.

EDIT: And I do not think that you can just disable the licensing process if you want to use PSP X7 because the program will not run without those processes running when PSP is launched. However, you can prevent PSP from checking for updates in Preferences I believe, and even block it from accessing the internet using your firewall's options. You can also block the Psi service from accessing the internet with your firewall (I just tested that and X7 still works), so it seems that the process just has to run, not necessarily be able toconnect to the internet. You might want to try that, although I can't see PSP being the cause of your issues.

And when you uninstalled PSPX7 did you use the uninstall tool provided near the top of this forum? That's the best way to do a clean uninstall.

[Kathy_9]

And I do not think that you can just disable the licensing process if you want to use PSP X7 because the program will not run without those processes running when PSP is launched.

I suggested this since the OP stated that he had already uninstalled X7.

FWIW when I viewed my Services to verify the display name of Protexis for the OP I noticed and was surprised to see that the service is disabled and X7 runs just fine.

[JoeB]

FWIW when I viewed my Services to verify the display name of Protexis for the OP I noticed and was surprised to see that the service is disabled and X7 runs just fine.

Funny.... I tried disabling it and then opened X7 and got a window saying that there my PSP was corrupted and to do a fresh install of the program. So I closed that window and re-enabled the service and then X7 ran just fine. But I was able to confirm that I could block the Psi service from accessing the internet with my firewall and the program still ran fine. But as the service doesn't seem to consume any resources to speak of I don't mind having it running, although I left it blocked with my firewall because I figure the fewer things trying to access the internet the better off I am, at least in terms of resources or slowdowns in operations. Maybe it's a system specific issue??

I usually block all programs that don't have a real need to do so from accessing the internet for that reason, and if I want to check for updates I can do that myself rather than getting prompts about available updates popping up all the time so I turn that off in programs also when I can find it.

[mikerg]

Thanks very much everyone for your useful replies.
I am very grateful for your assistance.

Kathy_9
Thanks for your advice;
I disabled the Protexis Licensing Services entries and deleted the files then shut down for the night. (See Below)

Ken Berry
System Restore would be a last ditch attempt. Non-PSP work that I have done on the PC since installing PSP x7 would be lost.

JoeB

And when you uninstalled PSPX7 did you use the uninstall tool provided near the top of this forum? That's the best way to do a clean uninstall.

No, I didn't, thanks for the suggestion.
I have run it this morning and it cleaned off another 5 files.

So far this morning, I have not seen the activity that I mentioned in my original post. If this remains the same all day it appears that something was amiss with the installation somewhere.


FYI;
I have been using PSP since the beginning when Jasc Software designed and sold it and Video Studio since Ulead owned it. I don't give up easily but have on occasion had problems like this one.
As mentioned by JoeB, these problems can be system specific or caused by driver clashes etc.

I run a full Malwarebytes scan and image backup every weekend. After this, I shall have another attempt at installing PSP x7 , making a restore point immediately before.

I shall post back here after the re-install.. hopefully with the good news that it all works fine

The fact that most people don't experience problems with Protexis doesn't mean that NO ONE does.
A Google search reveals many like;
- Slowed my pc down to the point that I cannot use
- The service can be a drag on system resources and slow down
- ProtexisLicensing service may make PC boots up slower
- and many, many more.

This is why I posted here to request advice and assistance from people experienced with the relevant software..

And you came up trumps THANK YOU VERY MUCH

~Mike~

[Ken Berry]

...Non-PSP work that I have done on the PC since installing PSP x7 would be lost.

No -- that is a misunderstanding of what Restore affects. It does NOT affect files created, either documents, images or other similar sorts of files. All Restore affects is exe type files i.e. any new programs installed after the Restore point. But NOT what is created by them. So work done i.e. files created -- since installing X7 would NOT be deleted with a Restore... I have done it so many times over the years and have only ever had to restore the few programs I might have installed after the Restore point, but never the files created thereby.