Installation of eScan Anti-Virus

We installed a trail version of eScan Total Security for Business Anti-Virus on 3 client computers about a month ago. We informed the customer that they should enjoy the free 30-day trial version and we would provide license keys at the end of the 30 -day period.

We got the license keys from eScan and planned to go to the client to update the license from trial to a full one-year valid anti-virus protection. The customer was happy that I had come to complete the job. They provided 2 out of the 3 laptops to me to begin the update.

I powered on the first laptops and when i opened the eScan application to insert the keys manually, I noticed that but the feature ‘License Information’ was disabled. I tried many means of resolving this by clicking on one feature to another but it still didn’t work out, so I reported this situation to eScan TAC Support.

They decided to take remote control of the PC. TeamViewer access was given to the tech I spoke to. It took him two to three minutes moving the mouse cursor from one feature to another then later informed me that since the trial period was over for some time the license cannot be updated, and that the AV would have to be uninstalled completely and a new AV would have to be downloaded and installed.

A link was sent to download; They sent a different version of eScan (Total Security Solution for Windows). We downloaded and copied the setup file of the application on a USB drive, uninstalled the AV from the control panel and restarted the laptop. The installation ran smooth and the license keys were accepted which shows 1-year validation period. A full system scan was carried out on the laptop and turned over to the end user.

I moved out to the next laptop. I did not uninstall the old AV app instead used the new setup to detect and uninstall. During this process, the laptop shutdown by itself due to low battery. The end user brought the power adaptor and connected it to the laptop. I then powered it on but the old setup was not showing in the control panel. I ran the new setup file but it kept prompting to uninstall old app. I restarted the laptop again but still it didn’t work. We could not get the old app to completely uninstall from the computer.

We then checked the app directories to see if there any patches of the old app left. A few patches were found in the system, in application folder.

We tried several ideas to uninstall the AV but were unsuccessful. There was no solution found online as well.

Then we decided to use the Windows Command Prompt which is last option for resolving Windows issues sometimes. Here are the few steps shown below that was used to solve this issue.

Opened Windows CMD by administrator by typing 'Windows key +R.'

Typed ‘dir’ and hit 'enter'. This allows you to see all installed app in the system.

Typed ‘escan’ and 'enter'

Typed unis000.exe and hit 'enter'

The uninstallation progress was displayed and gradually the remaining patches were successfully uninstalled. We then installed the downloaded eScan Total Security for Windows, and activated the license keys.

I was glad that the customer had that patience to wait and see the installation ending with success. 

This was tested and was working well after running full system scan in the customer’s midst.

They have informed me that their other colleague will be back anytime soon to have the 3rd PC activated. I can clearly say the other PC will take me less than two minutes from this experience I had.

Another happy NATC customer! Another day of learning and improving our knowledge base!

Daniel Collins 

QuickBooks Enterprise 17 installation error due to lack of important Windows Updates.

While a on a maintenance visit to one of our clients in Buchanan, 3 laptops were delivered to us from another client, Population Services International (PSI) for installation of:

1. Microsoft office
2. QuickBooks Enterprise Solution 17.0 
3. and other software

My colleague managed to install the MS Office and other software on the laptops except for QuickBooks. According to him, he tried several times, but the installation keeps giving an error message. He quickly messaged me about what was unfolding on our WhatsApp channel. I requested him to give me full access to the laptop via TeamViewer connection. Disabling the anti-virus and other security features still didn’t help us out.

Due to insufficient time and bad internet connection from my end, we had to inform the customer and escalated the job until my return. I got back Monrovia on a weekend with a lot of research on resolving this issue.  I powered on both laptops to run a system check and know if the system meets the requirement to have QuickBooks installed. The result showed that the RAMs, Hard Drive, Operation System, BIOS, Video card and others were okay for installation.

I copied the QuickBooks software from one of the client’s laptops to a USB drive to run a test on my computer and it ran very smoothly on my PC. But there was one thing I noticed during the installation process which was the Microsoft NET Framework 4.6 and 4.7. 

This important update was lacking from the many Microsoft Updates downloaded on the client’s PCs as NET Framework is a software development platform developed by Microsoft to create applications and support web services. I became more concerned as to why Windows wouldn’t download such an important update. Than I discovered that the Operation System installed on these PCs were counterfeit and not a genuine copy of windows instead. 

My mind ran back to one of the days where we had an issue with a counterfeit Windows installed on a customer PC when they brought it in to do a hardware repair. The moment the customer received the PC in a few days he said the PC was giving pop up notification of counterfeit Windows and blamed it on the repairs we did. 

But in this case, there’s no notification or pop up message to display. Even if you check the System properties it shows ‘Windows Activated’. 

There are lots of software tool available on the internet to crack Windows OS, Office suites and other applications. But the good thing I have learned and like about Microsoft is that you may use your crack software on any of their products but once it gets on the internet, Microsoft automatically recognizes or detects the counterfeit or pirated copy you are using and blocks all important updates to it. 

This leads you to future problems until the right thing is done and this is what our client's problem was.

I backed up all the data from the Client’s PC and an external HDD and pulled out a CD from one of our many Windows Operating Systems. To be specific, Windows 10 Pro. A fresh installation of Windows 10 Pro was installed including MS 2016 office suites, and a transfer of all data from the external HDD back to the PCs with all important updates downloaded and installed; giving these laptops a new life once again.

Early Monday morning I took the 2 laptops to the customer site. I ran the QuickBooks Enterprise version 17 on the laptops with a successful installation. I mapped the QuickBooks server data drive on each PC to locate the data files for backup. The end-user could work in their respective departments using his/her username and password to have access since it was configured on a multiple user mood

So, Windows 10 Pro Activated did the trick. It could be any edition of Microsoft Windows Operating Systems - reach out to New Africa Technology Company for genuine licensed copy of software to safe yourself the stress of future problems.

Prepared by:

Daniel Collins

New Africa Technology Company

Upgrading a Windows 2008 Server to 2012 R2 Standard

We have a client, Population Services International Liberia (PSI). All of their ICT infrastructure is being managed by us as a consultant.

There’s a file sharing server (HP ProLiant Server T620) that has been configured and setup for years running Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard. Last week, I was forced to upgrade the (OS) Operating System to Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard for below reasons.

I have had issues with RAM failure twice in the past and the RAM was replaced.

A monthly preventive ICT maintenance is also carried out on all their IT equipment including Anti-virus full system scan, defragmentation of disk space, deleting temporary internet files, Windows updates, checking all wireless access points, switches & routers, making sure everyone is seamlessly browsing the internet and system backups in case of disaster recovery or any other future problems.

One morning, I was just back in office from one of our clients sub office out of Monrovia, Sanniquillie Nimba County and doing the routine checks. I got an email request from PSI to creating new users and access to the said file sharing server. To be specific, Human Resource Department folder. I quickly arranged my tools and left for their site.

I typed in the administrative password for the server and got an incorrect password warning over and over. I couldn’t believe it because even if you woke me up at night I could read it out loud. I phoned the guy who’s in charge of the server room keys and whom I relate every sensitive information including Wi-Fi password, desktop administrative passwords, including the server just in case I am unable to get there on time due to emergency if he made any changes on the server password. He responded that yes he did, but can’t remember where he place it neither remember. I was so frustrated that why would he make changes without securing a system password or sharing it with me. I had no alternative but to get Windows Server 2012 software in resetting my password. Now if you don’t have this idea you will end up running a fresh installation, structuring files, configuring Active Directory, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), and creating all users over. This would have been more than a pain.

These steps are very easy and simple to follow once you have your software installation disk or USB available. (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard)

·      Boot from you Microsoft Windows Server 2012 DVD

·      From the Windows Setup menu, Click “Next’’.

·      Select “repair Your computer’’

·      Under Choose and option, click on “Troubleshoot”.

·      Under Advance option, click “Command Prompt”.

At the command prompt, run the following commands:

• d: and hit enter
• cd windows\system32 and hit enter
• ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.old and hit enter
• copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe

·      Close the command prompt and click “Continue.”

·     The server should boot and display a logon screen. In this case you only hold Windows Key + U.

·     At the prompt you can now change the password you wish by entering the following commands:

net user administrator ‘’Adm1n1str8t1ve” for example.

Close the command prompt, you will now be able to log back onto the server using the password you entered in the command prompt. Once you verified that you can log on to the server. That’s really cool. You still need to repeat the steps in getting to the command prompt by restarting the server and running these commands:

          · d: and hit enter

          · cd windows\system32, and hit enter

          · ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.new, and hit enter

          · copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe

Here are photos of my password reset. The server is now running without causing any inconvenience to our customers.

Reach out for NATC for all your IT needs and support!

Prepared by:

Daniel W. Collins

Senior IT Technician

New Africa Technology Company (NATC)

Computer Crashes When Installing/Scanning Anti-Virus Software 👨‍💻

A week ago, I was finally successful in downloading the Kaspersky 10 for Windows from the right link to install on the organization's (Population Services International) PSI, laptops and desktops.

An anti-virus program crashing during scan adds insult to injury: When I was already trying to do right by removing malware infections from client computer. 

There are few stand-out causes for crashing during a virus scan; while the crash may be related to a problem with the anti-virus program itself, the anti-virus program could be triggering or aggravating another existing system problem to cause crashes. However, frequent system crashes are a symptom of malware infection. Instability within the anti-virus program itself can take down the system. Malware infections can embed themselves within program code and cause programs, including anti-virus software, to malfunction. 

The anti-virus program may also be unstable because of damaged code: update errors and disk corruption can alter parts of the anti-virus program and trigger crashes. The program may also crash the system if you're running more than one anti-virus program at a time since they can attack each other, causing system stability problems and degraded protection and that was just what I experience. 

Due to the delay in getting the right link for their AV software, the users went about downloading free and fake antivirus from the internet on their machines that had me going through a lot of stress. I was able to complete the scan by removing crash-causing elements. 

Before running the scan, restart the computer and enter "Safe Mode with Networking" by holding "Shift" while selecting "Restart" from the sign-in screen power icon. Safe Mode with Networking disables any non-essential functions, which may remove the crash cause and allow the anti-virus program to complete the scan. 

You may be able to fix other crash causes by running Wise Registry Cleaner, Chkdsk or a Windows Refresh Install. With the above method used, I was able to get the machines up and running again. This is some of the everyday problems I face with customer which of course help brightens my knowledge in solving complex problems.

Thanks for reading.

Prepared by:

Daniel Collins

NATC Technician

Antivirus Configuration on the Server

Hello Everyone I am going to talk about how to install and configure Antivirus on your workstation that are not Domain platform or Domain network so that the workstation can update Antivirus on your client computer or your Clients computer can get update from your workstation.  This platform and setup is very good because it help cause less bandwidth consumption on your network.   During my work on one of our client site, I was able to setup a files sharing Server and all the clients’ computers are getting Antivirus update from the server without internet access. This is what I did for the client:

   A.  Antivirus Configuration on the Server   

1.    I installed Antivirus   on the windows Server  and all the Clients computer or users computer   

2.    I created a folder with the name AV Update in C drive of the server, in that folder is where the server will storing  all the AV update that it will get from internet or Antivirus server.     

3.    On the server, I open the Antivirus and, click on setting in Antivirus.   

4.    In setting of Antivirus  I click on update   

5.    In the update settings I checked in the box of copy update to folder and browse to the (AV) Antivirus folder that I created in the C drive of the Server.     

B.   Configuration setting for all the clients computers   

1.    After installing the Antivirus on the entire clients or users computer.   

2.    I Clicked on Schedule tasks and went  to update     

3.    In update, I went  to setting and clicked on Source   

4.    In update source setting, I went to add and added the update source by Browsing for the server on the internet and browse for the (AV) Antivirus Update folder that was created in the C drive of the server.     

5.    After  that  Clicked ok and save the configuration     

Note:  you can also use this configuration for any windows Operating System. This is working for the client and it can also work for you.   Watch out for my next blog post on how to configure WSUS.   

Thanks   By: Jonathan Barwon