Both SC STOP and NET STOP for winnat yields an error, saying it "does not exist as an installed service" or "The service name is invalid". What OS did you try it on? You have to remember, I'm running W7 and NEVER planning to "upgrade". (If not for the advent of modern GPU integration and x64 nativity, I would still be using WinXP on a classic P4 tower.)
Does ANYONE READ the fine details? I said I use Windows-7, alright. I transitioned away from XP years ago, but during the time I kept it going and used it well into 2016, it was all carefully maintained and strictly for ordinary workloads like research, network experiments, and general compatibility with software and hardware accumulated from previous years. I even had version-12 of Symantec Endpoint Protection running flawlessly to keep it secure. XP as an OS could still work in principle, but when newer program versions allow for larger workloads and also call for more resources (like massive RAM for web browsing, a decent CPU for online videos that are horrendously dependent on software-decoding, and a modern GPU for accelerated video processing and handling of larger formats) I knew it would take a small generational leap to stay in motion, so to speak..
Better not to install this new ver. Uninstallation may not be possible without a password. (Default pass Set by the SEP) .
Does this version still receive virus definition updates? I read somewhere that it doesn't. I want a lightweight antivirus for a very slow CPU. A person who asked me for help has an Intel Atom based PC (Intel Celeron N2808). I replaced the HDD with an SSD and installed Windows 10 22H2, which was very slow. Then I installed LTSB 2016 and it was great without antivirus, but both Windows Defender and SEP are making it reasonably slow, but much better than 22H2. I thought about trying an older version of SEP to see if it's lighter, but I saw that support for version 12 has ended. PS: Windows Update in LTSB 2016 never finishes scanning, using 100% CPU and doing so in the background even when disabled with group policy. I had to disable the Windows Update service, so I can't use Defender because it doesn't update virus definitions. PS2: I tested Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1.6 MP10 (version 12.1.7454.7000) and it gives several errors when updating virus definitions. PS3: I tested Avast, and it consumes 200 MB less RAM than SEP and seems more responsive. Removing bloatware and configuring it correctly isn't as bad as people say. You can silence ad popups. SEP and Defender are running some kind of background task, which I think explains the slowness. After a while, they become more responsive. But this bothers me because it happens frequently. Even with another antivirus installed, the Windows Defender service runs and executes something in the background. I disabled it with group policy and disabled its services just to make sure they won't run.
OH MY GAWD; emphasis on HAD!!! SEP v12 went obsolete sometime in or after 2021, and I adopted v14 LONG BEFORE THAT!!! V12 was the last known version to be fully compatible with Windows XP, which AGAIN, I STOPPED USING YEARS AGO, BUT YES, V12 DID CONTINUE GETTING UPDATES FOR A GOOD LONG TIME! If your PC is unfortunate enough to have been made (particularly in recent times) with an Atom or Celeron CPU of all things, all you can do with that is throw it in the trash and buy a phone instead; Atom and Celeron are literally manufactured WASTE! If you have a semi-ancient CPU like a Pentium-4 and NEED to operate on a 32-bit platform for any reason, there was a program I used years ago that is an order of magnitude better than Avast, AVG, and M$ Defender-- funny enough, it was a different Microsoft program intended for enterprises called Forefront Endpoint protection, and later updated and revised as System Center Endpoint Protection. Don't know if it still works, but last time I ran with it, it was pretty smooth and efficient (and the firewall is way better than Windows' default built-in one).
Of course you run the "newer" OS... No one runs good software anymore... And no, the problem persists, otherwise I wouldn't be so quick to post about the error messages.
SCEP still works and gets updates, runs even on Server 2008 SP2 (Vista era), dunno about XP. But it definitely works on Windows 7. I'm running Comodo AV, slightly older program version that still runs on Win7. Virus signatures keep coming in.
Comodo AV is a half-baked pansy with a fugly fisher-price box interface (much like Win8-11) that does little more than clog the user's screen with nuisance false-positives and junk notifications. OLD versions of Comodo internet security had a really great firewall, but between 2001 & 2013, if you needed a real security program, Norton Internet security was generally the way to go. After years of trying over a dozen AV programs (only to discover MASSIVE FLAWS in all of them), I started finding mentions of enterprise security by Symantec (partially by accident) while browsing random torrents when I had nothing better to do.
I'm running an older version with Classic interface. Have generally no problems with it, still better than Avast (the last good Avast was 4.8).
Sorry, I was tired and stressed with this terribly slow PC and didn't realize the verb was in the past tense. But that was a genuine question, I wanted to make sure version 12 wasn't receiving any more virus definitions. lol I don't disagree, but I live in an underdeveloped country where everything is very expensive, and companies often bring this junk here remanufactured, and laypeople buy it because it's much cheaper compared to something of higher quality. Not everyone can afford to throw away what they have and buy something more modern. And if it weren't for the antivirus, this would be perfectly usable for basic tasks. You don't need the latest generation of the most secure software out there, a basic antivirus with virus definitions is enough in case you download something suspicious.