 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Cybermedia Oil Change 2.5 Ash Nallawalla ash@melbpc.org.au |
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Cybermedia is well known to Melb PC members for its First Aid program, the latest version of which is reviewed in this issue. In 1996 it released a software update program called Oil Change but it was not available in Australia. Cybermedia's International VP, Len Backus told me that it would not work in Australia because we had different software. There lies an irony.
I convinced Mr Backus to part with a copy of Oil Change (OC), which I offered to test. Pardon the pun, but it was slick! Yes, there are perhaps a handful of business packages that are specially cut for Australia, but when it comes to an update, very few updated modules of a program concern the "Australian" aspect. In early 1997, OC was a revolutionary product in my experience, as it had few competitors and software vendors did not make it easy for customers to find updates.
What is a software updater?
A software updater is a utility (a program that performs a boring, yet valuable housekeeping task) that checks your installed programs, compares each against a database of programs and their latest known revisions, then fetches the updates for you. OC is such a program. It lets you decide if you want the update and makes a backup so that you can undo an update later if it seems to cause new problems. While other similar tools work by making a long-distance phone call to the software vendor or through an Internet connection, OC works only through the latter.
Oils ain't oils
If Cybermedia had launched OC in Australia a year earlier, this would have been a slightly different review, at least from the standpoint of some members of our user group. Hey, it still works as originally coded, so what has changed in OC? Other than some minor internal changes, nothing. But what is the problem?
My original copy of OC had worked well, fetching perfectly compatible updates for my fairly boring suite of business software (no games on my PC), but after twelve months, the program had expired. When I received the "Australian" version, I was keen to try it.
To my consternation, OC would simply not work. It was uninstalled (including a manual clean-up of the Registry) and reinstalled (with no other programs running) several times. The local web site was of no help to me; the few comments made on the US Web site didn't help; and there was nothing relevant in Usenet discussions. So I made one of my rare tech support phone calls to the local Freecall number and left my phone number and e-mail address. I received prompt (overnight) written instructions to uninstall OC thoroughly and the location of Cybermedia's FTP site so I could fetch the latest version of a key module. The symptom was that once the program had connected with its galactic headquarters, it simply hung and proved near-impossible to terminate.
To cut short a long story, I had no joy. The local tech support agent appears to refer anything but the most simple questions to the US office, which can take over a week to respond. After my initial attempts had failed, they sent me a small program that created a log file, which I had to mail to them. I delayed this review a whole month and still I have not heard back their final diagnosis.
But it does work
Say again? Yes, while waiting for Cybermedia's experts to solve my problem, I tried something radical. I tried using another ISP (CompuServe), and lo, everything worked! While I have not received a definitive diagnosis, I am certain it has something to do with the ISP's proxy server (CompuServe and many commercial ISPs do not enforce proxies).
OC has a setting where you can specify the address of the proxy. Our own Internet service has an additional feature that did not exist to the same extent a year ago, when we also had an enforced proxy. The difference is that our Internet service peers with the proxy servers of several ISPs and you could be using any one or more of them within one session, depending on which one becomes free to handle your next request. The OC software first logs you into the server and once your subscription status has been checked, it proceeds to look for updates. If you choose to fetch an update, the OC software again connects with the server and gets the update. My theory is that each of these connections could go through different proxy servers, which confuses Cybermedia's server.
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Good news
After writing the review, PC Update consulted with Cybermedia both locally and in the US. To cut short a long
story, I used an external ISP and obtained the latest version of OC, which is version 2.5. It fixed my
problem with the Melb PC Internet service (no need to use the proxy setting)! The update can be found at
ftp.cybermedia.com but I don't know which specific file is fetched, as there are duplicate file names at that
site.
Verdict
OC out of the box works fine for those whose ISPs do not force the use of proxy servers for Web browsing.
Readers who subscribe to our own Internet service will need to fetch the latest file from the ftp site, and
the local Cybermedia help desk can help with identifying its location.
A year ago, I was very happy with it. Today, the small list of updates it found (mostly Microsoft Office)
does not create the same excitement, probably because several newsletters have already alerted me to those
updates. Perhaps, if I owned a different set of programs, my reaction might have differed. It is still a
valuable tool for many people.
Reprinted from the August 1998 issue of PC Update, the
magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
