Block a single application from automatic updates: how?

[ladague]

The last time WinZip issued a new major version (23->24), Total Security updated my installed 23 to 24, and that meant that it fell back to being on a “trial” license (as I hadn’t bought WZ24).  OK, fair enough that the updated version was on a trial license, sort of, although I’m not prepared to debate whether that’s a good business practice, but Total Security shouldn’t have installed that update.

So, I want to prevent a repeat visit to this process.  There really isn’t anything new that WinZip can add that I’ll find useful - 24 added special support for PDF files, but if I need that, I’ll pay for a full license of Acrobat, thanks, and I intensely dislike having to pay for a new version *just* because TIS decided to install a new one.

So,  the question: how do I tell Kaspersky to never install updates for that one thing?  Or to just install security updates?  Or to not install new *versions*?  I cannot guarantee being present and in a position to closely monitor TIS’s notifications to stop it from updating software, but I only want to change the update process for WinZip.

[Berny]

@ladagueWelcome.  Please see paragraph 4 in this K-Lab article :

https://support.kaspersky.com/KIS/2017/en-EN/127467.htm

 

 

 

[andrew75]

@ladague, uncheck “Automatically download and install updates if you do not have to accept new license agreements”. 

Total Security will inform you that new software updates have been found and will offer to install them. With this, you will be able to choose which updates you want to install.

 

 

[ladague]

Sorry about the delay getting back to you.  I’ve been busy with other stuff.

Sadly, neither of these responses answers my question.

 

@Berny The Exclusions button on the Software Updater panel does not allow me to *add* an exclusion, only to unexclude things that were excluded because I said not to update *when an update was proposed*.

 

If I miss the proposed update because e.g. it tried to pop up while I was away from the PC or while I was playing a game, the updater seems to go ahead and update the application anyway.
 

@andrew75 That doesn’t answer the question about how I exclude *one* application.  Something like Wireshark or Virtualbox isn’t a problem if it gets a major-version upgrade in the background - both of these are free to use.  In the same way, something which requires me to accept a new license agreement but doesn’t charge me money is *also* OK.

WinZip is a problem because a major-version upgrade (e.g. 23 to 24 or 24 to 25) invalidates the license until I pay them money.  The upgrade from 24 to 25 adds features that are entirely unrelated to compressing files and are of no interest.

[Berny]

@ladague Please see this K-Lab article :
https://support.kaspersky.com/KSCloud/Win4.0_mr1/en-US/127697.htm

“Skipped updates of installed applications are placed into the Exclusions list.
You can skip individual updates as well as all updates for a specific application installed on your computer”

[andrew75]

 

@andrew75 That doesn’t answer the question about how I exclude *one* application.  

But at the same time, you can choose which updates to install and which ones to skip. And you will know exactly what updates are installed.

[ladague]

@ladaguePlease see this K-Lab article :
https://support.kaspersky.com/KSCloud/Win4.0_mr1/en-US/127697.htm

“Skipped updates of installed applications are placed into the Exclusions list.
You can skip individual updates as well as all updates for a specific application installed on your computer”

That’s the same article you directed me to before.  It doesn’t answer the question.

It happens fairly often that TIS will update things in the background without me noticing, because it popped up the “hey, I found an update for application X, what should I do?” notification while I was busy with something else.  Eventually, when that happens, it decides to go ahead anyway.

If that happens for a major-version update of WinZip, I have to pay money to buy a new version of WinZip that adds useless (for me) features (which I don’t want to do, obviously) because the major-version update invalidates the license.

How do I prevent that major-version update *just* for WinZip?  It is not possible to *add* applications to the Exclusions window manually.

[ladague]

 

@andrew75 That doesn’t answer the question about how I exclude *one* application.  

But at the same time, you can choose which updates to install and which ones to skip. And you will know exactly what updates are installed.

Not if the update-available popup arrives when I’m busy with something else (e.g. away from the PC, playing a full-screen game, etc.).

EDIT: in such a case, eventually TIS gets bored and installs the update anyway without waiting for me.

[Berny]

@ladague When the update is offered choose for “Skip” ,the update will be added to the exclusions.

[ladague]

@ladague When the update is offered choose for “Skip” , and the update will be added to the exclusions.

OK, and if it happens in the background because I happen to be playing a game?  What then?

[andrew75]

EDIT: in such a case, eventually TIS gets bored and installs the update anyway without waiting for me.

no, you're wrong. In this case, updates are not downloaded and not installed automatically. You are simply notified that updates are available.

If you have selected the automatic update installation mode, you cannot prohibit the update of a specific application.

 

[ladague]

EDIT: in such a case, eventually TIS gets bored and installs the update anyway without waiting for me.

no, you're wrong. In this case, updates are not downloaded and not installed automatically. You are simply notified that updates are available.

If you have selected the automatic update installation mode, you cannot prohibit the update of a specific application.

 

Ah, sorry.  I misread what’s going on.  The UI isn’t as clear as it could be, and WinZip has a major fault in its update process - the major-version update invalidates the license without requiring a new agreement, but it requires a *payment* to revalidate the license…  I would argue that TIS should be aware of this misbehaviour and treat it as being a new agreement for the purposes of the “automatic download if no license” checkbox.

 

I’ve configured it to not do the automatic thing.  I’ll see what happens that way and start a new question if it goes wrong in the future.

It would still be a good feature to be able to configure TIS’s Software Updater in finer detail, and to add WinZip to an internal list of applications known to have undesirable behaviour in the automatic mode.

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello @ladague, 

If there’s further future information, for this specific issue, please add it here, to your existing topic; even tho your topic has a Solved status, that does not prevent continuing updates for the same issue and it’s helps everybody, if the additional information is incorporated into your existing topic. 

Thank you🙏

Flood+1🐳

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