Intruder? Extruder?

[JimL]

2 or 3 times in several days my firewall has said SupportSoft Agent Service
wants into my trusted zone (LAN stuff - none of which is even being used on
my system).

Having no clue what SupportSoft Agent Service is I Google it. Everybody's
talking about it but nobody is defining it. (Eventually I discover that
Comcast installed it.) Several sites say it is or is related to related to
an SNMP based agent - which I'm sure everyone here has for breakfast, but
.... Again everybody's talking about it but nobody is defining it.

A found that this thing is in the Comcast "Desktop Doctor" folder and even a
Comcast CHAT technician said I'd be better off deleting Desktop Doctor.
Frankly in the few days I've had Comcast (my only choice) broadband, I've
come to trust them as far as I can throw a Mexican bull by the tail.

Is it possible to tell in simple English what this thing is really doing on
my computer and why it wants access to my trusted zone. And/or why I
shouldn't permanently disable it.

 

[Steve Winograd [MS-MVP]]

2 or 3 times in several days my firewall has said SupportSoft Agent Service
wants into my trusted zone (LAN stuff - none of which is even being used on
my system).

Having no clue what SupportSoft Agent Service is I Google it. Everybody's
talking about it but nobody is defining it. (Eventually I discover that
Comcast installed it.) Several sites say it is or is related to related to
an SNMP based agent - which I'm sure everyone here has for breakfast, but
... Again everybody's talking about it but nobody is defining it.

A found that this thing is in the Comcast "Desktop Doctor" folder and even a
Comcast CHAT technician said I'd be better off deleting Desktop Doctor.
Frankly in the few days I've had Comcast (my only choice) broadband, I've
come to trust them as far as I can throw a Mexican bull by the tail.

Is it possible to tell in simple English what this thing is really doing on
my computer and why it wants access to my trusted zone. And/or why I
shouldn't permanently disable it.

I agree with the Comcast technician: delete Desktop Doctor. I've had
Comcast Internet service for years and have never installed, and
certainly never needed, Desktop Doctor.

Here's the Comcast web page about it:

http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/HelpNFC.aspx?print=false&id=desktopdoctor
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[JimL]

I agree with the Comcast technician: delete Desktop Doctor. I've had
Comcast Internet service for years and have never installed, and
certainly never needed, Desktop Doctor.

Here's the Comcast web page about it:

http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/HelpNFC.aspx?print=false&id=desktopdoctor
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Thanks. I was sort of at their mercy. DD can fix problems I don't have the
savvy to fix myself. I'm really bad with networking stuff. But it also
starts some problems. You might say it "overfixes" problems by pretty much
turning on everything in sight. That caused conflicts here.

I don't let it start at boot now, but since I'm up and running I guess I'll
just uninstall it.