encryption key confilct with Avantis 2.4 HELP!!!

[PEO]

I will start by say I will give out lots of thanks and reps with help on this

The Story so far....

We bought 35 of this Integral Crypto 4GB USB Key - Misco.co.uk

As part of the development plan we realise that we must encrypt any sensitive data that teachers take off site to do reports etc.

On a standalone PC/Laptop it work brilliantly, but when I went to setup the keys on a client machine I get the BSOD and the Machine restarts.

When the usb key is plugged in to the machine it creates 2 drive letters; one is the storage area, which is protected by the encryption software, and the other creates a virtual cd drive with 2 files, 1 of them been the instructions on how to use the device and the other one is the encryption software.

Now if I open the pdf (instructions) manual everything is fine, but as soon as try to use execute the encryption software, the machine BSOD and restarts.

So I did some thinking (almost over heated) and came to a conclusion that it could have something to do with the Avantis software.

We have an Avantis 100 multimedia server connected to the network which is used for sharing cd/dvd images that are required when accessing the software e.g. Encarta... yes we still use Encarta

On the client machines we have Avantis Client 2.4 installed which we set the number of virtual cd/dvd drives per client, at present I have two setup on all the machines across the school.

I believe this is having some sort of conflict with the encryption software but I do not how or why. I know this for sure because I uninstalled the Avantis client 2.4 software from a machine and everything was hunky dory!!

Reinstall the Avantis Client 2.4 software and try the encryption software, the same thing happens. This has also been tested on 5 other different machines with different hardware and I get the same results

The BSOD message is DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL ..... And then it restarts.

So I have contacted the encryption company and they reassured me that it’s not their software or the hardware but something to do with the Avantis client 2.4 software that we have.

Trouble is I don’t wish to pay Avantis for a contract support just to fix this issue, and to be honest in the last 4 - 5 years we have had this we have never needed to, as it just works.

I asked the tech support guy how he knows this and he said another school(s) have had the same issue. When I asked him if he could tell me which schools so I could contact them to ask for advice he said he could not due to data protection..

So here I am, any one that can help me out I would really blooming appreciate it. This is something that has me completely stumped!

I know we could just return the data sticks and try another vendor but what’s the point, plus it will niggle me like mad that I never got to the bottom of this.


Thanks for reading this... any advice/guidance is much appreciated

Kev

[PEO]

*bump* any suggestions?

[mb2k01]

I've had issues with these USB devices before. I'll never be buying them again!

We don't use Avantis, but I do remember having issues early on with the drives being fairly insistent on the fact it wanted the drives to be D and/or E. If those drive letters were already taken up (by card readers in my case) then I had a problem and had to reallocate letters etc. Could your problem be along those lines?

The other problems I've had with this particular brand is that you constantly get "thrown out" of the device. You can be copying a reasonably small file (Lets say a 20MB .ppt for example) and it kicks you out mid copy resulting in a corrupt file being left on the drive.

[PEO]

I've had issues with these USB devices before. I'll never be buying them again!

We don't use Avantis, but I do remember having issues early on with the drives being fairly insistent on the fact it wanted the drives to be D and/or E. If those drive letters were already taken up (by card readers in my case) then I had a problem and had to reallocate letters etc. Could your problem be along those lines?

The other problems I've had with this particular brand is that you constantly get "thrown out" of the device. You can be copying a reasonably small file (Lets say a 20MB .ppt for example) and it kicks you out mid copy resulting in a corrupt file being left on the drive.

Cheers! Could you revommend another brand?

[mb2k01]

It's not really a recommendation as I've not used them yet, but I placed an order for a couple of these towards the end of this week.
I was looking to try someone other than Integral, but they seem to own the affordable end of the AES market! I decided to take the unusual road of "taking a punt" on the other model being more reliable, mainly because I wanted two in a hurry and they needed to be quite cheap!

[Michael]

To be honest I think you've isolated the problem perfectly well. There clearly appears to be a conflict between the two products and although frustrating I would send them back if they're not willing to even look at the problem. If other schools have/are experiencing the same problems at least you know it's not something you're doing or your network.