Failure to update update Freedome to v. 2.50.23.0

merula31

Hello,

[NOTE: This is about the update of Freedome, NOT about today's critical update of SAFE.]

• When starting my computer (PC, Windows10, current Freedome version 2.45.888.0) yesterday, I got a pop-up (now on every boot) telling me that an update (2.50.23.0) is available. I clicked on the "Install" button, and that started a process F*_updater.exe (seen in Process Explorer; but can't remember if it was "F-Secure_updater.exe" or "Freedome_updater.exe", and strangely cannot find the EXE file in the F-secure folder tree).
• After a while I got another pop-up saying (something like) "Services need to be stopped which requires admin rights".
• I was logged in as admin and granted those rights (Win10 UAC pop-up).
• After another while, another pop-up appeared, now saying that  "Unfortunately restarting the application didn't solve the problem. Please reboot your machine and try again."
• However, after rebooting, the same sequence as above happened again.
• I then discovered (Win10 Computer Management) that the "F_Secure Freedom Service" was in "Stopping" state but never actually finished and went to "Stopped". It could not be set to Manual and then stopped manually either. However, I don't know if this is the cause of the update failure.
• NOTE: I did not get any message about "Unknown error", so this Knowledge Base article does not seem to apply. (Besides, by now the installer would certainly warn against this anyway, and not just leave it to the user to find this article?)  
• Further I found that in the whole struggle (I may have clicked various "Install" buttons more than once), no less than four (4!) identical folders had been created/downloaded in the Freedome folder tree, with identical content and a volume of 165 MB each:
•    C:\Program Files (x86)\F-Secure\Freedome\Freedome\1.1 to ....\1.4

After rebooting again, I can now at least still run the older version (2.45.888.0) of Freedome.

But for how long? And how to achieve a successful update?

I don't want simply to try again and again if that each time triggers yet another 165 MB download.

Would it perhaps help to manually stop the "F_Secure Freedom Service" before running the installer (if that is at all possible; it may of course have special protection)?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Firmy

Hi @merula31

You can release the duplicate license from your F-Secure account. Yes, you can release the license from the unused/duplicate license without interrupting the subscription.

Follow these steps to release a license from a device using the My F-Secure Portal:

1. Login to your My F-Secure account
2. Select TOTAL apps from the top left corner
3. Select Manage FREEDOME
4. Select Release license from the right side of the device you want to release the license from

Thank you and stay safe.

Firmy

Hi @merula31

Thank you for your post.

Kindly uninstall and reinstall FREEDOME on your computer, and check the version of the app.

Follow the steps below to uninstall and reinstall FREEDOME:

To uninstall F-Secure program from Windows:

Click on one of the links below that fit your version of Windows. The link redirects you to Microsoft's help page.

Windows 10

Windows 8, 8.1

Windows 7

If the uninstallation fails using the standard Windows removal method, you can uninstall the product using F-Secure Uninstallation Tool

To reinstall F-Secure FREEDOME VPN for Windows:

1. Download and install the FREEDOME from https://www.f-secure.com/en/home/download
2. Click on the Subscription tab
3. Depending on your activation method:
   • Click Login if you have a subscription with F-Secure Total or other providers, and sign in with your credentials.
4. FREEDOME is ready to protect your privacy.

Kindly let me know if this helps.

Thank you and stay safe.

merula31

Hello,

thanks for your reply!

As an update to the report above, there is good, bad, and worse news.

The good news:

I have succeeded (eventually...) in installing (from scratch) the current Freedome version (2.50.23.0).

The bad news:

Getting there involved quite some confusion and hassle*; part of it may have been user miscomprehension, but (lack of) user guidance certainly was a factor, too...

The worse news:

I have an F-Secure TOTAL subscription which includes three (3) licences for Freedome. So far, one had been used for Android, one for a PC, and one had still been unused, in reserve for other devices.

However, precisely as I had feared from the start, this installation from scratch (because of the failing update process) has used up the remaining free licence.

Apart from the Android device, the account now shows two entries (with device names like "ABC123" and "ABC123a") for the same PC. (I had selected "On this device" when installing, but gave it a new name, fearing that re-using the old one might mess things up even further.)

So, how do I free up again the unused licence?

There is the option to "Release" a licence, but can I safely do this for "ABC123" while keeping only "ABC123a"?

Doing so might block Freedome on the PC for good; the unreleased licence ("ABC123a") should still be valid, but after all, both are pointing to the same physical device (the PC).

Thanks again for the help.

* among other things (this should be in small print; it's just to illustrate the term "hassle" :-))

• (minor issue) Microsoft link above goes to their Help page about Repair, not Uninstallation.
• fortunately re-installing Freedome could be done without first uninstalling all of F-Secure (as the F-Secure Uninstaller would probably have done)
• had to set the service to Manual, and reboot the PC to get it out of permanent "Stopping" mode.
• uninstalled Freedome from the Control Panel. Service now was not running, so no problem.
• from the link given above downloaded freedom.exe which turned out to be the free trial variant, which has no Subscription tab.
• logged in to account, but Subscription tab shows only account info, no download link or button
• finally figured out to download from the Freedome tab (using the "Try again" link)
• installation "on this device" then went without a hitch, but dialog initially showed "Expired" and nagged for a subscription (probably a side effect of installing from scratch)
• closing the main dialog reveals that behind that the installation dialog was still running
• activation from the account went ok, but used up the remaining free licence

merula31

It worked.

And let's hope future updates go a bit smoother. (Perhaps the updater being unable to really stop the Freedome Service might be the problem?)

Thanks again for the help!