Newbie in need of some help - not server, but client issue

[RiverNoord]

I hope that it's OK to post this in the 'Server Administration' topic, since I couldn't find a specific 'problems with client' topic.

I've installed an IPCop firewall for my company, which is working very well. I've configured OpenVPN on the server side, but I'm not able to test because...

On my home computer I am absolutely unable to install the OpenVPN client. I'm running Win 7 x64 on a system I recently built, and when I attempt to install the 64 bit (and I've tried 32 bit) OpenVPN 2.3.4 package (as Administrator), here's what happens:

Explorer.exe maxes out CPU usage on one of my four cores. The rest are untouched. The setup process does not appear to be using any resources itself. If I move my cursor over the folder that contains the installation program I get the Windows 7 'busy circle.' I absolutely cannot terminate the OpenVPN setup process using Task Manager - multiple attempts just fail. I can terminate the explorer.exe instance that is maxing out, but that doesn't end the setup process and explorer.exe doesn't reload as it typically does when it's terminated.

I opened port 1194 on Windows Firewall prior to attempting to install.

I haven't been able to locate a single instance of a similar problem on any forum relating to OpenVPN, and I'm hoping that someone may be able to point out what I'm missing.

Thanks in advance

[RiverNoord]

I downloaded both the 32(just in case) and 64 bit install files twice from the site you indicated (the second time to verify that the files weren't corrupted) and both sets failed exactly the same way.

My security software is simply Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Firewall and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro. I opened udp and tcp 1194 inbound and outbound on the firewall, and Malwarebytes, in my experience, always announces if it's blocked something.

I had no trouble installing the client on my Win7 x64 laptop, which has the exact same software security mix. However, if I can't identify what's happening on the desktop I certainly can't go ahead with a deployment on 7-8 other client computers.

If it helps, the machine is an AMD A10-based system, with an Asus A88X-Pro mainboard, 16 G RAM, an AMD R9 video card and a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi PCI sound card.

[RiverNoord]

Huh - well, that's interesting. I think I'll just disable its active scanner first, then attempt the install. If that doesn't work I'll uninstall it.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it this evening and report back the result.

[RiverNoord]

No go. I didn't uninstall Malwarebytes, but I did disable the 'self-protection' function, then completely shut it down. I then turned off MS Security Essentials active scanner and disabled Windows Firewall. Still the same problem.

I did extract the contents of the package and install the TAP driver - that went without a hitch. I also attempted to install the OpenVPN non-gui component separately, and had the same problem.

So... I guess I'll uninstall MBAM entirely tonight and attempt another install.

I am really perplexed, though, by the facts that:

1) The install program maxes out one CPU core, and only one, but the process that maxes out is explorer.exe.

2) All attempts to manually terminate the installer process fail, even after terminating the explorer.exe instance. I am forced to restart the computer to end the process, and I must do it with a manual power button shutdown. Otherwise the 'logging out' screen just runs perpetually.

Well, I'll give the uninstall of MBAM a try...

[RiverNoord]

Well, now that was interesting. Literally 10 minutes before I was going to uninstall MBAM in order to prepare for an attempt to install OpenVPN as suggested, a screen popped-up on my desktop. It was a notifier that there was a new version of MBAM available, and when I reviewed the release notes, I noted something to the effect of 'fixed problems with certain VPN programs.'

So - I installed the new MBAM version, then immediately attempted an OpenVPN install - no problem. It connected easily (ran as Administrator)

Now, if I could only do something besides ping the IPCop. I can ping absolutely nothing else, and, then, of course, accessing anything by name is not working.

Seems like I've got some additional configuration problems to work out...

Thanks for the help with the install