Dopus tries to access the Internet

Does anyone know why Opus (latest version) has just started to try and access the Internet - IP 199.7.48.190.
I have auto update turned off.
I get concerned when programs start attempting Internet access surreptitiously.

There's a FAQ called 'Why is Opus trying to connect to the Internet?' though it mainly talks about the automatic update check feature.

The only other times Opus would access the internet are due to FTP access (which would be obvious), 3rd party shell extensions (e.g. the Perforce shell extension has been known to access the network gratuitously), or perhaps as part of the certificate verification process (which you'd see from other apps which check certificates, e.g. web browsers).

199.7.48.190 is a verisign server so it's probably being accessed to check for expired certificates. Opus does not do this explicitly; it happens as part of the certificate-checking API in Windows.

See also this thread that was created about 3 hours before yours:

resource.dopus.com/viewtopic.php?t=7703

Thanks nudel
I read the info in the link and I suspect the Opus is tring to go to Verisign.
I also suspect that this is relatively harmless. I would have thought that certificate validation would be done when programs are installed and after that there is no further need to access Verisign. When I follow another link I see that the access may be to get a "Certificate Revocation List" from Verisign. That begs the question - why would Opus access Verisign to get such a "Certificate Revocation List" on behalf of my computer. I don't care about the list so why would Opus try and get it on my behalf. I HATE it when software accesses the Internet and I am not supposed to know when or why.
I don't allow any of my software to auto update (except NOD32) because I really want control the who, what and why of such accesses

When nudel mentioned the certificate verification process, he meant that Windows tried to access the certificate servers, possibly to check for updated/revoked certs. Turning off some options might help (the screenshots are from XP SP2, I don't know how to find these dialogs in Vista).




Hmmm, turning those off didn't really have any effect with me. XP SP2.

/Anakha

Totally OT: I"m not usually one to worry much about grammar and such, but I got confused by Geoffs use of 'begging the question', so I looked it up. Turns out there's a whole campaign about this. Lol!

begthequestion.info/

This is because dopus is regularly verifying the digital signature of its executable using the WinVerifyTrust API during its session (likely anti-tampering technique used by the authors).

Anakha
Please, get a life. Campaign, what a load of rubbish. 'Begging the question' is a phrase that has been widely used for many years and does not require deep analysis by a pretend academic.
I installed a new firewall and it clearlt identified Opus as doing all that I have previously stated. Period.
Maybe you are a member of the conspiracy theory crew hell bent of finding campaigns - don't know and really don't care.

Wow, take it easy there. You clearly missed the point of my side remark. Not a problem, it's not important. I guess it's been proven again that humour is very subjective.

Let's get back on topic and not hijack this thread any further.

Anakha fine by me.
W0lfdale, I think you have hit the nail on the head - thanks.
Alan when you said " he meant that Windows tried to access the certificate servers", I am pretty sure it is Opus. When I boot I use an option in Winpatrol to stagger the startup of some apps. I have Opus starting about 1 minute after Windows has started, when other things have started and settled. When Opus starts, the popup from the firewall appears and clearly states that it is opus.exe trying to access the site. I would have thought that if it were Windows it wouldn't be waiting for Opus to start before the access is attempted.

I have noticed this as well on my laptop, and in fact it appears that it is delaying the load of DOpus on a reboot, since my wireless has not yet connected. I have noticed that since the last update (9.1.0.6) it takes a minute or so after everything else finishes loading before DOpus finally completes loading...

Are you sure it's due to network access and not just taking a while to load? During a reboot programs are generally unresponsive for a while as they all fight for the HDD. Even ones which have appeared don't work well for a while until things settle down. This is especially true with Opus if you have it set to load a lot of external icons etc. (e.g. for a docked toolbar full of buttons/icons which run other programs, like I have).

I do use a docked toolbar, but I never saw much delay until I updated to 9.1.0.6. I don't see this on my desktop which uses the same exact config.

Opus is usually the last thing to finish loading, but now there is at least a 1 minute delay, which is about when my wireless connects. I'll monitor it more closely... I could also revert back to 9.1.0.5 and see if the delay disappears.

Interesting. I don't know of any changes that might trigger that, but it's possible.

It might be worth checking that you don't have any network drives referred to in your configuration (toolbars, Collections, etc.) which might trigger Opus to load icons for the drives or verify that they are still available, which would probably cause it to delay while the Wifi connects.