Garmin Express 7.6 (Windows) recalled?

I have 7.6 and rechecked it and still 7.6.

Yes, that's correct, but a discussion started by me on the Garmin Forum links to other discussions that 7.6 is buggy, doesn't see some devices and won't unlock installed maps. My suggestion to anyone using GE (Windows) is that they should uninstall it and reinstall 7.5 from Garmin before doing anything like a map update. Personally, I wouldn't use 7.6 now to use it's tools and other updates like Favorite backups, voice updates, etc. Maybe they'd work but maybe they'd not.

Garmin Express shows as 7.6.0.0 on my computer. I just installed latest maps on two GPS's and also to the computer Monday 6-7-21, and had no problems. A manual check for updates shows I am current.

Perhaps Garmin Express 7.7.0.0 will become available shorly to correct any shortcomings, if any, for ver. 7.6. I'll just wait until ver. 7.7 comes along before I perform another new map update.

Sometimes GE won't start and I initially blamed it on getting used to a new mouse, then I realized I get the flash of the GE startup screen. When it does open normally, it seems to work fine. I think for now I'll leave 7.6 as is and just wait, as others have mentioned, for 7.7.

Update, with the latest Windows update that was released on Tuesday 06/08/2021 GE 7.6 now seems to open reliably.

I currently have 7.5 since I had not updated to 7.6 yet. I checked for updates and it said I have current version with 7.5.

Thanks for the heads up

Am I the only one who runs GE in a sandbox (VM)?

...so why?

The sandbox is a special security feature which allows you to run potentially suspicious applications automatically in a completely isolated environment. Programs running within the sandbox have limited access to your files and system files, so there is minimal risk to your computer or any of your other files.

I've never heard of a security issue with GE, so little reason to run it in a sandbox.

Thank you for the info. I will check to see what I have in the morning.

Mainly so garmin doesn't install its bloat to the main system. Any program that automatically adds itself to run at startup without asking the user to opt in I consider bloatware. I do an update once or twice a year at most. Easy enough to fire up the vm and pass through the usb port.

As you probably know, uninstalling something in windows is not the same as never having it there in the first place.

My list of startup processes/programs

https://i.imgur.com/UrzUX0W.png

It's already a large enough list and these are needed. There's another 10 or 12 that are disabled. Why does opera and chrome need to have a helper service run at startup¿?

PS my current uptime is 82+ days. I doubt that'd be possible on a windows pc with a ton of crap running in the background.

ymmv

PS. that trident garbage is not there by choice. If it doesn't run, the rgb on the ram stays lit. The program turns the rgb off then i kill it.

GE has minimal bloat, and it is easy to control (removal of old maps, etc) so there isn't any need to run it in the sandbox. And it is very easy, not much more than a single setting to have it not startup at boot.

To be honest, and no offense intended, I think with respect to your PC you are suffering from "analysis paralysis". "Uptime" is generally a useful computer term but generally used for information on a server, not an individual PC where its main function is bragging rights. And to have a PC at 82 days of uptime essentially means you have not rebooted/shutdown for 82 days. There is little if any reason to do this, and a few, admittedly debatable reasons not to!

Further, I wonder if the PC is going to "sleep", is hibernation enabled, or are you just leaving the PC on? Since security was your original thrust of the sandbox conversation, are you aware that a PC in any of those modes can potentially be hacked? Positively "yes" this would be a very rare occurrence, but so is hacking a personal PC. Hackers tend to go after corporate installations for the far greater potential to wreak havoc that could result in a payoff.

A shut down PC cannot be hacked and "Sleep Mode" is NOT a shut down PC.

I recently worked for a U.S. Gov. contractor that had over 4000 PCs and numerous other devices with internet access. We were told to "Shut Down" at night as that was when China & Russia were waking up and starting their day and the heavy "Probing" started. Don't think they ever got in that way, but every now and then a "phishing" email would make it through and when alerted, security would send out emails to absolutely not open the email and to delete it immediately. Any "Suspicious" emails were not be opened and were to be attached to an email and sent to the "Spam" mailbox for evaluation. We had to "Pass" a yearly test about PC security or we could lose internet and intranet (internal network) access.

20 years ago, another company I worked for did a test and found out that leaving a PC on all night long cost about 50¢. Not much, but multiply that times over 1000 PCs 365 days a year and it really added up. High end PCs today use more electricity due to higher CPU power consumption plus graphics cards have their own GPU that requires a fan as well. Windows 10 also has way more programs running in the background as well and anti-virus software (depends on the settings in the software) may be scanning as well.

So save some money and increase security and do a shutdown EVERY day when you are done for the day.

It actually is believed that the Colonial Pipeline ransomeware may have been initiated on an “almost” powered “OFF” PC. The current feeling is some computer in Colonial’s network may have had the Wake on LAN feature enabled which allowed entry to a “wake” magic packet which in turn put the PC into an ON state. Wake on LAN is by default disabled, and even if ON any passwords on the PC would have to be known or cracked to gain total access, but that is relatively easy for a hacker.

I am reminded of a computer security conference in NYC sometime in the mid to late 1990’s (laptops and Powerpoint were very much in vogue). There was a talk by a security professional who stated more or less, “it was absolutely 100% possible to protect your PC, even if it was ON.” As he said this, the Powerpoint display indicated that his hard drive was being formatted! Someone in the audience had hacked the guy while he spoke! OK so this was 25+ years ago but at that time people thought their computers were immune to hacking.

The moral of the story is the hackers are one step ahead of us.

My main goal is keeping useless programs/processes off the main system. These can go in the vm. Anything can be hacked. Question is how easy/difficult to make it for hacker.

The pc is put to sleep mode nightly. With today's ssd's sure systems boot quickly but recreating the work environment is a bit of a pain. Sleep does the job well to start up right where I left off the night before.

tried to update and it is the current version.

Good to know, thanks

As an FYI, the Garmin website currently reads

“Current Version of Garmin Express for Windows: v7.6.0 as of May 27th, 2021”

Of course it could be out of date. My own experience is with 7.6.0.0. which was a bit flakey on opening until I did the latest Windows 10 update this past Tuesday.

good to know, thanks