# Whats going on with my Nord VPN? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2020, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226 "2020-05-21T06:45:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226/21 "2020-05-22T18:04:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m assuming that the message asking for permission to make changes to my device means that the change has not yet been made and that I still have a choice of whether or not it’s made. And whatever change is being made, it’s based on a download from the internet at some point. If my understanding of what’s happening is correct, it’s coming from the ORIGINAL SOFTWARE THAT YOU ALREADY INSTALLED, not from anything downloaded. As I said, unplug your router if you want to confirm that. If you don’t trust the software that you installed, you shouldn’t be using it. I wonder why you installed the software in the first place; presumably you downloaded it from somewhere on the Internet. Why did you trust that download? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226/22 "2020-05-22T18:54:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > To be honest, I feel a lot of these upgrades are essentially done for “shits & giggles”. Half of the upgrades are useless changes that won’t improve the initial product in any meaningful way and the other half is fixing problems caused by the first half. As a customer, I’d be better off avoiding the whole process. > > But I realize the software business is run by people who have a tinkerer mentality. They enjoy being able to fiddle with things and they’ve set up the business so customers have to put up with it. > > There’s no other business where the company that sells you a product feels free to act like they still own the product and have the right to come into your home and play with your property. You do not need to use NordVPN’s software. Go to [Community Downloads - Open Source VPN | OpenVPN](https://openvpn.net/community-downloads/) and download & install OpenVPN for your platform. Go to [OpenVPN configuration files | NordVPN](https://nordvpn.com/ovpn/) and download a profile for the NordVPN server of your choice. You are never dependant on their software again. What you lose are the features the software provides: connect to a specific country, connect to a less busy server, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226/23 "2020-05-22T19:32:53Z")
I was about to comment on the fact that **FinsToTheLeft** was aptly the first to jump in to provide advice to **Little Nemo** , but then I realized that I had always mistakenly confused you with the Nemo in _Finding_ Nemo. Which, anyway, has fought my ignorance in not thinking more carefully about where your name comes from. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226/24 "2020-05-22T19:39:29Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I was about to comment on the fact that **FinsToTheLeft** was aptly the first to jump in to provide advice to **Little Nemo** , but then I realized that I had always mistakenly confused you with the Nemo in _Finding_ Nemo. Which, anyway, has fought my ignorance in not thinking more carefully about where your name comes from. Jimmy Buffet not Pixar 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226/25 "2020-05-22T23:47:05Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > If my understanding of what’s happening is correct, it’s coming from the ORIGINAL SOFTWARE THAT YOU ALREADY INSTALLED, not from anything downloaded. As I said, unplug your router if you want to confirm that. If you don’t trust the software that you installed, you shouldn’t be using it. I wonder why you installed the software in the first place; presumably you downloaded it from somewhere on the Internet. Why did you trust that download? I find this to be unlikely. I installed NordVPN a year ago and I’ve connected and disconnected it countless times in the last year. But I never got this message until this week. So I feel it’s unlikely that it was installed on my hard drive a year ago and has just been waiting there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226/26 "2020-05-22T23:51:07Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > Jimmy Buffet not Pixar In my case, Winsor McCay not Pixar. With a touch of Jules Verne. That’s right. I was Nemo before it was cool. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226/27 "2020-05-23T22:54:19Z")
Windows has been playing with the security settings for a lot of things over the last few updates. That may well be the cause of your problems, not NordVPN. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226/28 "2020-05-24T01:50:33Z")
I’ve got my response back from NordVPN and I’ve fixed the problem. My thanks to everyone for their assistance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-my-nord-vpn/854226.md?page=1)