Norton Internet Security

[Coldicote]

Several weeks ago I gave up trying to reinstall Norton 350 Premier Edition. (I now have a different antivirus program.) There was about a year’s subscription unused so I have tried many times to reinstall, but without success. The problem started with an ‘uninstall and reinstall’ which had previously worked satisfactorily. Last time the uninstall worked but the reinstall didn’t. The system tells me it cannot not find any Norton products on my computer, although in Programs there are still many items under BRANDING, ENGINE, and MUI. Perhaps I’m asking too much that someone on AB might have had a similar experience and found how to overcome it?

[craft1948]

I always log on to the Norton site, have an IM conversation with one of their reps and he sorts everything out.

[mjwman]

Go to the Norton site and you will need to download their uninstaller as Norton infiltrates everywhere on your computer. Only their own uninstaller will remove all traces of it.

[Coldicote]

Thank you for your interest and suggestions craft and mjwman. First the ‘uninstall’ could not gather details about the installed layout or licence, so I then attempted the manual ‘uninstall and reinstall’ - a complicated process, but the good news is I’ve eventually got there and Norton is back up and running. The remaining question now is what should I do with AVG that filled the gap when Norton wasn’t working? I feel an 'affinity' with AVG for helping me out and would like to keep it. Hoping the two will work together.

[MarkRae]

Under no circumstances run more than one anti-virus programme - it will cripple your computer's performance...

[gingejbee]

Mark beat me to it - you will have problems.

[MarkRae]

Hit the Enter button by mistake...

I would suggest you uninstall both Norton and AVG and use this instead: http://www.microsoft..../pc-security/mse.aspx

In addition, once a week or so (or when you think some malware might have got through) run the free version of this: http://www.malwarebytes.org/

[Coldicote]

Thanks for your suggestion MarkRae. I might come to that eventually but I’m hesitating because I have over a year’s Norton subscription outstanding and feel reluctant to waste it.

I went to Control Panel and clicked to uninstall AVG. The process told me it would take a few minutes, but the bar-line indicating progress seemed to get stuck half way. After half and hour it hadn’t moved so eventually I cancelled and tried to start uninstall again, but that displays a notice saying ‘AVG not installed’. The icon still appears on Control Panel and on the desk top (bottom right). Clicking it displays the AVG panel, but indicates ‘there are no active components’. I can only hope that ‘No active components’ means there will be no conflict with Norton. Wondering if I should try and delete AVG manually from Program Files?

[Coldicote]

After much ado I found and used an AVG remover which cleard all the remaining bit and pieces of AVG. All sorted for the time being!

[MarkRae]

> I have over a year’s Norton subscription outstanding

I can't understand why anyone would pay for things like this, not that that helps much!

Sounds like AVG probably is uninstalled. If you reboot, run msconfig from the Start button and look in the Startup tab, you should see no mention of it...

[MarkRae]

OK. I'd strongly advise you to get rid of Norton too, though...

[Coldicote]

OK. Mark, I probably will but need time to recover my equilibrium! Yes, AVG has all gone. The fact that I had so much Norton subscription outstanding is partly because they gave me extra time as compensation for inconvenience.

[berniecuddles]

only one place for norton "DUSTBIN"

[MarkRae]

The latest version of NIS is, by all accounts, nowhere near as bad as previous versions. Still, I don't know any IT professional who would go anywhere near it...

[Coldicote]

My recent computer problems originated from doing a 'System Restore' which I shall try to avoid in future. Mark, I see your answer at 21.10 Wed 03rd October 2012 is shown as 'Best Answer'. It wasn't intentional on my part, perhaps I clicked by accident. Your earlier reference to http://www.microsoft..../pc-security/mse.aspx could prove very useful.