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Joolz 
Special Collaborator 
Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 24 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1377 |
 Posted: March 05 2007 at 05:18 |
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Thanks for the info Certified .... I've just had a look around my system .... I can find no outstanding services relating to Norton, but I did find a single entry in the registry .... looked like the 'product key' used for registration. That's all I could find.
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Certif1ed
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 08 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 7559 |
Posted: March 05 2007 at 02:41 |
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Pardon me for saying so, but while I agree that this is the only way to completely remove Norton, telling people to reformat their drives is not a good idea.
Most people buy a computer as an applicance, and don't want to muck about re-formatting and re-installing everything - just like they wouldn't want to tinker with their car engine if it went wrong.
It's worth pointing out that reformatting doesn't just remove Norton...
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The important thing is not to stop questioning.
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Certif1ed
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 08 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 7559 |
Posted: March 05 2007 at 02:31 |
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Caught
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The important thing is not to stop questioning.
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Certif1ed
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 08 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 7559 |
Posted: March 05 2007 at 02:31 |
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In a nutshell, with something as complex as Norton, it's best to be prepared for the worst, and, if like you, you have no issues, then be pleasantly surprised.
If you are aware of potential issues, you stand a better chance of dealing with them yourself if they crop up.
You reported that you had no problems uninstalling it - so that indicates that some people have no problems.
However, the support forums are crammed with posts from people who have seen issues uninstalling it - and very few from people who have had isues uninstalling other anti-virus software.
Since Norton is one of, if not the most popular A/V package around, it could be that there are more problems reported because more people use it - just like there are more Windows viruses because there are more Windows users and hackers.
- So the (rather unsatisfying) answer to the first question is that there may be something to worry about - more so than with other sofware applications.
As to whether the remaining components are likely to cause "harm", it rather depends on what they are doing - without scouring the support forums for specific issues, it's not possible to tell, but there are some safe assumptions to make, of which these are but 2;
1. The odd unused registry key or discarded file won't hurt anyone.
Some sites report that Norton's uninstaller leaves hundreds of registry keys behind - all this will do is slow system startup a little, since the Operating System parses the registry on system boot, and then it parses the Current User section during the user logon process.
2. An active service and its subsystems will use system resources.
If the service depends on other services or resources that are no longer present, then the system will waste time looking for them to satisfy the demands of this component.
Particularly if this is an item that uses networking or "phones home", like "Live Update", then the system as a whole will feel incredibly slow.
If it's an item that "talks" to the system at a low level, for example, a driver that uses an "interrupt" (literally, a call that interrupts the processor in whatever it's doing), then not only will the system feel slow, but it could actually crash with a blue screen.
- So the maximum potential "harm" that can be caused is that the PC could refuse to boot.
In short, I'm not trying to indulge in scaremongering - just raise awareness that uninstalling Norton is NOT like uninstalling most other programs, and I have certainly had issues with older versions.
These issues included having to rebuild a system I removed Norton AV 2002 from because it subsequently refused to boot.
My advice to anyone wanting to uninstall it is, go ahead and remove it, using the correct procedures - but proceed with caution - find out what the procedure is, read every screen carefully - and BACK YOUR DATA UP FIRST!. I know you read this everywhere, but in this particular case, it's really true.
Bizarrely, the OS disk in the machine I was about to remove Norton from has developed a whole load of bad sectors and now refuses to boot...
Maybe Norton is psychic?  Edited by Certif1ed - March 05 2007 at 02:37 |
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The important thing is not to stop questioning.
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Joolz
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 24 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1377 |
Posted: March 04 2007 at 09:26 |
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The question is ... well, is there anything to be worried about? If there are some low level routines still lurking in my system, is it likely they are doing any harm? [damn, that's 2 questions  ] |
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Angelo
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: May 07 2006 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 13244 |
Posted: March 03 2007 at 12:14 |
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I knew your nick was actually Nerdified.  |
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ISKC Rock Radio
I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |
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Certif1ed
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 08 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 7559 |
Posted: March 03 2007 at 12:08 |
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No - I'm saying there probably will be problems, and that you should make yourself familiar with what sort of problems you might see.
Norton ties itself into the system at a low level, and it depends on what else your system is running as to the type(s) of issues you might see - it's not possible to be specific.
At the risk of looking like a cop-out, it's just not possible to be specific.
I've looked around various user forums for specifics on this issue, and the results vary from entire services and their subsystems to individual resource libraries, folders and/or registry keys.
I'm going to try it myself... I feel brave - or foolhardy.
I am cheating, though - I have a test lab both in my house and at work that I can try this out on sacrificial machines.
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The important thing is not to stop questioning.
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sleeper
Prog Reviewer 
Joined: October 09 2005 Location: Entropia Status: Offline Points: 16449 |
Posted: March 01 2007 at 12:59 |
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Oh thanks, this terrible news. Norton came pre-installed on my PC and the hell I'm going to re-format my hard drive as I'm not confident that I know what I'm doing. Never again with Norton, never again. |
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Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
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N Ellingworth
Forum Senior Member 
Joined: April 17 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1324 |
Posted: March 01 2007 at 12:01 |
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I just tell people to reformat their hard drive if they're trying to get rid of norton it's the only way to truly be rid of it in my experience.
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 23 2005 Location: Caerdydd Status: Offline Points: 32995 |
Posted: March 01 2007 at 11:53 |
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I had a terrible time getting rid of it. I managed eventually but can't rember exacvtl;y how.
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Joolz
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 24 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1377 |
Posted: March 01 2007 at 11:23 |
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I uninstalled Norton 6 weeks ago and moved on to AVG .... I had no problems at all getting rid of Norton ..... what is all this 'crap' that gets left behind? |
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Tony R
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: July 16 2004 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 11979 |
Posted: March 01 2007 at 11:12 |
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So basically you are saying that when I come to uninstall Norton from my system there will be problems. I wish I'd never installed Norton because it seems to have taken over my PC . Norton is installed on my wife's laptop and the laptop takes ages to load. I am 99.9% convinced that Norton is responsible for this. Back to my PC. The last time I tried to run a full system scan with Norton Antivirus I aborted after 18 hrs with it still incomplete! This is pathetic. I have two large hardrives but these days there isnt much on them as I keep all my files etc on two external drives. In recent tests performed by a PC magazine AVG Free did as well as both Norton and McAfee and Steganos (and one I cant remember but which was related to Steganos) outperformed both by a mile.Apparently Norton and McAfee only blocked 33% of viruses on one test....
Addressing Bikkhu and his Mac not crashing, I can honestly say that I cannot ever remember my Windows XP PC crashing...
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Certif1ed
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 08 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 7559 |
Posted: March 01 2007 at 03:23 |
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You can do it that way - but Norton still leaves loads of crap behind.
The safest way (and I know you don't want to hear this) is a clean installation of Windows - wipe the hard disk and start again, or restore the backup you made before you installed Norton... you did make one, right?
No, 99.99% of people don't!
I'll have to keep it brief - I cannot recommend you wipe your hard disk unless you're confident that you can get your system back the way it was by yourself.
BUT
It's the best and most effective way to remove Norton.
The other way is to use Control panel - but hunt around the Internet first for Norton Uninstallation issues - try this: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=norton+uninstallation+issues&meta=
While there are plenty of "solutions", it really pays to be aware of the issues that may arise before you need the solution.
*Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Edited by Certif1ed - March 01 2007 at 03:24 |
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The important thing is not to stop questioning.
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progismylife
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 19 2006 Location: ibreathehelium Status: Offline Points: 15535 |
Posted: February 28 2007 at 14:37 |
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Go to Add/Remove Programs and remove it. I think that would do it. Its in the control panel btw. |
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 23 2005 Location: Caerdydd Status: Offline Points: 32995 |
Posted: February 28 2007 at 14:36 |
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Yes Norton antivirus is extremely dificult to get riid of. I had to purge it from my registry eventually.
Try downloading CCleaner. It has an uninstaller, or try Windows own uninstal facility. Edited by Snow Dog - February 28 2007 at 14:38 |
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bhikkhu
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 06 2006 Location: AČ Michigan Status: Offline Points: 5109 |
Posted: February 28 2007 at 14:09 |
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Fair enough. I'l still never go back to a PC, or Windows. |
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sleeper
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 09 2005 Location: Entropia Status: Offline Points: 16449 |
Posted: February 28 2007 at 13:52 |
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Thanks for your help guys, I'm going to try the Avast program but first, how on earth do i get rid of that bloody Norton, there's no uninstall option?
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Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
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goose
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 4097 |
Posted: February 28 2007 at 08:55 |
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On a Mac I'd recommend Clam AV, because most other freeware antivirus stuff for them is awful. |
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Certif1ed
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 08 2004 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 7559 |
Posted: February 28 2007 at 08:44 |
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The reason Macs crash less than PCs (let's not confuse operating systems with hardware) is that Macs support far less hardware, and the hardware they do support is proprietary and expensive.
Microsoft have no control over who writes drivers, and 9 times out of 10, it's a driver that crashes Windows - and most of the rest of the time, it's Norton. A standard Windows installation is very difficult to crash - and here I speak as a professional software quality controller who has to test Windows products most of the time (I also test Macs, most *nixes and other sundry o/ses).
Mike's 100% right about virus writers - they always aim for the biggest target because it's easier to hit.
Back O/T...
I'm going to look into these Freeware AV packages - Norton is a pain in the preverbial... Edited by Certif1ed - February 28 2007 at 08:47 |
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The important thing is not to stop questioning.
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Dragon Phoenix
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 31 2004 Status: Offline Points: 1475 |
Posted: February 28 2007 at 06:45 |
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I've had AVG for over six years, no virus problems at all.
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Blog this:
http://artrock2006.blogspot.com |
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Freware Anti-virus?
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N Ellingworth wrote: