Norton Antivirus problem solved

[Gillie2tat]

Just thought I'd share how I finally got rid of the bits my Norton Antivirus had left behind in the registry.  There were numerous Symantec entries in every section of the registry keys.

Nortons was well and truly gone to all appearances, didn't even leave bits of itself in the All Programs menu.  Then I was checking something out in my Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel and noticed a couple of Symantec Live-Update items still installed!

I ran the Program Files uninstaller on them and now all Symantec programs are completely gone from my system.

I know people often reinstall completely to get rid of Nortons and I hope no-one minds my posting this experience - it might help someone out because I found it wasn't necessary to do that and it's a much less scary fix for most people than editing the registry and far less painful than a reinstall!

I'm running XP Service Pack 1 so this may not work on all computers but it's worth trying.

On the other hand I still have a few Zonelabs registry keys in the Software sections, should I just delete these?  I no longer have any Zone Alarm software on my system, they're just dead registry items.

[bob3160]

Gillie2tat
Just make sure you back up your registry before you start any changes in the registry. Better safe than sorry.
If you don't use ZA any more, then it's best to get rid of it unless you plan on re-installing at a later time.
As far as NAV Goes, I assume you've either gotten the removal tool from Symantec or done a very thorough cleaning of all their junk in the registry. Check out RejZoR program it may make the removal of NAV a sinch depending on the version you used. Besides if you use Avast! it's an indespensible tool anyway. Known as MUST HAVE Software.
http://freeweb.siol.net/razor256/downloads/avast_external_control.zip
And don't worry, even with all that build up, it's FREE.
He's one of us. Good luck and welcome back.

[Gillie2tat]

As far as NAV Goes, I assume you've either gotten the removal tool from Symantec or done a very thorough cleaning of all their junk in the registry. Check out RejZoR program it may make the removal of NAV a sinch depending on the version you used. Besides if you use Avast! it's an indespensible tool anyway. Known as MUST HAVE Software.

Actually I didn't know about any of that.  What I actually did was first of all uninstall my Norton antivirus and I think I used the Start-Program Files-Symantec-Uninstall Norton Antivirus method or whatever the route is to the antivirus builtin uninstaller.  I've had absolutely no problems whatsoever with the computer since I ran that other than a couple of viruses which were nothing to do with Nortons and which are sorted.  I was using Norton Antivirus 2003, 2004 never came near my puter and I have no intention ever of getting it!

I have downloaded RejZoR's program and must get round to installing it other people on this forum have mentioned it.

I never edited the registry at all I just looked at it.  When I got rid of the Symantec programs still listed in Add/Remove Programs I used XP's Remove button to get rid of them then went back and had another look at the Registry - that was when to my delight all the Symantec programming was gone from the Registry  I don't think there are any NAV entries either but I'll double check on that.

I know other people have a lot more trouble with it than that.

I know how to back up the registry but I take it I should burn the backup to disk rather than just saving it to the hard drive

Thanks for your clear explanation and help on this it is much appreciated.

[bob3160]

Gillie2tat
You can back the registry up to your HD. It's only a file.
As far as your uninstall, The regular windows add/remove program does not remove all traces. Again, go to Symantec and get their removal program.
Let me know how you made out.

[RejZoR]

Well the main problem is that they don't have ANY removale tool as Alwil does. You have to delete all files manually and half of them isn't even documented. Deleting Reg keys is half manual
avast! External Control cleans files and registry keys automatically. Even those undocumented. Unfortunatelly its limted to NAV2004 and WinXP only :'(

[Gillie2tat]

OK I ran the Registry (Start-Run-Regedit) and did some searches for NAV, Symantec and Norton but it didn't come up with anything.  Go figure because I downloaded the Rnav2003.exe tool and ran it and it told me it had uninstalled Norton Antivirus.  I'd have expected it to tell me there was nothing to uninstall.  There's certainly nothing obvious to look for and as computer is functioning fine I think I can leave it now.

RezJoR I'm not sure that that's quite correct, they DO have removal tools but you're supposed to use Add/Remove Programs first as I did.  It shouldn't have found anything to uninstall.

Oh well looks like it's fine now:) you going to make your tool able to do a full removal of earlier versions of NAV any time soon?

I still haven't actually touched the Registry in terms of editing, I've only run searches and looked through the foldes:) but I can't find anything that needs to be got rid of which may be good news:)

[Lisandro]

RejZoR, does the keys that avast! External Control cleans automatically are those I have told you?

In Windows 98, I think the user does not have to be worried, only in WinXP that problem on VDD drivers occurs.

Gillie, what is your situation now? Is your avast working?

[RejZoR]

Yes,AEC cleans VDD section too including all undocumented VXD drivers.

[Gillie2tat]

Oh my Avast is working just fine and there do not at present seem to be any problems with my puter, though as you know that doesn't mean there aren't any lurking somewhere!  I think the problem of Nortons is resolved for now, I only ever had Version 2003 on this machine, it's too new to have had an older version on it.

I had a bit of trouble burning CDs yesterday using my Nero burning software but I think that may have been faulty CDs rather than a computer problem.  That's the only problem that I've noticed at all recently and I'm going to have to contact Fujitsu Seimens about it because it may be something to do with the inbuilt DVD RW/CD burner drive, it's refusing to burn DVDs at all.   Don't know what if anything I'm doing wrong but that's not your problem:)

[Lisandro]

Yes, AEC cleans all undocumented VXD drivers.

woh! Fantastic way to get rid from trash left behind by NAV  

[Gillie2tat]

LOL indeed especially after you read the nightmares other users go through!  I think I've had a very lucky escape.

Thank you again for your help:)

[cousindave]

Damn,I ended up reformatting to get rid of Norton.
What a pain!!

[bob3160]

Damn,I ended up reformatting to get rid of Norton.
What a pain!!

I guess you didn't ask for help on one of the forums???

[cousindave]

I poked around,but I'm just not comfortable screwing around with the registry.
So I backed up what I wanted to keep and reformatted.

[bob3160]

Cousin Dave
I know this is hindsight but the uninstaller at the Symantec site didn't require you to touch your reg. at all. It did that part for you.
But Hindsight is easy. every one can be an expert after the fact.
I know I've made my share of blunders and then found out I could have saved all that aggrevation.