Idle Time Functions

mfc1456 · ‎01-25-2009

I have recently needed to reinstall Windows on my computer (OS: Windows 7 SP1 for 64-bit systems), which necessitated that I also had to re-download and install my Norton 360 product. All seemed to go well, and Norton 360 (ver 6.3.0.14) is mostly working as expected with the exception that actions supposedly performed automatically at idle time (or anything scheduled to run at idle time) are not running. I find I have to activate them manually. I think the reason is that Norton 360 is not recognizing when the computer is idle. So that I may describe the situation as articulately as possible, I would like to refer to the following statement from a Symantec staff member, elsewhere on these forums):

"Then we need to know if your performance counters are working properly. Click on "CPU Usage" on the main UI and see if you have blue CPU spikes in the CPU monitor area. Please confirm that you see these spikes. Maximize the CPU monitor dialog and change the Idle Timeout to 1 minute. This will allow us to check quickly if it is working.If you do not move your mouse or use your keyboard then you should see the blue progress bar filling up within one minute. Once full, it should say "your computer is currently in an idle state" under the progress bar."

When I open performance monitor, I find that as expected the blue and yellow strips are present when the keyboard is active, and as expected fall pretty much to zero once the keyboard is inactive. I would accordingly expect to see an indication that the computer is in idle state after the designated period (default 10 minutes), but this does not happen (even if I change the 10 minutes in settings to 1 minute). The computer can remain inactive for several hours and still no indication of idle time. This occurs without any programs (IE9, Outlook, Office) running. At the moment there are minimal applications reinstalled on the computer (and cerain ly nothing like Windows Live,etc). Anyway, the computer could have many more open applications without Norton 360 being affected.

I have considered uninstalling and reinstalling Norton 360, but am loathe to do so because a) this task has become less user friendly than it used to be (what has happened to the Norton removal tool?), and I am loathe to do so given that I spent 5 hours this afternoon manually setting up and running a backup to Norton Online storage. Also, I am not sure that it would solve the problem.

I would be very pleased for some advice from a Symantec staff member or someone in the know. Referring back to the above quote, it appears that the performance counters in Performance Monitor are not working properly. I am hoping for a remedy.

Thank You

Michael Cooper

peterweb · ‎04-17-2008

A couple of questions.

Have you run LiveUpdate manually a few times, rebooting as necessary, until no updates are available?

Try clicking on Support - Get Support to run Autofix to check your installation and fix what it finds.

Why did you have to reinstall Windows? Was it a general cleanup, or because of an infection?

Things happen. Export/Backup your Identity Safe data.

yank · ‎12-02-2009

mfc1456 wrote:
, I would like to refer to the following statement from a Symantec staff member, elsewhere on these forums):

"Then we need to know if your performance counters are working properly. Click on "CPU Usage" on the main UI and see if you have blue CPU spikes in the CPU monitor area. Please confirm that you see these spikes. Maximize the CPU monitor dialog and change the Idle Timeout to 1 minute. This will allow us to check quickly if it is working.If you do not move your mouse or use your keyboard then you should see the blue progress bar filling up within one minute. Once full, it should say "your computer is currently in an idle state" under the progress bar."

I would be very pleased for some advice from a Symantec staff member or someone in the know. Referring back to the above quote, it appears that the performance counters in Performance Monitor are not working properly. I am hoping for a remedy.

Hi Michael,

In regards to "the above quote" - things have changed slightly since that quote was made. The blue progress bar referred to as filling up indicating how many minutes the system has been in idle nd telling you when it goes into idle no longer exsists. I believe it was removed with NIS2012. Anyway, I did some playing around and came up with the following for you to try.

Go to Settings > Aministrative Settings > scroll down to Ide Time Out > set it 1 Minute > Apply > Close

Then on Main Page go to Performance and let the system sit (as in an Idle condition) and you will see the following:

N360 Idle.png

Let the system sit a few minutes in Idle and then move the mouse causing it to come out of Idle and yo9u will see the following (notice the system has come out of Idle.

N 360 unidle.png

Yu can try this and see if your system does in fact enter Idle or not. If you look closely you will also see that there was some background CPU activity from my system (blue) and also from Norton (yellow).

Hope this clears up why the statement does not agree with the actual operaton.

Can you explain you comment about the Norton Removal Tool - it still exsists and there is an even a handier way to uninsta/reinstall using the Remove and Renistall Tool. I'll hold off going into that until after you answer peter's suggestions.

mfc1456 · ‎01-25-2009

Hi Peter

Thank you for your reply. Here are my answers to your questions:

1.I have run LiveUpdate many times without effect

2.When I run Autofix it tells me that there is nothing wrong with the Norton installation.

3.I reinstalled Windows because of recent problems (following some software updates) with the Sound (also Display/Mouse which apparently are connected in some way on this computer); had tried reinstalling/updating relevant drivers but could not setup the display correctly. So decided to reinstall Windows using the original Dell installation disks, after which I was able to reinstall the display and sound correctly with drivers from the Dell Support site. Dell computers can be tricky). Since then the computer (and the minimal software I cuurently have installed) seem to be functioning correctly. I had to re- download Norton 360 to install it, and it is apparently functioning correctly other than the situation I described in my post.

Regards

Michael

mfc1456 · ‎01-25-2009

Hi Yank

Thank you for the reply to my post.

Firstly I would like to refer you to my reply to Peter.

Yes, the performance monitor that you have shown in your message is exactly what I was attempting to describe - using the earlier terminology. As you will see from the accompnying screen image, my system is not recognizing the idle state, even with the idle time out set to 1 minute. No matter how long I let the computer sit, the idle condition is never entered/displayed. So,unless someone can come up with an alternative suggestion, it may be time to try the uninstall/reinstall option for Norton 360. I would be pleased to find out about the Remove and Renistall Tool.

Thanks

Michael

yank · ‎12-02-2009

Hi mfc1456,

I notice one detection (red triangle) everyday - anything going on there? Hover over it and click on View Details - I have a few showing and mine are reporting tracking cookies.

The 33 Norton Installations (circled N with the number above) is mind boggling also? What are they? Once again Hover over the icon and it should present details. Not saying anything worng - just confused - unless it includes the LiveUpdates. However I just reinstalled my Norton today and it only shows one Norton Application Installation.

All that said - perhaps you could go thru your N 360 Settings and return all to Default Settings to make sure that a setting is not the problem. If you have made any custom settings, perhpas writting them down prior to using defaut may be a good idea.

Information on the Norton Remove & Reinstall Tool is located here:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/norton-support/jsp/help-solutions.jsp?lg=english&ct=united+states&do...

Please read and understand the "Before you begin"

SendOfJive · ‎02-07-2009

Hi mfc1456,

Are you using a wireless mouse or keyboard, especially a Logitech? There have been a few reported cases where the periodic signal from these devices will sometimes cause a PC to appear to Norton to be no longer idle.

mfc1456 · ‎01-25-2009

Thank You

You have hit the nail on the head. I was leaning towards that solution myself, but had not tested until receiving your reply. Swapping mouse and keyboard to versions plugged into usb ports has instantly crectified the problem. I had been using older Microsoft wireless mouse and keyboard combination - never any problem until recently. Interestingly, I believe upgrades to the Microsoft software for these devices initiated the original sound problems that I was having, eventually leading me to have to reinstall Windows. Since doing so, I have been using with generic drivers without installing the Microsoft Intellipoint/IntelliType software so as not to recreate the original problems. I guess I will just have to get used to this very inferior Dell keyboard for the time being.

Many thanks

Michael