Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

[Quietleaf]

---

deuxbits wrote:

It's clear to me that Symantec has sabotaged NAV 2003 either deliberately or by no longer checking if the Updater would trash the older version. I'm not happy about this, and the way that Symantec has gone about providing advanced warning and support for this problem stinks, but the product is over 7 years old.

I'm trying Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) on all XP based "secondary" computers (I support 10 users on over 10 computers, and Symantec's defintion of  a "user license " is tied to only one computer). MSE's one "flaw" that I have seen reported is that the scan times for a full scan are very long. It also does not have a feature that NAV 2010 has that I really like. NAV 2010 will do a weekly full scan when it detects the computer is idle - it's a bit more flexible/intelligent in its scheduling.

Unfortunately, I still have some Windows 2000 machines, and MSE does not say it supports Win2K. Given that Win2K is going off MS support in July 2010, this makes sense for Microsoft's free product.

NAV 2010 is not a perfect product. It does not support Win2K. The performance hit on XP seems to be minimal - that is deserving of applause - and it does more to protect you than NAV 2003 - but it reports deleting (fixing) tracking cookies like something major has happened on your machine. This is extremely stupid, and a terible security practice. After a few weeks of seeing this message "NAV has fixed NN security problems on your machine" and investigating by looking at details, users will no longer pay attention when the see that all it's reporting is deleting tracking cookies. This is an excellent example of the classic "boy who cried wolf"  fable. I assume this is being done for marketing reasons (NAV 2010 is proudly telling you how much work they've been doing in the background - it must be worth paying for....).

Bottom line - remove NAV 2003 and try Microsoft Security Essentials. It is surprisingly good, and I would bet it is just fine for stable machines which have users who are security concious (are very cautious about the links they click and emails they open).

---

Somewhat OT, but you might want to check out SmoothText for your Win2k boxes. You can find it at msfn.org in the Win2k/2003 forum area. It's an OUTSTANDING free app for Win2k and NT4.

[zontar]

I seriously doubt that any fix will be forthcoming.

That would require, apparently, a major patch to the program code to support the larger definitions, and I just don't see them dedicating any resources to this.

As far as MSE running on WIN2k, it's likely that it will flat out refuse to install under that OS.

We are not going to get anything from Norton/Symantec beyond a coupon to upgrade to the new version.

This does not interest me, but perhaps it will make a few people happy.

For my part, I going to have to put clients onto some other options.

I've already got some people on PREVX [the free version] and it has cleaned a rather nasty rootkit from a system that nothing else could even find. Some manual cleanup was required [the free version has limitations], but the system is now clean, after having some serious issues [random reboots and even powering off, refusing to start, and corrupting data DVDs burned while infected]. Somebody has also pointed me to Panda Cloud Antivirus, which looks odd but promising.

Norton did a decent job while it lasted, but that's over.

[hmorton3]

Wow, I can't believe this is a known problem and Norton has not resolved it yet!  I am running Windows XP with Norton 2005 with the latest updates.  In fact, I just renewed my subscription on 5/11/10 and I just received the Auto-Protect Error.  When trying to fix it with their online tool, I get the message saying I need to run Internet Explorer as Administrator, when I'm already the Administrator!!!  This is very frustrating and wasted a lot of my time until I found this website.  If this isn't resolved soon by Norton, I will demand my money be refunded and I'll gladly purchase McAfee or another product.  If Norton did not plan to support updated virus definitions for Norton 2005, they should not have sold me the updated subscription and instead informed me that I needed to upgrade to Norton 2010.  I smell a class-action lawsuit unless Norton gets their stuff together real quick.  If I get a virus due to the Auto-protect not running, I will fully hold Norton liable for any damages.  Enjoy....

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

hmorton,

I can't comment on the error situation itself since I'm not using the older version but on that irritating "You must be an Administrator" message when you already are a User/Administrator ......

This is something that is annoying but the explanation I have been given by people I trust about how Windows works is that the people who are labeled Administrator in Properties / Security are better described as "Users with Elevated Privileges" and that there is in fact a hidden Adminsitrator rank created when you install Windows and that at that level you can do things that you cannot with the other Administrator level -- confusing? Yes but it's Windows ....

I'm not certain how you access this top Administrator level of privileges but I think one way is to boot to SAFE Mode when you start the computer -- often holding down the F8 Key immediately anything comes up on the screen the moment you switch on the computer.

But perhaps someone will explain this better than I can.

[mcomport]

I received the same thing on Norton Antivirus 2003, and now cannot get the scan to run. I have since bought Norton 360 and am waiting for it to arrive. Any ideas on how to correct this problem until the new software arrives?

[tyreese]

DC_101 Wrote

Hi,

I am experiencing a similar problem with NIS / NAV 2003 Professional.

As of a couple of days ago, whenever I turn on my PC, NAV Auto protect is disabled.

I then get a Microsoft error message indicating that there is a problem with Auto Protect

and a request to send abend information on to Microsoft.

I can then manually re-enable Auto rotect.

If I then try to run Full System Scan, I get an Symantec error message saying:

Norton AntiVirus was unable to scan your computer for infections because a critical error

occurred during the scan.

There is a link to click to to go the Knowledge Base. This takes me to a page for downloading and running

the AutoFix Tool.

When I run this I get the following error message:

You must run this tool as an Administrator. Please right click the Internet Explorer shortcut, and then click Run as administrator. If you receive this same message, please log in to an account that has Administrator rights and re-run this action.

However I am logged on as administrator. I also created a new administrator account and re-ran the above

with no success.

Would be interested to hear if anyone else has the same problem and if there is a solution.

Virus Definitions are dated: 12/05/2010

DC.

I am having the EXACT problem, can someone PLEASE HELP because this is no way to spend a Saturday night!

[Edmund]

Sad to report that I've given up on Symantec providing a solution - it was just too long to be running with out of date virus defs. I am now using Microsoft security Essentials and it  seems to be working fine up to now. Reports on various web sites say that it's good so fingers crossed. If enough people find that Microsoft's (free) alternative to NAV is OK, then Symantec might regret not having provided the hoped for fix.

[sirstanley]

Hello Everyone,

I got offered $50 money voucher to buy the new software which is nice but doesn't sort out this problem and again Im asking how long will it be until this problem is solved???

People should keep the pressure on and in the meantime use a free software and Im sure if things don't change soon then this will be the beggining of the end for unhappy Norton users and they/we will just move on to a more trusted and reliable system.

SSB

[herberth]

Hello,

There is something that I don't understand :

If I take a look on the last french update :
 ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/francais/definitions_virales/norton_antivirus/
then I download and unzip the last update file "20100628-002-i32.exe", I can find this file : "UPDATE.TXT" (see below a part of the text file and attached file) :

"

(...)

Intelligent Updater
                       ===================

 This program automatically updates Norton AntiVirus and Symantec
 AntiVirus products with the latest virus definitions. It automatically
 searches for the program on your computer and updates the necessary files.

 This document includes installation instructions for the following
 platforms:

    I.  Norton AntiVirus 2000 for Win9x/NT/2000
   II.  Norton AntiVirus 2001 for Win9x/Me/NT/2000
  III.  Norton AntiVirus 2002 for Win98/Me/NT/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
   IV.  Norton AntiVirus 2003 for Win98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
    V.  Norton AntiVirus 2004 for Win98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
   VI.  Norton AntiVirus 2005 for Win98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
  VII.  Norton AntiVirus 7.x Corporate Edition
 VIII.  Symantec AntiVirus 8.x Corporate Edition
   IX.  Symantec AntiVirus 9.x Corporate Edition
    X.  Norton AntiVirus for OS/2
   XI.  Norton AntiVirus for Microsoft Exchange (Intel)
  XII.  Symantec AntiVirus/Filtering for Domino
 XIII.  Norton AntiVirus 2.0 for Lotus Notes for AS/400
  XIV.  Norton AntiVirus 2.5 for Lotus Notes for AS/400 (iSeries)
   XV.  Norton AntiVirus 2.5 for Lotus Notes for OS/390

 It also includes instructions and resources for manual updates.

  XVI.  Installing Virus Definition Files Manually
 XVII.  Intelligent Updater File List
XVIII.  Recent changes


=====================================================================
Installation Files and Disk Sets
=====================================================================

 The Intelligent Updater installation disks or CD contains several
 executable files. The filenames change from week to week. They show
 the year (yyyy) the month (mm) and day (dd) that the definitions
 were released.  They also show the version number (vvv) which represents
 multiple builds


 Filename:                Description:
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 yyyymmdd-vvv-I32.EXE    Intelligent Updater (v4.01.57) updates
                            - Norton AntiVirus 2000 for Windows 9x/NT/2000
                            - Norton AntiVirus 2001 for Windows 95b/98/NT/2000/Me
                            - Norton AntiVirus 2002 Professional Edition
                            - Norton AntiVirus 2002 for Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
                            - Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional Edition
                            - Norton AntiVirus 2003 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
                            - Norton AntiVirus 2004 Professional Edition
                            - Norton AntiVirus 2004 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
(...)


It significates this version of update is COMPATIBLE but I obtain the same issue, autoprotect crashed at startup.

How Symantec can say (if I understood all the subject), on one hand, this versions of Norton updates (for NAV 2000 to 2004) are not maintain, and on other hand includes a message of compatibility in the update file ???

Thanks in advance

[Quietleaf]

Well, two months later, LiveUpdate still installs new virus updates, and they still don't work.

Guys. Seriously. Knock off the broken updates. If the new updates are crashing the older AV's because there isn't enough kernel memory, then STOP UPDATING THEM. Just put the last known good one on the update server and leave it at that. It's one thing to run into an architectural limitation, it's another to turn EVERYONE's bought-and-paid-for pressed CD's into coasters because YOUR updates break the software. Does anyone at Symantec actually believe that to be acceptable? Tomorrow, Windows 2000 will be EOL'ed, but believe me, if tomorrow's update made my Win2k box inoperable and all I got from MS was a "sorry, you need to upgrade" message, I'd start considering a USAir flight to Redmond and after arrival something in the continuum between some VERY salty language and a lit torch and a sharp pitchfork.

Just quit it, already. Breaking a bought product is WAY beyond unacceptable.