Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

[car825 Super Contributor]

Does the Norton Removal Tool have any side effects that would negatively impact my system? For example, does it clean up the registry or leave it a mess?

[Yaso_Kuuhl Norton Fighter]

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car825 wrote:

Does the Norton Removal Tool have any side effects that would negatively impact my system? For example, does it clean up the registry or leave it a mess?

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If it left a mess, it wouldn't be available for downloading round the clock, or recommended by tons of people, or downloaded and used so often for a clean deinstallation and installation :-) If you have got more than one Norton product on your system, then the Norton Removal Tool will wipe out ALL of them, it does not target only one product, so make sure you've got only one Norton product on your machine - or that you want to wipe all Norton products off your system. It is recommended that you run the tool 2-3 times to make sure you get rid of all the leftovers. Reboot in between running the tool (this should happen automatically). Also, make sure you use the proper Norton Removal Tool for your product version. If you have a very specific/customised software setup/programs/configurations not frequently seen on "standard" computers, then there might be conflicts, but it's rare. The Norton Removal Tool can also cause problems if there is malware on your system - in which case you already have a serious problem.

The Norton Removal Tool is usually recommended ONLY if you run into problems during the normal add/remove deinstallation procedure of your product, or if your product is so corrupted/damaged that you are left with no other option. In a nutshell: it's definitely safe to use ;-)

PS: Write down your product key and disconnect from the internet before running the tool; and you may want to create a system restore point beforehand :-D

Message Edited by Yaso_Kuuhl on 08-23-2009 12:41 AM

[Turbo]

Just to elaborate a bit on Yaso's eloquent post, the Norton Removal Tool was designed specifically to remove broken or problematic installations of Norton products. If it left a mess what would be the point of running it at all? You might as well do a manual uninstall. Luckily for all Norton users the tool functions quite well.

[Impulse]

I remember having problems with the Removal Tool years ago, I'm talking 3-4 years ago here though, it was probably one of the earliest versions of the tool (and during some of the worst versions of NAV/NIS, '05/'06)... I've had to use it a handful of times over the past 2-3 years though (when a Windows/Norton install becomes corrupted due to bad memory, an unstable OC, etc.) and on those occasions it's always worked without issue... It does exactly what it should do, remove all relevant traces of the program so that you can re-install 'em from scratch and fix any lingering issues.

 One thing it didn't use to remove was the Product Key text files from the documents folder though (and/or the registry? I forget), for a while now all versions of NAV/NIS/360 have been including a clearly laid out method to switch product keys from within the program though so that isn't a big deal. Go ahead and use it with confidence if you're having issues with your NIS install, and then download the newest version off Norton directly rather than re-installing an old one from your product CD.

[Yaso_Kuuhl Norton Fighter]

Yes, the Norton Removal Tool does NOT delete the product key. This is intentional; if you want to install another NIS product (provided it belongs to the same category as the previous product, i.e. NAV, NIS, Norton 360), then the new program will still be able to pick up your product key automatically. However, it is better to write down your product key and keep it ready after running the tool.

As Impulse pointed out, today's removal tool is quite sophisticated ;-) 

And, as Impulse also said, it is better to download the latest version from the Symantec website, because the one on the CD is obviously "static" and not...hm...updatable, if that's a word ;-)))

Don't worry, car825. I'm sure - we're all sure - that you'll be just fine :-)

Message Edited by Yaso_Kuuhl on 08-23-2009 02:21 PM

[Impulse]

Yeah, I only mentioned the fact that it doesn't remove the Product Key because that has tripped me up in the past when I've actually wanted to change Product Keys after using the Removal Tool... Either because mine was about to expire anyway or somehow it picked up the wrong key or whatever. This was before they started offering 3 licenses in one box for what used to be the price of a single license tho, I'd buy the cheaper OEM licenses online (or the 3-pack Symantec offered) and sometimes I'd have to juggle the keys across a few of my machines as they expired, etc...

Like I said though, even if you have to switch product keys, these days it's pretty simple to do from within the program once it's running so it's unnecessary to worry about it during setup. For most users it's obviously much more convenient for the NRT not to wipe the product keys off the system.

The whole install/uninstall process has definitely gotten a LOT smoother over the years w/NIS despite how much more complex the program has grown... Without even taking the NRT into account. 2009/2010 install faster than ever and seem to be much easier to wipe and re-install than older versions. Honestly, some people complain about how "deep" Norton's programs burrow into the OS but I've seen some of the more popular freeware AVs get triped up by the simplest things (like not downloading updates or flashing bogus warnings because Windows has the date set incorrectly), that's no better, heh.

Message Edited by Impulse on 08-23-2009 08:52 AM