Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

[NISBOB]

Durdle,

Start the PC in Safe Mode;

Run Registry Mechanic scan and repair.  Those troublesome Norton entries will be removed.

.

Done!

Restart PC; try the Registry Mechanic scan again and you will now see they are gone. 

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

Please .......

<<  Start the PC in Safe Mode;

Run Registry Mechanic scan and repair.  Those troublesome Norton entries will be removed. >> 

And when your computer won't start up again or Norton is not running properly (and maybe you don't know) what then?

The only thing troublesome about those Norton entries is the thought that anyone outside Norton knows enough to blindly delete them just because some third party utility says to do so.

I do support on Windows and on Computers elsewhere and I can't tell you how many times we get a message --

I cleaned up my unnecessary files and cleaned the registry and now it doesn't work

Now above all is not the time to mess with your security software

[NISBOB]

"And when your computer won't start up again or Norton is not running properly (and maybe you don't know) what then?"

I have been using Registry Mechanic for years without one problem.  I have also done what I described above and the problem is fixed.

Now, if there is a problem, then the fix is very straightforward.  You simply apply the backup that Registry Mechnic makes for each and every repair!

Hope that helps.

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

All I can see is I think you have been lucky .... or you meet the criteria I stated earlier of knowing more than the tool does so that you can answer the questions it raises!

I'm prepared to be dogmatic on their dangers and to continue to advise not using them -- it seems absolutely pointless to take a risk of editing the registry when you have no evidence that it is doing any harm.

[Compumind]

Hi -

I have to agree with huwyngr.

Registry Cleaners are dangerous even if used by experienced technical people, like myself.

They have hosed so many systems, that I cannot recommend them.

There is no advantage to touching the System Registry, even with it backed up!

The only time to view and/or modify it is if there is a problem.

To me there is no problem (!)

Your system will not have *any* performance advantage.

[durdle]

I have in the past reported a different registry entry, which Registry Mechanic would not delete, to PC Tools and they advised me how to stop the entry showing in their end-of-run analysis. I'll probably follow that route with these two as well; they will still not be repaired but at least I wont have to keep looking at them. In a way, I suppose it possibly shows that Registry Mechanic does not repair invalid links willy nilly. meanwhile, as Compumind says, there isnt really a problem here. 

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

That's what I did with Malwarebytes -- told it to IGNORE those two entries since I knew absolutely that they were not infected. I might safely been able to allow MWB to DELETE them but I had no way of knowing that.

[durdle]

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huwyngr wrote:
That's what I did with Malwarebytes -- told it to IGNORE those two entries since I knew absolutely that they were not infected. I might safely been able to allow MWB to DELETE them but I had no way of knowing that.

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I hadn't realised that you had experienced those two links being reported yourself. I run Malwarebytes occasionally but haven't done so since this problem cropped up. I'll have another look.

[Compumind]

Hi Durdle -

Boy, this thread just won't go away!

Before you do anything, I would strongly suggest making a simple backup of the windows registry and knowing how to restore it.

Here is a link for that process under XP:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756

Hope this helps...

Compumind

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

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durdle wrote:

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huwyngr wrote:
That's what I did with Malwarebytes -- told it to IGNORE those two entries since I knew absolutely that they were not infected. I might safely been able to allow MWB to DELETE them but I had no way of knowing that.

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I hadn't realised that you had experienced those two links being reported yourself. I run Malwarebytes occasionally but haven't done so since this problem cropped up. I'll have another look.

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Sorry if I was not completely clear. I did not mean to imply I had seen the entries you listed; merely that I had seen two entries flagged by MWB as "Infected" that I chose to ignore.

I can't copy/paste them from the Ignore List in MWB but both referred to Microsoft's Security Center being "bad". Since I have had the Security Center turned OFF in favor of protection by Norton this did not particularly bother me, perhaps mistakenly.

But I've not seen the entries you refer to in your first message.