Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

[mynick]

Installed NIS 2009 today and my ccSvcHst.exe process is using up 100% of CPU from time to time which obviously prevents from using the computer... When I launch some Norton Internet security features such as qucik scan, ccSvcHst.exe process is duplicated... I am running XP SP3. Does anyone know how to fix this issue?
 

[Phil_D Norton Fighter]

Hello mynick,

It is normal to see two instances of ccSvcHst.exe running. One should be listed as SERVICE and the other as the current user.

As far as the 100% CPU usage, open the main Norton interface and click CPU Usage.

This will open a new window where you can track your CPU usage history and check where it spiked to 100%.

In order to assist you better, can you provide some more information:

Can you tell us which NIS 2009 version you are using? (Main interface > Help & Support > About. The most current is 16.5.0.135 or 16.5.0.134.)

What security software did you have prior to Norton? Was it completely uninstalled?

Do you have any other security software currently installed?

Have you performed a manual "Run Live Update" until there are no more updates left? If not, please do so and then restart your computer.

Thanks.

[edit: grammar]

Message Edited by Phil_D on 05-16-2009 09:26 AM

[mynick]

Thanks very much for your reply :

• ok for the 2 instances of cSvcHst.exe
• My NIS version is 16.5.0.135  and I checked for updates but none were required (nota: software installed today)
• My previous protection was Norton AntiVirus which was uninstalled through NIS installation process
• No other security software runs on that computer 
• The CPU usage and memory usage is fully blank (?)

Now it seems that  cSvcHst.exe goes crazy when I launch Firefox (v3) which is my default browser. There is no mesage and Firefox works fine but could there be a link ? I have uninstalled the NIS toolbar but that does not change anything.

Thanks

[Phil_D Norton Fighter]

Have you restarted your computer since the installation of NIS 2009?

[edit: spelling]

Message Edited by Phil_D on 05-16-2009 10:07 AM

[mynick]

Yes, this is the first thing I tried but it did not change anything. I also had to do it an other time because the computer was nearly collapsing but I could not even stop Windows so I had to force shutdown and, of course, got a blue screen at restart.

NOTA: forget about my remark about Firefox, I let the computer boot and cSvcHst.exe went crazy after a few minutes without me doing anything...

Very very frustrating!!! This computer was working fine before I got all these annoyoing messages asking me to renew every 5 minutes and now that I have installed Norton Internet Security 2009, I can't use the computer (I am using someone else computer here).

Do you think I have to uninstall NIS - if that works because the computer is so slow -  or is there some way to fix this and give cSvcHst.exe a lower priority maybe?

Thanks for any help you can give me because I am really desperate!!!

[Phil_D Norton Fighter]

First let me ask you, does your computer meet all the system requirements listed here?

[delphinium Norton Fighter]

Probably the best thing to do would be to remove Norton using the Norton Removal Tool

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

Then reinstall NIS2009.

It might be a good idea to scan with Malwarebytes to make sure your system is clean before reinstalling Norton 

http://www.malwarebytes.org 

Disconnect from the internet, scan with Malwarebytes, clean the system if necessary, and reinstall.  Connect back to the net to activate.

I seem to recall others having difficulty with an install of NIS over top of NAV.  We also don't know what version of NAV you were running previously.  If it was older than 2008, it would compund the problem.

How old is your system, and how much RAM have you got to work with?  Also, have you got some older software that Norton might be objecting to.

I have an older computer that I use for a spare.  Norton will occasionally go to 100% on it as it scans Open Office and some other programs.  It only has 756M RAM and its resources are stretched a bit.  Once the scans are done, Norton has no impact on it.

Phil, great minds obviously think much alike

Message Edited by delphinium on 05-16-2009 11:12 AM

[mijcar]

I would wait on this.

I bet that ccSvsHst.exe does not duplicate itself; there is frequently two instances of it running at the same time; this it standard.

The 100% usage is a real problem; and Symantec is examining files I have sent them on this, right at the moment.  From personal experience I can tell you that removing, cleaning, re-installing -- none of these have any impact other than using up time.

There is a workaround, however, that has given me back my computer during this heavy usage:

1.  Open Taskmanager and go to the processes tab.

2.  Right click on the ccSvcHst that is the culprit (it will not be both of them).

3.  Click on "set priority" and select either  "belownormal" or "low", then close the taskmanager.

Another thing that seems to help, but this I can substantiate, is avoiding Internet Explorer as much as possible.  I've been sticking with Firefox Beta, and the CPU drainage has happened much less often.

Good luck

[delphinium Norton Fighter]

You could well be right, Mijcar, but I don't think we know enough about the poster's sytem to make a definitive call.  I don't like the blue screen issue, and I'm not confident of an NIS over NAV install.  I would like to get more info on this one. I am also concerned that there may be a lack of a firewall with this issue, and resulting malware causing the installation problems.

Message Edited by delphinium on 05-16-2009 12:19 PM

[mynick]

Thanks evrybody for helping me!

Yes, my systems requirement are compatible (Windows XP SP3, MS Office 200, IE 7 & Firefox 3) and computer is only 4y old and strong enough. But I have been rebooting once more and stared at TASK MANAGER without moving from my chair and I found something new that seems to be linked with the problem:

1/ Windows launches then I open Task Manager and sort by Process

2/ Everything is fine for a few minutes then cSvcHst.exe duplicates itself

3/ Message "Autoprotect has detected WIN32.harakit" appears and stays for a few moments then disappears

4/ Then  cSvcHst.exe starts using more and more memory and more and more CP. 

The annoying thing is that  WIN32.harakit is not mentionned in the "Recent history" or "Solved issues" area which means it was probably not processed. I have now uninstalled NIS 2009 through WIndows removal tool (hope this is good enough but will also try the method mentionned in one of the answer) and will try to remove WIN32.harakit before a clean install.

Will keep you posted!