Norton 22.12.1 patch Wipes Out Scheduled Tasks

Do you mean it actually wiped all the scheduled tasks for Microsoft Windows etc. too?

If this is true, then this really is a first-class screw-up 

Is it just me, or is Norton not doing any testing what so ever on their side? Seems like these guys just develop something and throw it out into the wild, using the motto "oh well, the customer will test it for us".

Hi @drminer,

Thanks for reporting in Norton Community Forums. I have sent you a private message requesting for more details for further investigation. 

Djeezes, I can confirm.

Just updated to the latest version of norton and thank god I saw this thread on the forums during the day.

I exported all my scheduled tasks in the root of the task scheduler library, guess what: update to new version and they're all gone...

Am in the process of re-importing them now.

Nice going Norton! Do you guys do ANY kind of testing what so ever before releasing code to customers?

One of the scheduled tasks being removed for me was "GoogleUpdateTaskMachineCore", with following description:

Keeps your Google software up to date. If this task is disabled or stopped, your Google software will not be kept up to date, meaning security vulnerabilities that may arise cannot be fixed and features may not work. This task uninstalls itself when there is no Google software using it.

Another one was "Adobe Acrobat Update Task":

This task keeps your Adobe Reader and Acrobat applications up to date with the latest enhancements and security fixes

Seriously???? Basically by updating Norton you guys just introduced potential future security problems in my machine????

You guys really screwed this one up, nice going.

Same here, all the tasks in the root are deleted.

Because I had a recent restore point, i restored from there and they were back and gone again after reinstall latest update.

Plse withdraw from servers as may ordinary users will be impacted without knowing and realizing!!!!

So is this patch safe for use or not? Can Symantec please check in?

No, not safe as it removes all tasks in the root, including tasks needed by manufacturer to start the system in the right way.!!!!

This seems like quite a serious problem.  So should I restore an image backup from before this patch?

I would restore, as you do not know what more is removed there.
It now looks that only the tasks in the root are removed (about 20 on my system). It does not seem, on first view, that more is removed. The underlying folders seem unchanged, but i am not sure.
I can oversee the root, but do not know what more is removed.
 

Just finished restoring my machines.

Well that's great ! I wondered why my backup didn't run today.

How can I now possibly tell which tasks were deleted ?

This seems biggest blunder by Norton to date - see no response from Norton themselves - patch need urgent pulling -PLEASE Norton. Norton need to provide a user choice box whether to install or not. Lately, it appears installing first release of update causes numerous issues, ie. 22.11 & 22.12. I have learnt lately not to install updates until a few weeks have elapsed - fed up with acting as Norton's test team which they don't appear to have now.

This is what happened to me; see attached files.

We need @Sunil_GA to react now, because a lot of systems are potentially compromised technically!!

Can someone inform the right people?

I've been trying to contact @Sunil_GA but no luck so far.

FYI, My restored image is running Windows Defender and all scheduled tasks are still intact.

If this is the new Norton normal.... pass!

Krusty, same here. Yesterday Sunil asked for more info in a PM and did not respond to that either.

The problem is that a lot of users have no going back nor escape.

Yeah, I know.  One major stuff up (putting it nicely)!

Ya know @Sunil_GA, all it takes is something along the lines of, "thank you for informing us of the problem.  We have pulled this update and are investigating a fix".  Too much to ask??

Hi Everyone,

We have reported this issue to concerned team and they are looking into it. I will update here once we have more info. Thanks 

Mohan_G was the name on the email I received from new product notifications (subscribed) - where is his response?. Disappeared for a couple of days after his original 22.12 release notification in early January then another issue about being pulled although this did not come through as an email notification - had to find this on a search - complete lack of communication from Norton again in that case (then there was 2 versions, the link I had was one comment behind which I did not find till too late). I was brought up, if you have made a mistake, put your hand up. I assume people that have lost their tasks would be entitled to claim from Norton.

Sunil,

The update needs to be withdrawn from the server; the impact is too big now!!

All important tasks to start the system are removed now!!

What am I missing here? Knowledgeable people who know where this forum is and how to use it are reporting potentially computer crippling action by this update and all @Sunil_GA can say is "they are looking into it". Why aren't they pulling it immediately and then look into it????? I'm sure for every one person reporting the problem here, it's happening to many more who have no idea what's happening to their PC's. Why is Norton taking this road of "non action"? How many potentially destroyed computers do they consider an acceptable loss before they proactively pull this update??

AnNe_Z : No, it's bad as it is directly after the update, all Scheduled Tasks in the root are removed by this update, meaning :
Where computer manufacturers place startup tasks there and Google, Adobe and the like place update tasks there, they are all gone. This together with your own tasks and a few Windows tasks. Gone, gone, gone and it's impossible to recover from that.

The update does not seem to impact the undelying folders, but it's very hard to get overview of that massive amount of tasks and if there are missing some.

PhxFlyer : i am now already asking for one full day, via PM and the forum, to pull this update, as the damage is getting worse and more and more systems crippled. But Sunil and his mates still have no sense of urgency, as it is URGENT!!!

Regards, Hugo

It's about time.

Mohan_G was the name on the email I received from new product notifications (subscribed) - where is his response?. Disappeared for a couple of days after his original 22.12 release notification in early January then another issue about being pulled although this did not come through as an email notification - had to find this on a search - complete lack of communication from Norton again in that case (then there was 2 versions, the link I had was one comment behind which I did not find till too late)

I assume lack of response from Norton is due to everybody recovering from Tony_ Weiss's leaving party. Surely anyone else would pull the update if only a hint of an issue, let alone a major one as this appears to be. What about those users that have updated, do not use the forums and are unaware that they may have potentially ruined their computer. Norton Security is supposed to stop 'bad' programmes etc. coming through but does not seem to stop their own.

The only question I have now - is there a way to get back this tasks if I don't have restore points. Give me advise please Symantec. Another one rubbish update...

Hi everyone,

The Norton 22.12.1.14 product update has been pulled back from the LiveUpdate server.

The team is investigating the 'update wipes scheduled tasks' issue to find the root cause.

We'll update this thread when we have more information. 

Sorry for the inconvenience. 

There is still someone at home. Hope they answer Vitalik's last posting. I assume there should be automatic restore points created under Control Pane/Recovery, no doubt a lot of people will be in this position.

On older Windows versions think it was 'System Restore' in control panel, my old XP created these every few days, 8.1 once a week.

So finally : I wrote an email to @Mohang instead of @Sunil_GA and then the update was finally pulled.

@mgirons : There are few things to consider with System restore on Windows 10 :

• Basically System Restore is still available as before on Windows 10 under Control Panel/System/Advanced/System Restore
• But : At installation time of Windows 10 the default state of System Restore is 'Off', even on the system volume, so no restore points are made. This is different from Windows 7 and 8, on which the default is 'On'.
• Only if you have set System Restore explicitely to 'On', you can go back to a previous state of Windows 10.  You can also go back if you make regular external backups.

That's also why this update is as destructing as it is!!

So if you do not have restore point or a regular backup, you are lost, unless Norton has a solution for you.

If you know which Started Tasks were in there, you can reinstall the programs and get the automatically generated tasks back, f.i. a few : Google Chrome, Adobe Reader and Flash Player, Garmin Express, Asus ATK Package and Smart Gesture......etc. etc. These are just a few suggestions from my systems and may not be valid for others.

If you go back via System Restore then first switch off Tamper Protection in Settings/Adminstration Settings of Norton, otherwise you will have a crippled Norton after restore.

How long should i switch off tamper protection?

Just choose 15 minutes or 1 hour, depending on how fast your system is. With a SSD 15 minutes should suffise.
After restore Tamper Protection will be on again, as you are back to an eatlier state of Norton.

Run LiveUpdate after System Restore to cope with the latest updates after your restore point.

Thank you for the reply. You are a life saver.

Mohan_G:

The Norton 22.12.1.14 product update has been pulled back from the LiveUpdate server.

For some reason when this update downloaded on my machine, I luckily did not immediately install it but clicked Apply Later which never happened because I haven't switched off my machine since then intentionally, in view of what other users were experiencing.

Now that it has been pulled back from the LiveUpdate server I could reinstall NS but I won't since the local Norton Customer Support is not availbale over weekends, and unfortunately  when reinstalling I often have to contact them bacause of problems such as, for example, the impossibility to connect to the server for the final confirmation, and Customer Support has always been able to help me.  Therefore I will have to keep my machine turned on until then, of which I am not enthusiastic at all.

no problem, all fine for me with 22.12.1.14 on Win 7 (32bit).

hvgsel,

Bit surprised Microsoft do not turn on System Restore on 10, how many users would know this, what happens if something (like this issue) happens to then, would this involve complete set-up from scratch, just assumed that this feature would be critical to Windows. At least Norton have taken note of this issue. Think Vitalik93 is on Windows 7 from other threads.

mgirons:

hvgsel,

Bit surprised Microsoft do not turn on System Restore on 10, how many users would know this, what happens if something (like this issue) happens to then, would this involve complete set-up from scratch, just assumed that this feature would be critical to Windows. At least Norton have taken note of this issue. Think Vitalik93 is on Windows 7 from other threads.

I have one restore point, but it was created 3 weeks ago. I don't want to revert to 3 weeks (if I had a point created 2-3 days ago I would do that). Will wait for another solution.

Vitalik93, OK, Norton has wiped out Windows tasks, can't see how these can be restored by Norton as they would not know what was there. Only a restore would put them back which would require any other Windows updates, programme updates etc. reinstalling. Possible reinstall of previous Norton version. Perhaps any-one else can provide suggestions.

I also had all my scheduled tasks deleted following the 22.12.1.14 update. Ironically they were mostly backup tasks. Thanks Norton for making my PC less secure!

Yep, if you can't restore you will need to recreate your scheduled task.

This should be a lesson for everyone  -  back up your machine, ALWAYS have a backup!

Thank you drminer for discovering this problem.  Who would have ever thought to check Task Scheduler after a Norton update?  Glad you did.

Does anyone know if this runs across all operating systems?  I see that hvgsel is on Windows 10, but what about everyone else?

I have a Windows 7 machine with the 22.12.1.14 folder sitting in C:\Program Files\Norton Security with Backup\MUI but no prompts to update, so I'm guessing I never got the complete package. 

I've exported the scheduled tasks in the root folder and have a system image in case it's needed.

But as someone questioned earlier, what else may have been affected?

I'm also on Windows 10

Had no probs on Dutch Windows 7 X64 

One other point concerning System Restore: the Creators Updates that Microsoft pushes out twice a year will revert an enabled System Restore setting back to "Off." 

Vitalik93, OK, Norton has wiped out Windows tasks, can't see how these can be restored by Norton as they would not know what was there. Only a restore would put them back which would require any other Windows updates, programme updates etc. reinstalling. Possible reinstall of previous Norton version. Perhaps any-one else can provide suggestions.

Hi

Does anyone know if all Windows 10 machines have this issue or are only some machines affected

Thanks

Well it affected my Win 10 (64 bit) machine with Windows version 10.0.16299.248. All my scheduled tasks (which were at the root level) have gone. I can easily replace my scheduled tasks but I'm sure I remember seeing others that were presumably setup by various apps...these have now gone. I'm not impressed!

My advice to everyone who as a restorepoint and does not have an external backup : I would use it anyway!!
Remember that user-files are not changed back at restoretime.
Before you are going to restore you can check In Norton what's installed since last restorepoint.

Goto Norton main screen/Performance tab/Graphs. There the programs downloaded and installed are listed under the different icons. Check the date of the last restorepoint make a list of installed items since.
Switch off Tamper protection in Norton and do a system restore from the valid restorepoint.

Your tasks should be back now and you can go about installing the programs listed before. Furthermore run Liveupdate in Norton untill no more updates are available.

And : Switch on System Restore and create a first restore point after that OR create decent regular external backups.!!!

As said : If no restorepoint or backup, then it's very difficult to get the tasks back

No problems here on Italian Win 7 x64. I noticed only two new Norton start tasks (what are they doing?):

Concur with hvgsel comments about restoring. Once forgot to turn off Tamper Protection before restoring, would use another word other than his 'crippled'. 'Undo Restore' brought back to working again, then able to resolve my issue. The sooner Restore done the better as there would be less changes.