Kudos0

How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 27-Dec-2009 | 9:11PM · 130 Replies ·

A quick search did not turn up anything so requesting an answer. I am trying to turn off intrusive popups at the bottom right of the screen relating to idle scans, etc. Is there a way to turn them off? 

I must say that the Norton 2010 console is very non intuitive and seems user unfriendly and very confusing. This is my personal opinion/observation.

Help gratefully appreciated! 

Replies

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 27-Dec-2009 | 9:11PM · Permalink

A quick search did not turn up anything so requesting an answer. I am trying to turn off intrusive popups at the bottom right of the screen relating to idle scans, etc. Is there a way to turn them off? 

I must say that the Norton 2010 console is very non intuitive and seems user unfriendly and very confusing. This is my personal opinion/observation.

Help gratefully appreciated! 

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 27-Dec-2009 | 9:20PM · Permalink

Hi! Anonymouse,

As a PC Bench repair technician I do not recommend shutting down the popus that you Norton product produces; these help to explain the disk and processor activity on your computer.  Activity of this nature if not explained can indicate problems; some of which a very serious (a malware infestation for instance even though most malware will try to hide its activities from the casual user).

As for the console...........

I have recommended Norton to many of my elderly clients and they have said that it is very easy for them to use.  I even recommend to my friends several of which are very technically inclined and they find it easy to navigate and customize.

I do apologize for any inconvience you are experiencing though.

Kudos2 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 28-Dec-2009 | 1:11AM · Permalink

Hi anonymouse,

You can turn off such notifications by using Silent Mode; right click on the NIS icon in the notification area and choose  "Turn On Silent Mode". On Silent Mode: I copied the following from the Norton Help Center (you can access the Center by opening NIS, going to "Help & Support" and to "Help"):

About the Silent Mode that you turn on manually

Norton Internet Security lets you manually turn on Silent Mode for a specified duration. When Silent Mode is turned on, Norton Internet Security suppresses alerts and suspends background activities for the duration that you specify. You can verify the turn-on status of Silent Mode in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar. The Norton Internet Security icon in the notification area changes to a crescent-shaped icon to display the turn-on status of Silent Mode. Turning on Silent Mode manually before you perform your tasks helps you prevent alerts, notifications, or background activities interrupting you for the specified duration.

You can turn on Silent Mode for a period of one hour, two hours, four hours, or six hours. After the specified duration, Norton Internet Security turns off Silent Mode. You can also manually turn off Silent Mode at any time. Norton Internet Security notifies you after Silent Mode is turned off. The activities that are suspended during Silent Mode run after Silent Mode is turned off.

However, you can only use Silent Mode temporarily (for up to six hours max.). You could, alternatively, turn off Idle time scans by opening NIS, going to "Settings" under the "Computer" tab and then selecting "Turn off Idle Time Scans"; this, however, will only turn off the full system idle scans - idle quick scans cannot be turned off. 


Also, as Tech83 said, you may want to keep the popups/notifications turned on for security reasons. 

Message Edited by Yaso_Kuuhl on 12-28-2009 10:20 AM
Your Norton Ladybug.
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 28-Dec-2009 | 6:47PM · Permalink

Tech83 wrote:

Hi! Anonymouse,

As a PC Bench repair technician I do not recommend shutting down the popus that you Norton product produces; these help to explain the disk and processor activity on your computer.  Activity of this nature if not explained can indicate problems; some of which a very serious (a malware infestation for instance even though most malware will try to hide its activities from the casual user).

As for the console...........

I have recommended Norton to many of my elderly clients and they have said that it is very easy for them to use.  I even recommend to my friends several of which are very technically inclined and they find it easy to navigate and customize.

I do apologize for any inconvience you are experiencing though.

Thanks Tech83 .... unfortunately, I'm not elderly ;)  

I am however technically savvy, and I find popup messages annoying and VERY intrusive. I don't like being spoonfed worthless info that affects my ability to do my job. I don't mind if it displays info to expect my input, or logs information for me to look at once in a while. Thanks for your opinion.

Message Edited by anonymouse on 12-28-2009 06:49 PM
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 28-Dec-2009 | 10:03PM · Permalink

Hi! Anonymouse,

Yaso_Kuuhl makes a very valid point in using the Silent Mode feature of Norton.  (My apologizes ahead of time for any misspelled names.)  The popups that annoy you so much also serve the purpose of letting you know that the product is functioning properly and doing what it was designed to do.  I understand that they can sometimes be annoying and to some people downright irksome at times; but I friend of mine found out that when these popups disappear there's trouble already started with the computer and repairing it can be very costly.  And since my friend is a PC Specialist quite of few people take their cues from him.  For the full time scan popup to get rid of it temporarily you just need to move the mouse this will stop the scan and the popup will disappear.  Remember that even the most technically savvy people can be hit with malware without them ever knowing until it is too late.

Your view and opinions are respected.  Symantec does strive to make as many people happy as they can but sometimes they do need feedback from their products users.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 01-Jan-2010 | 5:17PM · Permalink

I have to second everything the original poster said. The new Norton 2010 interface is unintituitive and the popups are extremely annoying as I am watching online shows. I have a PhD in designing software and this system is now obnoxious. If the anitivirus software can't do its job without telling me about it then I better find new software. How disappointing after I've used Norton for many years. Hopefully I can find some other post telling me how to display these reminders because they really will force me to switch software.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 01-Jan-2010 | 5:34PM · Permalink

Yeah, I call bull on this one.  I get incessant popups for "Introducing norton safe Search".  It's mostly a marketing tie-in with ask.com, and as far as I can tell you have to deselect it every single time.  I want a way to keep this ad from recurring.

I bought security software to prevent exactly this sort of thing.  This is not good behavior from Symantic.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 01-Jan-2010 | 8:06PM · Permalink

Hi all,

I can see why the pop ups can be annoying and I've sometimes found this to be the case, I don't think they should be turned off easily, if at all.

It seems to me that, as they supply programs which are available globally, Symantec have to cater for all users regardless of their PC knowledge and many will not be "tech savvy", what you might call the lowest common denominator.

It shouldn't be easy for people to turn off things that may be of benefit to them accidentally or from ignorance of what they mean. Sometimes new PC users won't remember how they did something and will therefore be unable to undo it.

Yaso_Kuuhl has given some god advice on how to minimise "annoyances" for those who feel that their tech know-how is being insulted!

I've been using NIS since the 2002 version and I find that both the appearance and usability of NIS 2010 is better than any previous version I've used, although I liked NIS 2009 a lot too.

I'm one of those elderly people referred to above! I like programs that look good and are easy both to use and to customise, although I have to say that that would have been my attitude regardless of my age!

This is a general reply, not aimed at any particular person on this thread and I hope I haven't offended anyone here, that was not my intention.

I wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!
2 x Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 - 64bit, 1 x Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 - 32bit, NIS Norton 360 v22.20.5.39
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 02-Jan-2010 | 7:38AM · Permalink

Symantec ought to require users to confirm they know what they're doing when they turn "features" off.  Fine.  Have a check box.  But sophisticated users should not have to put up with this level of obtrusiveness.  Particularly when it is clearly just bundling, and not a real security feature.

Besides, as far as I can tell, for some of these features it is not possible to permanently disable them. 

I am going to drop Norton If I don't get a fix for this.  Someone else can have my security software money.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 02-Jan-2010 | 8:31PM · Permalink

You could try putting your suggestion for a Check Box in the 'Suggestions for 2011' thread. It might be taken up for the next version of NIS.

Suggestions for 2011

2 x Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 - 64bit, 1 x Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 - 32bit, NIS Norton 360 v22.20.5.39
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 02-Jan-2010 | 10:08PM · Permalink

Hi! Pfinch,

Who's security suite would you go with if not Norton?  The only three that hold a candle (dimly lit) to Norton are: McAfee, Kaspersky, and G-Security.  All of which use the same pop-up style messages to let the user know what the program is doing.  From what I can tell this is what the entire industry is moving to so that users' are not alarmed by the disk activity created by an active scan for malware.  As was suggested you might provide your suggestion to Symantec via the Norton 2011 thread.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 03-Jan-2010 | 1:40PM · Permalink

Really?  I have McAfee on a work computer, and it's nowhere near as intrusive.  It's not like I have tons of security problems there.  Admittedly, there I have server side protection, too, but there's nothing keeping me from having that at home.

Besides, my complaint was originally about the "suggestion" popup that requests I turn on Norton's preferred search, which I don't want to do, and apparently can't disable.  Others have complained about the constant notifications of things that ought to occur in the background.

The new release is a dramatic uptick in the level of annoyance.  There needs to be an update to tone it down or Norton will lose business.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 19-Jan-2010 | 6:25PM · Permalink

I was so annoyed with this arrogant "feature" that I signed up just to make a post.
I cannot understand how some people think that it's okay to receive a reminder every 10 minutes that
the program is working.

from another poster:

"Remember that even the most technically savvy people can be hit with malware without them ever knowing until it is too late"

So this means I should be forced to click a pop-up window every few minutes from now on?
What a hefty load of fertilizer!
Many programs have options in pop up windows that allow you to select “don't ask me again” or something to that effect.
If Norton does not include such a feature in their next update of this product I will switch programs
And yes, there are other products!

Happy New Year.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 20-Jan-2010 | 12:08AM · Permalink

I agree with Oxygen_07.  I registered just so I could post to this thread as well.

I have been using Norton for years and it has never been this full of pop-ups.  I find them annoying and useless.  I do not need to know every time Norton is performing a background task - that is why it is in the background.  I just had my computer sitting out (not being used) and every 10 mins the screensaver would go away because Norton felt the need to tell me a Background task was being performed. Give me a break.  Perhaps if a threat was found, I would like to know - but I do not need to know every time Norton scans my machine - that does not give me any information that is of any use.  Neither should I have to put Norton into Silent Mode every time I am not using it for more than 10 mins just so that my screensaver can stay active.

There should at least be an option to turn this stuff off  - even if you personally feel that a user shouldn't.  People who know more than the basics about computers like to be able to customize their software so that it works best for them.  In trying to appeal to the most novice of users, Norton is alienating a large portion of their customer base - those of us who want some say in what their programs can and cannot do.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 26-Jan-2010 | 4:35PM · Permalink

I am using a 6 month trail version and if they dont come up with a fix FAST , I wont be buying this annoying program,   it stays on the screen until I come to see what the heck it is, I keep thinking there is a problem

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 14-Feb-2010 | 5:35AM · Permalink

i too have registered here to express my annoyance at these constant alerts from NIS 2010. I do not need to be told that Norton is peforming background tasks all the time. I only need to be told if my pc has been attacked and Norton is doing/has done something about it. I used McAfee for years until last year and never had this problem, so it really cannot be an essential feature as some people are making out. It is useful to know that Norton is doing something and using pc resources, but this can be done by an unintrusive rotating icon in the system tray. Sort this, please Norton!!

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 23-Feb-2010 | 2:00PM · Permalink

Mark me down as another one who registered here simply to state how incredibly annoying some of the pop-ups are. If they conveyed useful information, that'd be one thing, but like the above posters have said we shouldn't have to click on a message every time some background activity is going on. I just got a computer with Windows 7 and it came with the Norton trial. If there's no update allowing the user to turn off such notifications I will not be purchasing the product. It's that simple.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 23-Feb-2010 | 2:16PM · Permalink

On the topics of popups, how do I shut off the NAG window, to set up a Norton account. I honestly don't want one, and have my SN safely stored. 2009 would let me choose not to, 2010 won't. I'm tired of hitting "Remind Me Later".

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 23-Feb-2010 | 2:17PM · Permalink

I totally disagree with those who find the pop-ups annoying. I am using NIS2010 and find that the pop-ups for background tasks only last a minute or two, and the one for performing a full system scan is VERY useful in letting me know when that scan is running. 

IF I NEED TO DO SOMETHING ELSE ON THE COMPUTER AT THE TIME, I CAN AND THE SCAN AND POP-UP WILL RETURN WHEN THE SYSTEM IS IDLE,OTHERWISE I JUST LET THE SCAN GO AND GO ELSEWHERE.

The only other pop-ups that I see is if NIS finds something bad and quarantines it---these don't happen very often.

I hope Norton does not change this behavior. I find it useful.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 23-Feb-2010 | 2:24PM · Permalink

I actually find them very annoying as well. I wish I could make it just protect my system and leave me alone unless there is a problem.

Could someone please tell me if 2009 was less intrusive?

I went from 2008 to 2010.

Thanks,

Dave

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 23-Feb-2010 | 8:30PM · Permalink

I also registered just to post about these annoying messages.  This is ridiculous and if Norton does not fix this **bleep** the next time I update I am going to use another program.  I have been decently happy with Norton up until this past update.  Whoever disigned this new program is an idiot.

Norton either fix this PROBLEM or lose me as a customer!

Thank you come again

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 23-Feb-2010 | 9:50PM · Permalink

It is NOT a problem, but is a useful feature, Your nuts!

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 24-Feb-2010 | 5:18AM · Permalink

There are really more important things in life to nag about than some popups.

Some like, others do not and they are not soooo intruding that you cannot sleep or breath anymore.

W10 1809 and 1903 / W10 Insider / IE11 and FF 67, TB 60.7, NS 22.17, (Android 7 with NMS)
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 28-Feb-2010 | 8:58AM · Permalink

Add me to the list...

I just registered to post about these annoying messages.

The problem for me is that the STUPID POPUPS will kill my screen saver and then the pop up remains on the screen and the screen saver won't resume.

I really hate these messages!

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 28-Feb-2010 | 11:59PM · Permalink

It is all about choice.  Enable them by default and then let me turn them off.  I also want an option to turn of the fat red warning that pops up after a scan where Norton has only found tracking cookies.  Threats were found and fixed!  Red! Important!  Then I click on the popup and it says 5 tracking cookies were found.  They will not mess up my computer and represent a minor inconvenience that I don't care about.  Let me disable that.  I got so tired of the people I have recommended Norton to phoning me in a panic cause Norton said it had found threats when they were really only tracking cookies that I am now installing Prevx and Security Essentials on their machines.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 01-Mar-2010 | 2:36AM · Permalink

I have just noticed that you can now turn Silent Mode on for 1 day.

Does anyone know when this was added?

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 03-Mar-2010 | 10:15AM · Permalink

As with a lot of you, I am very frustrated with Norton 2010.  And I also signed up just to comment on this issue.  Ever since I upgraded from 2008 I have had the same problems.  Notifications galore that stop my screensaver every 10 minutes.  I eventually just stopped using my screensaver and went to shutting down my monitor after so long.  That isn't really working either.  I have used Norton for years and have loved the product.  I don't love it so much anymore and if they don't figure out a way so that you can option out of these notification unless there is a probelm with your computer, I will not be renewing and as a matter of fact am considering cancelling my subscription and going to something else.  I had them on the phone and they thought that it was fixed, well after going away for a few days and shutting down my system, when I got home it was doing it again.  To top it off I found out they had cahrged mny for the fix and didn't mention up front that there would be a charge.  I am upset because I really liked running my family slideshow as a saver.  No sense anymore when it only runs for a few minutes before going off.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 03-Mar-2010 | 10:46AM · Permalink

The first question I ask myself about this issue is, why are users annoyed by this feature? These notifications should generally only occur when a user isn't using the machine and the system is idle. The fact that the notification interrupts the screensaver is a bug and is discussed in the thread Norton Internet Security wakes computer from Screensaver. The notification for seemingly trivial issues such as cookies is also a commonly expressed complaint and the product team is aware of this complaint. If there are other reasons why users don't like these notifications, I'd like to hear them. I don't actually work in this area of the product so I don't have any direct influence on what happens but I certainly can pass your usability concerns along.

Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 03-Mar-2010 | 3:59PM · Permalink

Personally, I think that background tasks should be done entirely in the background.

If Windows popped up notices every time it did a background task, I don't think anyone would like it.

"Windows is creating a restore point"

"Windows is indexing your files"

"Windows is analying your prefetch files"

A lot of people here have said that the notices are helpfull and thats fine for them. People have a different opinion on where to "draw that line" where the notices are helpfull or become an unneeded annoyance and Symantec should let the user decide for themselves where that line should be drawn.

Reese says: "These notifications should generally only occur when a user isn't using the machine and the system is idle The fact that the notification interrupts the screensaver is a bug and is discussed in the thread Norton Internet Security wakes computer from Screensaver."

If the user wasn't using the system (wasn't there) then the notification serves no purpose and if the notification is also not supposed to interrupt the screensaver then it defiantly serves no purpose. An invisible notification?

The reason why they bother some people is that even though the system is idle, the user is there and it interrrupts or distracts them from other work.

I really don't care that it's doing an idle scan.

Do whatever you want when it's idle, just give me my system back in the same state I left it when I need it.  

I would rather be notified if it was unable to do the scans because of some problem.

As for the tracking cookies, for anyone that spends a lot of time on the internet it's a fact of life. That should also be a background task IMO.

I think the user really should be able to control what notices are given.

Please don't interfere with my work or productivity to tell me something I don't need to know at that moment. 

Please assume that I may possibly be doing something more important than what Norton is doing.

It would also be very nice to be able to turn everything off through a reboot for troubleshooting and installing major updates or service packs.

Thanks,

Dave

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 03-Mar-2010 | 4:19PM · Permalink

DaveH wrote:

[...]

Reese says: "These notifications should generally only occur when a user isn't using the machine and the system is idle The fact that the notification interrupts the screensaver is a bug and is discussed in the thread Norton Internet Security wakes computer from Screensaver."

If the user wasn't using the system (wasn't there) then the notification serves no purpose and if the notification is also not supposed to interrupt the screensaver then it defiantly serves no purpose. An invisible notification?

RA> When a scan starts there is a lot of disk activity. People want to know why their disk light is flashing or the disk is rattling when they aren't even using the system.

The reason why they bother some people is that even though the system is idle, the user is there and it interrrupts or distracts them from other work.

RA> This is the point I was trying to get at, what are you doing when it interrupts or distracts you? The CPU isn't particularly busy and no keyboard or mouse activity has occurred for a long time.

I really don't care that it's doing an idle scan.

Do whatever you want when it's idle, just give me my system back in the same state I left it when I need it.  

I would rather be notified if it was unable to do the scans because of some problem.

RA> Since it takes a few moments to shut down a scan, isn't it nice to see that a scan is in progress when you return to your machine wonder why there is a lot of disk activity going on?

[...]

I think the user really should be able to control what notices are given.

Please don't interfere with my work or productivity to tell me something I don't need to know at that moment. 

Please assume that I may possibly be doing something more important than what Norton is doing.

RA> Again, this is the question that I'm asking. What are you doing that causes this to be a bother?

It would also be very nice to be able to turn everything off through a reboot for troubleshooting and installing major updates or service packs.

RA> This is a whole seperate issue :)

Thanks,

Dave

Please see comments in-line.

Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 6:31AM · Permalink

Security software should be invisible, or at least have invisibility as the default option, unless I need to actively take action.

And frankly, there's not a whole lot I should need to take action on, if the security software is doing it's job.

I realize this conflicts with Symantec's need to be "obvious", lest people forget that they want separate security software and just go with whatever Microsoft bundles.  But that's Symantec's problem, not mine.

RA> Since it takes a few moments to shut down a scan, isn't it nice to see that a scan is in progress when you return to your machine wonder why there is a lot of disk activity going on?

This seems simple enough - it should not take a few minutes to shut down the scan.  That's a bug.  The instant the user becomes active, the scan should shut down (unless, I suppose, the user launched the scan).

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 7:57AM · Permalink

pfinch wrote:

[...]


RA> Since it takes a few moments to shut down a scan, isn't it nice to see that a scan is in progress when you return to your machine wonder why there is a lot of disk activity going on?

This seems simple enough - it should not take a few minutes to shut down the scan.  That's a bug.  The instant the user becomes active, the scan should shut down (unless, I suppose, the user launched the scan).

As you quoted from me, I didn't say 'minutes', I said 'moments'. Of course, a moment is subjective but it shouldn't take a minute for the scan to shutdown. Unfortunately, it can take more than a few seconds to free up all of the resources and we are constantly trying to improve that.

Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 8:40AM · Permalink

RA>  As you quoted from me, I didn't say 'minutes', I said 'moments'. Of course, a moment is subjective but it shouldn't take a minute for the scan to shutdown. Unfortunately, it can take more than a few seconds to free up all of the resources and we are constantly trying to improve that.

I should have noticed that.  It isn't my experience that it takes minutes to turn off a scan.  Thanks for pointing that out.

My frustration made me snarky, and that wasn't my intent.

I stand by the point that security software should be as silent as possible.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 9:44AM · Permalink

pfinch wrote:
[...]
I stand by the point that security software should be as silent as possible.

... which gets back to the original question that I was trying to get at.

Why should security software be as silent as possible? There are many answers to this simple question so let me further clarify, why should security software be as silent as possible when a system has low CPU utilization and there hasn't been any user interaction for an extended period of time?

My own personal observation is that any software, not just security software, needs to weigh user benefit and compare it to user cost when providing any interaction. If there is absolutely no user benefit then the communication shouldn't occur. If cost is prohibitively high then no communication should occur. For most cases the benefits and costs are somewhere in between and a line is drawn as to what is and is not acceptable.

For the scenario I described, notifications occurring while the CPU is not busy and the user hasn't been interacting, the benefits are small but definitely present while the costs seem to be none, but this depends upon how you answer my main question. Comparing these benefits to the costs would then indicate that the benefit should prevail.

Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 2:59PM · Permalink

reese_anschultz wrote:

RA> When a scan starts there is a lot of disk activity. People want to know why their disk light is flashing or the disk is rattling when they aren't even using the system.

Yes, but there must be a better way, how about a discrete change to the taskbar icon to show activity.

Make the green checkmark slowly rotate around the yellow ball Windows 7 style.

No offence intended but it seems like such a oxymoron to have a box pop up on the screen saying

"Norton Internet security is performing background tasks"

RA> This is the point I was trying to get at, what are you doing when it interrupts or distracts you? The CPU isn't particularly busy and no keyboard or mouse activity has occurred for a long time.

I'll try to give just one example.

I use these large spreadsheets  for my business for sales data, cost of sales, labor, etc.

When I have one displayed I may not be using my computer for quite a while but I am still working with that data. I may be comparing sales against printed reports or using my adding machine to add up segments to compare with last week or last month.  Although my system is idle I'm using that data and it really is a big distraction to have a box pop up. Each and every time I can't help but glance down even though I know what it is.  It's very frustrating to loose my place or interrupt my concentration to tell me something I feel I don't need to know.

RA> Since it takes a few moments to shut down a scan, isn't it nice to see that a scan is in progress when you return to your machine wonder why there is a lot of disk activity going on?

Not really, at least to me. I can't see my hard drive light from where I sit.  But even if I could it's very common for backgrond tasks to run and I think most people are used to seeing disk activity for other background windows tasks and things.

But since it does take a few moments, if the taskbar icon changed you could then have a mouse over trigger the box to come up and explain what going on.

The ideal solution (IMO) would be to allow the user to configure these things once and for all. Be able to set the notifications the way they want them.

I know I could turn on silent mode every morning before I use my computer but it seems silly that I would have to pre-configure somthing each and every day before I use my own computer.

If I was using one of my employees systems and had to change some settings before I used it that would be different, but for my computer I want it to work a certain way each and every time.

I also know I could maybe set idle time exclusions for all my common programs but that also seems like a sloppy work-around to prevent a symptom rather than addressing the actual cause.

But this is all just my opinon, others have posted that someone is "crazy" to think the popups are unhelpful.

But I'm sure you agree that there is a balance between providing a better user experiance and annoying a user and in a few of these cases I really don't find these things helpful.

Thank you very much Reese for taking the time to reply to my last post.

Dave

.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 3:59PM · Permalink

DaveH wrote:
[...]

I'll try to give just one example.

I use these large spreadsheets  for my business for sales data, cost of sales, labor, etc.

When I have one displayed I may not be using my computer for quite a while but I am still working with that data. I may be comparing sales against printed reports or using my adding machine to add up segments to compare with last week or last month.  Although my system is idle I'm using that data and it really is a big distraction to have a box pop up. Each and every time I can't help but glance down even though I know what it is.  It's very frustrating to loose my place or interrupt my concentration to tell me something I feel I don't need to know.

[...]

Thanks Dave for the example. It is much like I expected but not exactly and therefore makes it even more valuable. I'll pass along your user interface change suggestions.

Are there other usage scenarios besides the three now suggested where users find these messages annoying? (Three == screensaver bug, dubious cookie notification and long term data presentation/analysis).

Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 4:19PM · Permalink

DaveH wrote:
....

I'll try to give just one example.

I use these large spreadsheets  for my business for sales data, cost of sales, labor, etc.

When I have one displayed I may not be using my computer for quite a while but I am still working with that data. I may be comparing sales against printed reports or using my adding machine to add up segments to compare with last week or last month.  Although my system is idle I'm using that data and it really is a big distraction to have a box pop up. Each and every time I can't help but glance down even though I know what it is.  It's very frustrating to loose my place or interrupt my concentration to tell me something I feel I don't need to know.

... 

Have you considered changing the Norton 'Idle Timeout' setting from 10 minutes to 30 minutes instead? It's just a workaround but at least you won't see the pop-up so regularly. You can find this setting by clicking on the Norton Tasks link on the main Norton interface.
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 4:38PM · Permalink

elsewhere wrote:
Have you considered changing the 'Idle Timeout' setting from 10 minutes to 30 minutes instead? It's just a workaround but at least you won't see the pop-up so regularly.

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, I tried playing around with the settings but it didn't really help.

Seems like it was just determined to go off at the worst time. It would have been nice to schedule idle times, especially for a business. Setting the thing for an 8 hour business day and letting it have the other 18 hours seems like an option that people might like.

I say "was" because I removed it last night and installed 2009.

I actually didn't use 2009, my wife used 2008 until 2010 and I used another product last year.

So I thought I would install the 2009 product and see how it goes.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 7:37PM · Permalink

Dear Resse,

I was about to post a new topic, but since it's shared in this topic, then I might as well add my experience for your notice.

I'm on W7 NIS10.  When my PC goes idle, NIS does some background task.  When I return, it really does take MINUTES for the NIS task to end.

Norton takes up 30%+ of CPU.  On the performance page, the graph shows that my PC has awaken from idle, but the yellow part of the graph keeps going for a few minutes at about the same level until it terminates.  the harddisk activity light blinks on consistently with the graph.  Moving the mouse cursor to the graph it shows: ccsvchst.exe

If you want, I can purposely let my computer be on idle and printscreen the graph for you.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 04-Mar-2010 | 9:25PM · Permalink

Add me to the list of people who signed up just to gripe about annoying popups.

I've got 29 years of software development experience (for engineers- a tough crowd).

Plus I've done a lot of training and seminars, and I wish I could have the team that decided

in favor of Norton 2010's popup behavior in front of me for 15 minutes of software manners

instruction.

The worst sin of software is the attitude "I'm the most important thing running on your

computer so I'm in charge of what you see and when you see it." The #1 offender in that

regard was America Online. I always hated when my kids wanted AOL on a PC, it went

EVERYWHERE and you couldn't shut it up no matter how hard you tried.

OK let me really get to my point. Any behavior of software, especially anything that anybody

might not agree with your design choice about, has to have switches to flip the behavior.

Even if you decided your way has to be right, you program in a back door, maybe undocumented,

to soothe the irate user who didn't see it your way.

So... I've got Norton 2010 installed (legally and paid, thank you) on 3 PC's including this one,

over the past couple of weeks. My wife and daughter probably don't care about this issue so

much- their screens are a mess of Facebook, old documents, and nonsense. But I insist on

controlling everything about my screens. I routinely shut down every toolbar icon I don't have

a reason to keep active (and keep LOOKING AT), and anything that pops up like your stuff does

sends me scurring for an way to shut it off. I'M IN CHARGE OF MY SCREEN NOT YOU!!!

When I didn't find the shutoff (should have been in a right click on the popup!), I went looking

in preferences / settings etc. Figured I must just not be seeing it (not too impressed with the

GUI either), so I go Google "shut up Norton 2010" and that sends me here. I can't believe you

actually issued this where popups CANNOT BE SHUT OFF!, and THEN HAVE THE NERVE

TO DEFEND IT!!!    To some extent Apple has this same kind of attitude, and that's why I've

so far stayed away from their devices- that's getting harder all the time.

Well I got more intense here than I intended, but believe me I could have been harsher.

I lost count of how many people ON THIS THREAD see things my way, how many hundred

agree but didn't take the trouble to post about it? Must be fun to be on your tech support lines.

Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 05-Mar-2010 | 9:26AM · Permalink

cilixz wrote:

Dear Resse,

I was about to post a new topic, but since it's shared in this topic, then I might as well add my experience for your notice.

I'm on W7 NIS10.  When my PC goes idle, NIS does some background task.  When I return, it really does take MINUTES for the NIS task to end.

Norton takes up 30%+ of CPU.  On the performance page, the graph shows that my PC has awaken from idle, but the yellow part of the graph keeps going for a few minutes at about the same level until it terminates.  the harddisk activity light blinks on consistently with the graph.  Moving the mouse cursor to the graph it shows: ccsvchst.exe

If you want, I can purposely let my computer be on idle and printscreen the graph for you.

Thanks for the feedback. No need for the printscreen, I believe you :) As I noted previously, it shouldn't take minutes but there are some known cases where it can and we are working on those.

Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 05-Mar-2010 | 8:22PM · Permalink

Hi, I  was getting acquainted with the forum and ran across this post.

I'm no pro, just an average user for 20+ years. My first AV experience was with Norton, and I can honestly say, it was soooooooooo terrible way back then. Huge system hog and everything seemed to take forever. I almost gave up trying to be a part of the world wide web b/c of Norton.

I've been away from Norton for a long time until I recently got a new computer. I've been using another popular av for years. But, I'm happy to say that I will be sticking w/ Norton this time...at least while it's still good for me.

Yeah, the UI was a little overwhelming for me after being away for so long, and I'm still learning how to work with it.

I said all that to say I know we all have our user preferences and what pleases me may annoy another. I'm happy to see a pop-up when NIS let's me know it's doing some "background tasks". I'm slightly amused when I look and see that NIS is "waiting" for me get the heck off the computer so it can do one of it's many idle scans. I like seeing that live-update just updated 5 seconds ago. I like being able to see cpu & memory spikes so I can investigate. I like that it lets me know pretty much what's going, even if I don't always understand it. I like thinking NIS is being informative and proactive as opposed to not telling me anything and simply reacting.  I've gotten more info from NIS in the past few months than I've gotten from my other av in the past few years. I could have never said that years ago.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 12-Mar-2010 | 1:52PM · Permalink

To the one who believes this permanent pop-up “feature” is no problem at all,

THAT IS YOUR BUSINESS my friend!

You miss the point entirely that this arrogant feature robs us of our right to control the way the software operates. Just because some people don't mind this tripe doesn't mean the rest of the world must have it rammed down its throat.

From what I see, (nothing personal intended but) the Symantec Employee's comments are just as arrogant as the program he's defending.

WHY BE SO BLIND THAT YOU CANNOT RECOGNIZE it's simply a matter of giving us the CHOICE not to be notified every time the program starts some stupid scan?

Do you really believe Symantec knows better than us about what we need to see – at least in this particular instance??

Do you really live in such an insular bubble that you cannot understand why people get upset about things they cannot -but should be able to- control?

Please don't be so naive.

FORGET the computerese and think about this from a HUMAN perspective.

We DON”T need to be told in such an intrusive way that this precious little program is

performing some trivial task.

We DON”T care why our hard drives makes a bit of noise from time to time!

Like I said in my first message, it's bye bye Norton if they don't fix this stupidity.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Kudos1 Stats

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 12-Mar-2010 | 3:22PM · Permalink

RA> My comments inline below.

Oxygen_07 wrote:

To the one who believes this permanent pop-up “feature” is no problem at all,

THAT IS YOUR BUSINESS my friend!

RA> Since I'm the only Symantec employee to have posted in this thread, I'll assume that you were referring to my posts. I never said that it was no problem. I have only discussed a very specific scenario. Even with that specific scenario I've pointed out two known issues and acknowledged a specific user scenario.

You miss the point entirely that this arrogant feature robs us of our right to control the way the software operates. Just because some people don't mind this tripe doesn't mean the rest of the world must have it rammed down its throat.

RA> I don't know what an official Symantec response to this would be and I'm not a lawyer, but I don't believe that you have a right to control the way the software operates. You do have a right not to use the software. It is in Symantec's best interests to provide customers with the features and options that they want and are willing to pay for. It may be that people simply want to disable these notifications but it's better to understand the base reasons why people want to disable them and possibly address a broader issue.

From what I see, (nothing personal intended but) the Symantec Employee's comments are just as arrogant as the program he's defending.

WHY BE SO BLIND THAT YOU CANNOT RECOGNIZE it's simply a matter of giving us the CHOICE not to be notified every time the program starts some stupid scan?

Do you really believe Symantec knows better than us about what we need to see – at least in this particular instance??

RA> To my original question, since the system is essentially idle and there hasn't been any user activity for an extended period of time, what are you doing when you see this notification?  Maybe the software shouldn't even be scanning (or doing whatever else the notification mentions) at this time.


Do you really live in such an insular bubble that you cannot understand why people get upset about things they cannot -but should be able to- control?

RA> I've discussed this previously in this message. Where do you draw the line on control though? Some of the biggest differences between Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 relate to user control where NIS provides more options than N360. The reason is because the products are targetted toward different users. I can imagine a product with absolutely no options. I can also imagine a product that has configuration options for nearly every behavior. Most customers wouldn't accept the first product and most customers would be unwilling to pay for and be overwhelmed by the latter. There is a line somewhere in-between the two products that depends upon a large number of factors.


Please don't be so naive.

FORGET the computerese and think about this from a HUMAN perspective.

We DON”T need to be told in such an intrusive way that this precious little program is

performing some trivial task.

We DON”T care why our hard drives makes a bit of noise from time to time!

RA> You don't care why your hard drive makes a bit of noise, but others do. They do, because they aren't using their computers and don't expect it to be doing anything and get concerned. Others don't care about these notifications. Again to my question, why do you? Knowing this will help us develop a better product.

Like I said in my first message, it's bye bye Norton if they don't fix this stupidity.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation
Kudos0

Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

Posted: 14-Mar-2010 | 3:15PM · Permalink

First let me clarify:

“RA> Since I'm the only Symantec employee to have posted in this thread, I'll assume that you were referring to my posts...."

    I was refering to the comment made by “Hawkeyelom” in post 22.

    If he or she doesn't see a problem that is indeed his own business.

    Now, I have a question for you...

    Suppose a company that makes web browsers decides they'll no longer allow the user to permanently block web sight pop-ups. Naturally there will be wide spread complaints.

    I'm sure many people would switch to browesrs that allow them to block pop-ups.

    Now, just what makes this a legal issue? This has nothing to do with controlling the way software operates in that I'm not talking about hacking source code!

    Most responsive companies accept constructive feedback from their customers and use it to make their products better.

    You state yourself it is in Symantec's best interest to provide customers with featrures and options they want.

    Why can't they provide a simple feature that allows us to permanently stop the foolish background scan window from appearing? The background scan can continue in the background!

    It's simple to understand, no? This is not rocket science.

    NIS already has options to block the pop up for fixed lengths of time.

    Don't feed me this B.S that adding an option to permanently block the pop up would make this a much more expensive product. This whole notification thing itself did not exist before and everythign worked just fine.

    Exactly how would “most customers” be overhwelmed by a simple option that says “don't ask me again”?

    Computers and software are tools, nothing more, nothing less.

    When a tool becomes an irritant or no longer suits our purpose we replace it with something better.

    If you have to keep asking why I care about these notices I seriousley doubt you'll ever understand.

    If your response is any indication of how Symantec will respond to these user complaints then I gaurantee

    I'll be switching to something else.

    Only 40 days to go until my subscription runs out.

    Happy daylight savings time!

    Kudos0

    Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

    Posted: 15-Mar-2010 | 5:00AM · Permalink

    Reese wrote earlier:

    DaveH wrote:
    [...]

    I'll try to give just one example.

    I use these large spreadsheets  for my business for sales data, cost of sales, labor, etc.

    When I have one displayed I may not be using my computer for quite a while but I am still working with that data. I may be comparing sales against printed reports or using my adding machine to add up segments to compare with last week or last month.  Although my system is idle I'm using that data and it really is a big distraction to have a box pop up. Each and every time I can't help but glance down even though I know what it is.  It's very frustrating to loose my place or interrupt my concentration to tell me something I feel I don't need to know.

    [...]

     Thanks Dave for the example. It is much like I expected but not exactly and therefore makes it even more valuable. I'll pass along your user interface change suggestions.

    Are there other usage scenarios besides the three now suggested where users find these messages annoying? (Three == screensaver bug, dubious cookie notification and long term data presentation/analysis).

    Reese Anschultz
    Sr. SQA Manager
    Symantec Corporation

    You wrote:

    Oxygen_07 wrote:

    ...

    Why can't they provide a simple feature that allows us to permanently stop the foolish background scan window from appearing? The background scan can continue in the background!

    It's simple to understand, no? This is not rocket science.

    NIS already has options to block the pop up for fixed lengths of time.

    Don't feed me this B.S that adding an option to permanently block the pop up would make this a much more expensive product. This whole notification thing itself did not exist before and everything worked just fine.

    Exactly how would “most customers” be overwhelmed by a simple option that says “don't ask me again”?

    Computers and software are tools, nothing more, nothing less.

    When a tool becomes an irritant or no longer suits our purpose we replace it with something better.

    If you have to keep asking why I care about these notices I seriously doubt you'll ever understand.

    If your response is any indication of how Symantec will respond to these user complaints then I guarantee

    I'll be switching to something else.

    Only 40 days to go until my subscription runs out.

    Happy daylight savings time!

    Oxygen_07

    Which one of Reese's scenarios listed above reflects the issue that you are currently experiencing? There's a lot of 'I just signed up to complain about the popup...' posts in this thread but, when Reese asks for clarification, the silence is almost deafening...

    You say:

    Why can't they provide a simple feature that allows us to permanently stop the foolish background scan window from appearing? The background scan can continue in the background!

    It's simple to understand, no? This is not rocket science.

    The background scan isn't going to continue in the background. The purpose of the popup is to advise you that Norton was making the most of the idle time by running a scan while you weren't actively using your computer.

    Please clarify which scenario is personally affecting you.

    Thanks

    Kudos0

    Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

    Posted: 15-Mar-2010 | 7:54AM · Permalink

    Wow, just wow.

    Forgive my visceral reply here but you don't seem to “get it”.

    The pop up window is in itself an irritant. Honestly, are you in such a deep state of denial that you cannot accept this reality with the product?

    Do I really need to explain in detail WHY it irritates me?

    Do I really need to give specific examples of how it interferes with my work at the computer?

    Each time I see a reply from a Symantec representative I'm further convinced there's no point is

    complaining.

    Why can't your company just animate the Norton icon that already appears on the taskbar?

    That would be a lot less intrusive than being FORCED to look at a new message window.

    This is more about psychology than computer science.

    A lot of noise has already been made about the popup.

    The deffening silence is your refusal to see this from a different perspective.

    If you or Symantec cannot understand this that's really unfortunate.

    Good day.

    Kudos0

    Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

    Posted: 15-Mar-2010 | 3:39PM · Permalink

    Oxygen_07,

    I'll try this one more time, but if you don't want to answer my simple question I'll have assume that you are simply looking for a place to vent, which you've found.

    This thread has been brought to the product team's attention and they will be considering it when making future design changes. It is conceptually easy to address the symptom by adding a switch but is that really addressing the root issue? My question was for a specific set of circumstances where most users should never even see the notification or if they do, for only a few moments. Since you are obviously seeing the notifications the design isn't working as intended. I'd like to understand what you are doing at the time of the notification so that we can possibly prevent these notifications intelligently and you no longer see them again.

    Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation
    Kudos0

    Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

    Posted: 15-Mar-2010 | 6:32PM · Permalink

    How it bothers me...

    Well, my PC is always on, usually downloading stuff, encoding movies, putting stuff together, uploading pictures, you name it.

    Sometimes I watch movies, TV, or play guitar while the PC works, but then my screen saver gets interrupted becuase of this stupid Norton messages..also, I go to work, PC is on encoding many movies, and guess what, my screen saver was interrupted because of some stupid Norton message....now days, I have to turn my monitor off just to make sure norton doesn't interfere...and a lot of times, I hate it when I HAVE TO LOOK AT MY SCREEN just because "NORTON IS PERFORMING BACKGROUND TASKS"

    Kudos0

    Re: How to turn off "annoying" Norton 2010 messages (idle scan, etc).

    Posted: 16-Mar-2010 | 3:07PM · Permalink

    orion23 wrote:

    How it bothers me...

    Well, my PC is always on, usually downloading stuff, encoding movies, putting stuff together, uploading pictures, you name it.

    Sometimes I watch movies, TV, or play guitar while the PC works, but then my screen saver gets interrupted becuase of this stupid Norton messages..also, I go to work, PC is on encoding many movies, and guess what, my screen saver was interrupted because of some stupid Norton message....now days, I have to turn my monitor off just to make sure norton doesn't interfere...and a lot of times, I hate it when I HAVE TO LOOK AT MY SCREEN just because "NORTON IS PERFORMING BACKGROUND TASKS"

    Thanks for your concerns. As discussed previously in this thread, interrupting the screen saver is a bug that I hope to have resolved in the next update.

    Reese AnschultzSenior Software Quality Assurance Manager, Symantec Corporation

    This thread is closed from further comment. Please visit the forum to start a new thread.