Shortly after Norton techs installed NIS 10, a dialog box saying that my computer was locked started to appear after a full system idle time scan. After unlocking, some applications "fail to initialize". Shutting down and restarting seems to cure the problem until the next scan. Someone else had this problem about a year ago, but it was not solved except by reloading his whole system from backup. Any ideas on what causes this and how to fix it without starting all over?
When NIS was installed, was the Norton Removal Tool used to clean off any prior version? Is there any other security software installed on your machine? Do you have any backup scanning running continually on your machine? What version, under Help and Support>About, are you running now. It should be 17.7.0.12.
The Norton tech did the installation, and I believe the removal tool was used first. The version IS 17.7.0.12. The only other security stuff running is the usual Windows package, and even there, the firewall is turned off. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "backup scan", although the only backup I do is a weekly Retrospect incremental.
There have been some issues with other backup programs, such as Acronis. It could be that the backup scans cause a scanning loop where one scans and triggers the other, or it could be that Norton Tamper Prevention takes exception to the scanning of the other.
When you say "Windows package," are you meaning Windows Defender or some other?
I don't believe "Locking" is something we have seen before. If you have a digital camera and can take a photo of the error, it would be of interest.
What is "weekly Retrospect incremental"? What backup program are you using?
Hi Dbrisendine,
Retrospect is made by Roxio. You can find more here.
A review by PC World is here.
Timwoodman,
I know this is a bit off topic but this backup program appears to be a file based backup program and it seems they indicate it can be used for disaster recovery of an OS. I have tested many file based software backup applications in my time which claimed to be disaster recovery compliant but I never found one yet that lived up to its promise. I can't speak to this particular software since I have never used it but I am a bit skeptical when I see this. It may in fact accomplish what it says but I would be surprised.
Sorry for going a bit off topic but I mentioned this so that you might choose to test this aspect of the software.
Allen
Thanks for your replies, folks. Retrospect is a backup program from EMC Dantz. In computer terms, it is a rather old program, but it has never had issues with earlier versions of NIS, so I don't see it as a very likely culprit. It's not running continuously, although there's a process running that checks to see if I have any automatic backups scheduled. (I don't; I start them manually.)
I used to have Windows Defender when Norton products didn't include a malware component, but it has been uninstalled. So I rely exclusively on NIS. If the lockup occurs again, as I suspect it will, I'll take a picture and post it.
One question: When the dialog box appears indicating that Norton is performing a full system idle time scan, am I correct in thinking I can go ahead and run other stuff?
tinwoodman wrote:
One question: When the dialog box appears indicating that Norton is performing a full system idle time scan, am I correct in thinking I can go ahead and run other stuff?
Hi tinwoodman,
Yes you can, however if an IDLE time scan is being performed it should be automatically paused when you start using your computer. If you start a manual scan then it won't be paused unless you pause it yourself.
Best wishes.
Allen
tinwoodman -
Yes, you should be able to run other programs but when the system is no longer in an Idle state, the background scan will be paused (no longer scanning) and will resume only after the system returns to an Idle state. Norton tries to run the background tasks during Idle time on the system to lessen the impact for (to) the user.
Norton doesn't always accurately determine idle time. It is possible for Retrospect to be running when Norton begins the idle time scan.
Idle time is not determined by the active processes but by the CPU load and Disk I/O level.
I'd like to reopen this thread. After a week of normal functioning, the Computer Locked box appeared again while I was away from the computer for several hours (see photo 1). After unlocking the computer, the NIS background task box showed (see photo 2). I waited three hours and it didn't disappear on its own, so I dismissed it, and the NIS "found and fixed" box appeared (no photo). The only threat fixed was a tracking cookie.
I also got two error messages when trying to access MS Outlook, which had been running when I left the first time (photos 3 and 4). On other occasions, I have seen the "Application failed to initialize" box at this point. So I turned off the computer and turned it on again, and things seem back to normal--Outlook seems to be working OK, for example. I can't remember for sure, but I think that simply restarting was not enough to reset everything.
Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. I used my digital camera instead of screen capture. Any more thoughts?
More: Left my computer again and returned to see "locked" box again. See better photo, but still with moire. Print screen apparently doesn't work while computer is locked.
This time, when I dismissed the dialog, the NIS Scan box appeared only briefly and then disappeared. Moreover, this time Outlook didn't crash when I accessed it. However, the computer did seem to be running slowly until I turned it off and on.
Hello tinwoodman,
Right click an empty area on the desktop and select properties, when display properties opens click on the screensaver tab. Make sure the box next to On Resume Password Protect is not checked, if it is clear it; then click Apply and OK.
You could also check in Power Options and make sure it's not configured to prompt for a password when resuming from Standby. control panel-performance and maintenance-power options-advanced-prompt for password when computer resumes from standby.
Two good ideas, but neither the screen saver nor power saver require a password on resume.
Hello tinwoodman
Perhaps this Microsoft webpage may be of help.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242917
Please let us know. Thanks.
I had come across the MS page before, and it didn't seem relevant. My screensaver works fine if NIS isn't running. I suppose there might be some kind of weird interaction between NIS and the screensaver. Maybe I'll try running a full system scan with and without the screensaver.