Symantec notified earlier in this forum that there is no virus problem and they were very helpful with explaining renewal issues, but they are amazing quiet concerning the “allegation” that there is an - on purpose? – error in Norton itself. It would be nice - and polite – if they gave a reaction in this forum on that too. I wonder if they are too ashamed to answer. Or maybe they are afraid of liability claims………
For those on this thread who are getting the /fauxvirus/carney_ride.exe hang and have an older version of Norton (mine was 2007), but have a paid, current subscription, it seems you can upgrade to the latest Norton version that appears not to have the bug for free, per an earlier post that references this subscription info post.
Some of the language:
Version Update - For certain Norton products (such as the 2006 and later versions of Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, and Norton 360), Version Updates are provided to you for no additional fee during your current product subscription. In addition to the latest Security Updates which are delivered through Symantec’s LiveUpdate™ technology, your product subscription entitles you to download, install and use the latest version of your product through the end of your current subscription period.
Renewal - When you purchase a subscription Renewal, you are buying an extension to your current Norton product subscription. A Renewal adds time to your existing subscription and enables you to receive Security Updates for your Norton product. For a 2006 or later version of certain Norton products (such as Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, or Norton 360), a Renewal also makes you eligible to download, install and use Version Updates for your Norton product for the duration of your subscription period. When you purchase a subscription Renewal, the renewal time period is added to the time remaining on your existing subscription.
Example: You are a Norton Internet Security 2008 user, and you have 15 days of subscription time remaining. You purchase a Renewal to extend your subscription time for another year. Upon completing your Renewal purchase, your new subscription period will equal 380 days (which represents the sum of your remaining 15 days plus the one year Renewal period). Please note that with a current subscription to Norton Internet Security 2008, you are also eligible for the Version Update to Norton Internet Security 2009 as described above.
I can't answer any questions about the above, but the original link is there. In my case, I just simply was at the end of Norton 2007 subscription period, went to Costco, and bought Norton 2009 to replace it. But those in the middle of a subscription seem to have options to download the latest bug-free version, above.
Message Edited by seattlenerd on 02-01-2009 08:39 AM
Thanks, Seattlenerd.
This DOES in fact work. FRIENDS, please note:- You have to upload the updated program separately -- it does NOT upload via Liveupdate (which in a rational world it would have done, automatically -- even in a less rational world, it would have done so by prompting people, instead of leaving them in ignorance).
This upgrade uninstalls the old Norton and installs the new one. There is a whole different appearing interface when you have done this, and the 2009 version does seem not to be hung up by Carny ride.
ed
For the rest of us....aka Norton SystemWorks 2007 (version 11.0), WindowsXP....we are out of luck. Followed all the instructions and to my surprise (NOT) a renewal is no longer available for my version. I will HAVE to buy a new one.
Never believed in conspiracy theories.....until now. 
Good luck, all!
It DOES seem to work.
[Sorry if this is a duplicate]
My computer was acting strangely (freezing, CPU stuck at 100%, Firefox shut down all windows, etc.). I was able to close everything down, delete all temp and cookie files and got my CPU down to 8% and the computer was working again. I began running a full scan on Norton and it froze very early at the fauxvirus carny ride location. I let it continue for 15minutes but it would not go past 8,001 files. I have 850,000 files. I tried to stop Norton to restart it so that I could scan only the C:Drive but Norton wouldn't stop no matter how many ways I tried to get it to stop. It finally read "paused" but remained on screen.
I also have Spybot which I use regularly (2-3 times a week and seems to find a whole lot more than Norton ever finds) but it would not load up to run while Norton was frozen. (I do a full Norton scan about every 10 days or more for the past 10 years but I've never seen this fauxvirus thing happen.) As a matter of fact, Norton antivirus only finds 1 or 2 tracking cookies whenever I run it even though in the past year I've been hit by two major trojans and have spent hours online with Microsoft trying to clear up all the damage. I'm really starting to wonder why I need Norton. Spybot with Teatimer (which is free) is what I end up relying on to get things running well again (this is the first time it wouldn't load).
I tried to use Windows Restore to get back to yesterday's restore point but my computer won't shut down or restart normally. I tried to run a Windows Search for the file but the search also shuts down and I keep getting a message that Windows Office XP has to install something. I wasn't using any Office apps today, so why is that preventing me from searching on a file?
Anyway, I'm on my laptop looking for a solution. I've read many pages of user info, but like someone earlier said, Norton is being very nonchalant about this problem.
I may need to update my Norton even though I have 270 days left on it so I thought I had a recent version. If my problem was only getting Norton to finish it's scan I would feel better, but a lot of other stuff is going haywire at the same time.
Thanks everyone for the input.
Oh, and thanks for listening. btw I have given up on IE and began using Firefox a little over a week ago. There may be some setting in it that are stopping me from going to a Restore point, but I doubt that is the case. I think I've read and studied all the settings in firefox that might impact this. I really really like Firefox so much better than IE so I hope my problem isn't with a Firefox related issue.
I'd strongly suggest making sure you have the latest version of Norton (2009) which seems to fix the carny_ride hang. If you still have a valid subscription, which you indicate you do, you can download and install the latest version based on the instructions a few posts earlier.
I can't even begin the explain the rest of what you're experiencing, however. They may not be related.
Dear Mr/Ms Jackson,
I do encourage you to get the free upgrade to Norton 2009; see link above. It did clear up the "carny ride" issue and scans seem to proceed as they should.
You might also want to try restarting your computer in "Safe" mode (which I keep forgetting how to get into, except by trial and error).
Good luck! And if you have a choice, do NOT downgrade your computer to Vista, which has little to recommend it.
I wholeheartedly agree with an earlier post by hellfyredrgn. This is a virus with many variations, some of which may be benign and some of which are very malicious. It is frustrating to read people's posts saying that if it can't be detected it doesn't exist, or maybe "faux" means false (duh!). Let me tell you about my variation:
First of all, it's got lots of built in immunity. It not only will not allow me to finish a scan, it will not me to download live updates. LU1806 and LU1821 are the error messages I receive. Norton has solutions for these problems, but they will not work. I followed them religiously a number of times. The virus fools Norton into thinking that another live update is in progress. I have similarly failed to download other spyware software like Spyware Doctor. Contol-Alt-Delete gets stuck on the task manager menu and the close box has disappeared.
The event that led to my running the Norton scan in the first place was an obvious attack. A pop up appeared that notified me that I was under attack and that MS Windows had installed a trial copy of its spyware with uninstall disabled. My choices were to continue the scan or pay for "the full working version". I shut down my computer and when I rebooted I ran into the same problem. That is when I ran my first Norton scan. Like everyone else, I could not find the FAUXVIRUS.carney_ride.exe file, but I ran a search for exe files by creation date and modification date and I erased all of the exe files that were both created and modified at the time of the attack. That at least stopped the MS Widows spyware trojan from popping up.
Like I say, I don't find it reassuring that a 2009 edition of Norton is going to sail through a scan and say that everything is OK. Everything is definitely not OK.
Don't confuse the hang in Norton 2007 with the separate potential of having a real virus infection. Having the hang does not necessarily mean you have a virus (I didn't). The hang was fixed by upgrading to Norton 2009.
But that doesn't mean you can't have a buggy copy of Norton 2007 and have a virus or malware problem at the same time, as unfortunate as that is.
Hi,
This is PROBABLY the result of a problem with the version of Systemworks that you are using.
This has been discussed extensively on a different thread. Here are a couple of extracts:
For those on this thread who are getting the /fauxvirus/carney_ride.exe hang and have an older version of Norton (mine was 2007), but have a paid, current subscription, it seems you can upgrade to the latest Norton version that appears not to have the bug for free, per an earlier post that references this subscription info post.
Some of the language:
Version Update - For certain Norton products (such as the 2006 and later versions of Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, and Norton 360), Version Updates are provided to you for no additional fee during your current product subscription. In addition to the latest Security Updates which are delivered through Symantec’s LiveUpdate™ technology, your product subscription entitles you to download, install and use the latest version of your product through the end of your current subscription period.
Renewal - When you purchase a subscription Renewal, you are buying an extension to your current Norton product subscription. A Renewal adds time to your existing subscription and enables you to receive Security Updates for your Norton product. For a 2006 or later version of certain Norton products (such as Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, or Norton 360), a Renewal also makes you eligible to download, install and use Version Updates for your Norton product for the duration of your subscription period. When you purchase a subscription Renewal, the renewal time period is added to the time remaining on your existing subscription.
Example: You are a Norton Internet Security 2008 user, and you have 15 days of subscription time remaining. You purchase a Renewal to extend your subscription time for another year. Upon completing your Renewal purchase, your new subscription period will equal 380 days (which represents the sum of your remaining 15 days plus the one year Renewal period). Please note that with a current subscription to Norton Internet Security 2008, you are also eligible for the Version Update to Norton Internet Security 2009 as described above.
I can't answer any questions about the above, but the original link is there. In my case, I just simply was at the end of Norton 2007 subscription period, went to Costco, and bought Norton 2009 to replace it. But those in the middle of a subscription seem to have options to download the latest bug-free version, above.
--
Thanks, Seattlenerd.
This DOES in fact work. FRIENDS, please note:- You have to upload the updated program separately -- it does NOT upload via Liveupdate (which in a rational world it would have done, automatically -- even in a less rational world, it would have done so by prompting people, instead of leaving them in ignorance).
This upgrade uninstalls the old Norton and installs the new one. There is a whole different appearing interface when you have done this, and the 2009 version does seem not to be hung up by Carny ride.
-------
Look for a sequence of posts by Seattlenerd (who is not me).
Good luck!
ed
Well, this may all be a bit academic soon anyway as BT Yahoo are changing me over to McAfee.
I'm not confusing FAUXVIRUS with having a real virus. If you want to separate them in your mind, fine. I just think that it is too much of a coincidence that the "real" virus and the FAUXVIRUS showed up at the same time. I never experienced the "hang" before. Maybe they were two separate programs that were coupled by a malicious person or maybe it was just a more lethal variation, or maybe it was that one-in-a-million coincidence. Whatever...
My solution was to offload all important files and wipe the hard drive. It is a time consuming process, but it was worth it. A computer geek friend says that he does it once a year just to improve performance. I did not want to go back online to re-download Norton without protection so I purchased a copy of Norton Internet Security 2009. I did not detect an improvement in scanning speed, but I like the newer format. I have not figured out yet how to add my old (almost a full year's) subscription onto my new one. Any suggestions?
There is no such virus in the Symantec database called "FauxVirus;" that was part of NAV's search path. Carny_ride.exe is indeed a jokeware/malware item, though not listed by that name in Norton.
However: The fact NAV 2007 hangs when it is merely looking for something called carny_ride.exe in the FauxVirus directory is different than actually having that infection. Or any infection.
You can have both behaviors, simultaneous but unrelated. It doesn't mean that infection is carny_ride.exe itself, but it could be something else that appeared and then NAV 2007 started to hang. (I had NAV 2007 running fine for a long time before it began to hang, but there was no infection involved in my case.)
As to the subscription info carrying over, you may need to contact Symantec customer service. That's what I'd suggest, especially if you can explain that you had to wipe your hard drive and no longer have the old application.
1 Like
Hey there SeattleNerd, that is so true what you say that just because the Norton dwindles or stalls on the Carny Virus file it doesn't mean you have it, it's just searching for it. Have any of you seen this webpage? It pretty much says that there indeed IS such a thing as Faux VIrus Carny_ride:
http://www.411-spyware.com/c-fauxvirus-carny-ride-exe-removal#how-to-remove
It might even seem scary at times taking into account that It might be a keylogger of some sort put in there to get your banking/credit info.
In my case the Full System Scan stops at 7000-9000 everytime and tells me that it's complete. I obviously know it's not since I have over 400,000 files, but it gets worse. I just found out today that I can't download any new virus definitions, I can't upgrade my product to the 2009 version, online. It always seems to freeze during the download or says that there is some problem with the connection. 
but it still gets even worse. Now my whole Windows defense system is not working either!! :\ I can't put up my Windows Firewall anymore, I can't download any updates for Windows, my phishing protection bars have all disappeared and I can't even download any New Anti-Virus software to my computer. I tried Spy-Bot, Avast, McAffee, Kapersky and no luck. It always gives me an Error at the downloading screen or just freezes. Can anybody relate to this? I know I came late to this forum, but it just so happens that this is a recent issue for me. The last time my Norton did a successful Full System Scan was on the 10 of this month. I'm gonna go ahead and try to return to a previous restore point, if that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to wipe the disk clean. I really don't think this is something that should be overlooked by just installing the new 2009 Norton I.S. If there's something there and indeed it IS a virus, we gotta take this a bit more seriously.
Thanks for your time.
Hi A51977,
I recommend wiping your hard drive. I had the same problem with scans and downloads and there was a key-logger installed that used my wife's debit card to make some purchases that were sent to NYC. Wiping the drive isn't so bad. It's just a bit time consuming. The Windows updates took at least as long to load as reloading all of the disks. On the upside, I find that cleaning my internet history runs about a zillion times faster now.
For anyone who hasn't done this before (this was my first time), wiping your hard drive involves reinstalling your Windows (or alternative operating system) software. Before you do it, save all of your Word, Excel, picture files, etc. to CD. You don't have to worry about your email files and your email addresses, they will still be there. After you have copied all of the files you want to save, shut down your computer. Put the first Windows backup disk in your CD drive and then restart your computer and follow the prompts. Sometimes you might get a message that some of the files failed to install, and you might be given the options to either "abort" or "retry". I found that retrying eventually worked. With a few files I had to retry 3 or 4 times, but that was just on the first Windows disk; the rest of the disks loaded without a problem.
I thought that wiping the hard drive would mean that I would have to reload the software for my drives, modem, and the software provided by my internet service provider, but that was not the case. It really wasn't too bad, and I would not hesitate to do it again under similar circumstances.
1 Like
Thanks man, I just got my computer back today. I did indeed have to clean my hard drive. The restore point didn't work at all. All it did was create more problems. At one point I couldn't even connect to the internet anymore. :( It would change my proxy settings everytime I would sign on. So, now everything is running smooth. No worries but one thing is for sure. I'm not going back to Norton. At least not for a while. I've been having problems with every version of it that's ever came out. Ironic don't you think that the one thing that was installed on our computers to protect it, actually ends up doing it in? :\ Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great AV with all it's up to date virus definitions and such. I even compared it to other AV out there by running it on a super infected computer that I have which I use to test downloads. No other AV came out with better results than Norton. It's a real shame that it has to have flaws like this every now and then. I really wouldn't mind coming back to it, but once Symantec gets their act together and stops trying to make its AV all fancy looking and focuses more on the purpose of the product itself.
Thanks Powerhound for your reply and tips. Since I'm so computer illiterate I had a friend of mine do the reformat for me. :D
Just wanted to verify this malware/virus. It just cropped up on one of our machines protected by SEP 11. Strangely, the PC was acting just like it has the old Blaster virus (no access to My Computer, DLM server reboot in 30 seconds screen etc). But full Norton Scan, MalwareBytes scan revealed no Blaster or Vundo). I havent had a chance to try the 411 removal steps, but just wanted to chime in to say the C:\FauxVirus\carnival_ride.exe is on this system and does exist. Will report more later.