Thanks for the additional info. Your machine specs seem just fine.
If Constant Guard were installed you would see it as a separate entry in Add-Remove Programs or Programs and Features. If it is there, I would advise uninstalling it.
You might want to consider upgrading to NSS version 6. I would recommend a complete uninstall as outlined by USAF_E-8_RET in this post on the Comcast Security forums. USAF_E-8_RET is well respected on that community and you will find those instructions are very good.
The download link provided there will avoid the Constant Guard Suite - just be sure to decline any pop-up offer to download Constant Guard.
Lots of replies and "Me Too's" then. But, I can't see any way to Post on that topic there. And the moderator moved it to 360 (don't know why), towards the end. No Post capability there either. So...I'm starting the topic anew, here.
Subject issue is what I'm (mostly) having -- except it's taking only 1/2 of the cpu (same problem by most of posters in original Subject). Anytime I go on Standby and come back it grabs the cpu immediately, and holds it for anywhere from 1-5 minutes. Or alternatively, it just grabs the cpu during normal opns -- no LU is going, AFAICT. No Pulse Update. Really slowing my system down -- a lot.
Has been happening for several months. Getting intolerable -- and really annoying.
Like all the others in the original Subject post, I'm running XP SP3 on an older machine. Pretty fast though ("dual core" 3.1 GHz), yet only 1.5GB mem.
Wonder if NIS 2012 just doesn't work very well on such old systems and OS?
Threads get locked after an amount of time so the content remains relevant. It is better to start a new thread, rather than confusing people with older information.
You are running NIS 2012, but can you verify the version number? Support - About.
Have you run LiveUpdate manually a few times, rebooting as necessary, until no updates are available? There have been some updates that could affect your system.
If things are only grabbing 1/2 of the CPU time, that should not be anything to worry about. You should still be able to use the system. When your system starts up or comes back from sleep or hybernate, Norton would run through some checks to see if definitions are up to date, when the last scan was done, and to perform any actions it sees as necessary, to ensure your system is safe.
Tks Peter. Thought I remembered something about the "lock" on old posts. But, May 2012 doesn't seem that old. Oh well. Now I know.
NIS 2012 is 19.9.0.9. I'll try the manual LU thing. And true, 1/2 cpu is not too bad. But when I kick in my browser (Firefox) it easily goes to 100% -- and FF, I think, is asking for more, so browsing gets really bogged-down -- esp on videos (YouTube, etc).
Also, I do understand that NIS is doing re-checks after Standby/Sleep -- but for up to 5-minutes?? 3-minutes is quite common. That's a long time, when you're anxiously working on something important.
NIS 2012 is 19.9.0.9. I'll try the manual LU thing. And true, 1/2 cpu is not too bad. But when I kick in my browser (Firefox) it easily goes to 100% -- and FF, I think, is asking for more, so browsing gets really bogged-down -- esp on videos (YouTube, etc).
Also, I do understand that NIS is doing re-checks after Standby/Sleep -- but for up to 5-minutes?? 3-minutes is quite common. That's a long time, when you're anxiously working on something important.
Tks for the ideas.
Robby
The length of time required after standby/sleep will depend on whether an update is available, and if so, a quick scan will run.
NIS 2012 is 19.9.0.9. I'll try the manual LU thing. And true, 1/2 cpu is not too bad. But when I kick in my browser (Firefox) it easily goes to 100% -- and FF, I think, is asking for more, so browsing gets really bogged-down -- esp on videos (YouTube, etc).
Also, I do understand that NIS is doing re-checks after Standby/Sleep -- but for up to 5-minutes?? 3-minutes is quite common. That's a long time, when you're anxiously working on something important.
Tks for the ideas.
Robby
The length of time required after standby/sleep will depend on whether an update is available, and if so, a quick scan will run.
Well, that might be the issue. NIS may be doing a quick scan almost everytime I come out of Standby. Why would it do that -- almost everytime? Seems redundant. Any way to stop that in options, etc, on NIS? [It has its own little forceful, red-orange warning about "Your Computer Needs to be Scanned"-thing anyway -- which I then do, about every 3-days or so.]
BTW, I tried manual LU's -- and after the 1st one, it said "Not Required." So, guess that didn't help.
And, it's still doing its 1/2+ cpu trick. Got so bad a while ago, with other programs running (Firefox and Thunderbird), that I had to do a cold start. Fixed it for a while. But it's back now.
How long do you usually leave the computer to sleep/hybernate? Rebooting every couple of days is always recommended to clear out the garbage Windows collects as it runs.
If you are leaving the computer for more than a few hours, there would probably be a virus definition update available when the computer wakes. This will trigger the quick scan.
How long do you usually leave the computer to sleep/hybernate? Rebooting every couple of days is always recommended to clear out the garbage Windows collects as it runs.
If you are leaving the computer for more than a few hours, there would probably be a virus definition update available when the computer wakes. This will trigger the quick scan.
Varies. Sometimes just a few minutes. Sometimes 6-8 hours. I'll try and watch to see if this makes a big difference on the cpu grab.
And yes -- somewhere, several years ago, I read an article (Pogue?) about how the longer Windows stays-on, the goofier it gets. <G> So, a cold start is often the best thing to do for computer problems. Yet I can't really do that for all the times NIS is grabbing the cpu -- even after wake-up, etc.
But, is there anyway to get NIS *not* to do a Quick Scan after the computer wakes-up, and NIS does a virus update? QS seems like a waste of time, mostly. I've been a Norton user for over 12-years. Never found anything of a worthwhile threat from a Quick Scan. (Tracking cookies sometimes.)
The quick scan after the definition updates is by design to make sure you are protected against the latest threats added to the definitions.
This seems to be a better safe than sorry approach. It only takes one infection to spoil your day.
And yes... I've had more than my share of "spoiled days." But, I'm going to try disconnecting my DSL cable when I go on Standby. And not reconnecting until I'm ready to do a manual LU. Maybe that will fool NIS into NOT doing a QS. We'll see. Keep you posted.
The quick scan after the definition updates is by design to make sure you are protected against the latest threats added to the definitions.
This seems to be a better safe than sorry approach. It only takes one infection to spoil your day.
And yes... I've had more than my share of "spoiled days." But, I'm going to try disconnecting my DSL cable when I go on Standby. And not reconnecting until I'm ready to do a manual LU. Maybe that will fool NIS into NOT doing a QS. We'll see. Keep you posted.
Tks again, for all your time on this.
Still happening. Today it's gone on for well over 30-minutes. At times grabbing nearly all the cpu. I've done (3)-cold starts, uninstalled and re-installed FF, played around with various things on Standby and DSL connections. Nothing helps.
Almost can't be something associated with a disk scan -- there's no HDD activity. Just cpu. What in the heck could NIS be doing with all that cpu time -- 1/2 of a 3.2 GHz dual-core processor??
I'm essentially running on one-half of a computer. Sux. Serriously thinking of McAfee and Kaspersky. C'mon Norton get this fixed.
Download a fresh copy of NIS 2012 from here www.norton.com/nis12 If you use Identity Safe, backup/export your data. Use the CSV format for compatibility. Uninstall your Norton product with Windows control panel. Reboot. Run the Norton Removal Tool. Reboot. Run the NIS installer. Run LiveUpdate manually a few times, rebooting as necessary, until no updates are available. Try to log into your Identity Safe. If you can, you are done. If not, Import your Identity Safe data.
Download a fresh copy of NIS 2012 from here www.norton.com/nis12 If you use Identity Safe, backup/export your data. Use the CSV format for compatibility. Uninstall your Norton product with Windows control panel. Reboot. Run the Norton Removal Tool. Reboot. Run the NIS installer. Run LiveUpdate manually a few times, rebooting as necessary, until no updates are available. Try to log into your Identity Safe. If you can, you are done. If not, Import your Identity Safe data.
Let us know if this fixes things.
Tks Peter. Yes, that has been my conclusion -- wipe and reload NIS. A real hassle. This has happened to me too often over the years, with NIS.
Wonder where 2013 stands. Maybe they've "fixed" my problem. Is there still a free d/l of this (for 2012 users)? Or, maybe I should just go back to 2011 for my old, memory-constrained XP system.
Tks Peter. Yes, that has been my conclusion -- wipe and reload NIS. A real hassle. This has happened to me too often over the years, with NIS.
Wonder where 2013 stands. Maybe they've "fixed" my problem. Is there still a free d/l of this (for 2012 users)? Or, maybe I should just go back to 2011 for my old, memory-constrained XP system.
Appreciate the help.
At this point it would not hurt to try the upgrade to 2013. Open your NIS and click on Support. Click on check for new version. Then follow the prompts to complete the upgrade.
If that does not help, you can go back to my previous post and reinstall NIS 2012.
Tks Peter. Yes, that has been my conclusion -- wipe and reload NIS. A real hassle. This has happened to me too often over the years, with NIS.
Wonder where 2013 stands. Maybe they've "fixed" my problem. Is there still a free d/l of this (for 2012 users)? Or, maybe I should just go back to 2011 for my old, memory-constrained XP system.
Appreciate the help.
At this point it would not hurt to try the upgrade to 2013. Open your NIS and click on Support. Click on check for new version. Then follow the prompts to complete the upgrade.
If that does not help, you can go back to my previous post and reinstall NIS 2012.
Let us know which route you take and how it goes.
Tks Peter, but for right now guess I'm just gonna live with it. Not doing anything that cpu intensive anyway. But, if it really gets to be a pain I'll try 2013. Concerned though -- that the more advanced a version is, the more computer resources it will take. My old system just doesn't have much to spare.