BACKGROUND
System: HP Pavilion dv6000 laptop 1.8 GHz AMD dual core TL-56 processor runing Vista (32 bit) SP2 with 3 Mb RAM
Problem: System was running more slowly every day (over two week period). Symptoms were longer boot up times and slow system response for the first 20 minutes or so of initial operation. Evidence of problem were high CPU and disk usage seen in Microsoft Resource Monitor. The culprit appeared to be the searcher indexer, but even after resetting search defaults problem went away and came back right away.
This morning, CPU & disk usage again went hiigh (continuously > 50%), but the culprit was mrt.exe, which I later discovered is Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT). After MSRT ran its course (about 30 - 45 minutes), the system is running fine and the search indexer issue does not appear to be returing as it did before.
SO BACK TO MY ORIGINAL QUESTION --- DID MSRT.EXE CATCH SOMETHING NORTON 360 DIDN'T?
1. A check of the Norton 360 history indicated that four times it BLOCKED mrt.exe, yet the program ran.
DOES THIS MEAN I CANNOT TRUST NORTON 360 MESSAGES WHEN IT SAYS IT DID SOMETHING?
2. After mrt.exe ran, my problem seems to be gone.
SINCE MRT.EXE ONLY REMOVES MALICIOUS SOFTWARE, WHY DIDN'T NORTON 360 REMOVE IT OR IDENTIFY IT FIRST?