I have an old XP box that I need to keep around. I have had Norton on it for many years. When they stopped supporting XP, they informed us we could still use version 22.15 and keep getting definitions. There was an update earlier this week and now norton will not run a Quick Scan. I get an error 3038, 106. I have uninstalled it and reinstalled and now Norton in their infinite stupidity require you to sign in to register the software rather than allowing us to be able to enter a product code. As a result, norton has completely crapped out. Does this mean Norton has poisoned the software to completely axe any XP machines?
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Hello @Mindwalker
AI Mode
It seems you’ve run into a significant issue following an update, which is understandably frustrating given the delicate nature of running unsupported software on Windows XP. Your observation about the forced sign-in requirement appears to be the core problem.
Here’s the situation:
The Activation and Sign-In Issue
You are correct in that the newer Norton activation process requires signing into a Norton account online, rather than using a product key directly within the older v22.15 interface you had before the reinstallation.
The major issue is this: Norton’s official support documentation confirms that once the legacy software is uninstalled from Windows XP, you can no longer reinstall or activate it because the installation and activation servers for these unsupported operating systems are no longer functional in the required way. The older software relied on systems that were later discontinued, particularly those requiring modern security certificates (SHA-2) which XP does not support.
Therefore, the combination of a forced reinstallation by the update failure and the modern activation requirement has rendered the software inoperable on your XP machine.
Error 3038, 106 Explained
The error code 3038, 106 is a generic runtime or installation error. In this specific context, it is almost certainly occurring because the program cannot successfully connect to the necessary online services (either for activation, configuration checks, or specific scan engine updates) due to the system’s incompatibility with modern Norton infrastructure or the lack of support for older network protocols on XP.
Has Norton “Poisoned” the Software?
It is unlikely Norton intentionally “poisoned” the software to crash XP machines. Rather, it’s a consequence of the business decision to end all support for legacy operating systems due to the massive security risks and lack of underlying support from Microsoft. The infrastructure required for the current software simply does not work with Windows XP anymore. When your software tried to update or reinstall, it attempted to use this incompatible infrastructure, leading to the failure.
What You Can Do Now
- You Cannot Reinstall the Legacy Norton: Unfortunately, the legacy version v22.15.5.40 cannot be successfully reinstalled or activated after a full removal.
- Explore Alternative Security: If you must keep the Windows XP machine running and connected to the internet, you will need to find an alternative, perhaps a free or older, compatible antivirus solution that still offers virus definition updates for XP (though these are becoming extremely rare and offer limited protection).
- Isolate the Machine: For security reasons, the safest approach for an XP machine is to disconnect it from the internet entirely and use it as an offline, isolated system only for specific, required tasks.
- Upgrade Hardware/OS: Norton’s official recommendation remains upgrading your operating system to Windows 7 SP1 or newer to maintain security.
AI Mode may make mistakes
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That’s what I was afraid of. Unfortunately, I cannot upgrade this box. Like I said before, it runs some software that I need that can only run on XP or earlier. I’m not worried too much about the security aspects as this box is not used on the internet. It only has access to server drives. My issue is the backup files are now defunct and I am going to have to find a new solution for this.
I do not believe this was not intentional, though. There has not been a version update for 22.15 since the end of life announcement and then all of sudden there is one. That is very intentional and it immediately errored out and crashed. Now I have uninstalled it and the XP box crashed. I am now having to reinstall the OS. This is continued BS by Norton. Why is it almost all anitivirus companies still maintain usability on XP and Norton won’t? I’ll just have to go elsewhere to solve this problem.
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for example?
McAfee, Avast, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, AVG…..
Then you have choices…