I have Windows XP Home Edition. The computer’s memory has been reduced to a tiny 161 MB. There are NO large music or video files taking up space. Old Norton Virus Definition Update Files are slowing down my hard drive and taking up too much space.
I want to get rid of the old virus definitions but I keep getting a message telling me that the files are “protected” or “in use”.
Can someone please give me step-by-step instructions on how to delete these old virus definition folders.
Those are the definitions that protect you so you can’t delete these
Hi Enigma,
Which is the current Norton program you have- name and version? Depending on that, we can provide you some help. If you have Norton 2006/2007/2008 versions, you can get a free upgrade to Norton 2009 version. Only thing you need is a valid Product key with valid subscription.
Yogesh
Yes, I realize that the definitions are necessary for protection. I just had the idea of deleting the old virus definitions and running a live update to obtain the latest defintions.
Is there a way for the virus definitions to be placed into one small folder to prevent loss of hard drive space?
I also realized that I might have made a mistake with my previous post. Most of the memory loss is due to the large number of .tmp files that have accumulated in the VirusDef folder over the last three years. It is not necessarily the definitions that are troubling me, but these .tmp files which contain numerous virus scan logs.
Is there a way to delete these .tmp files that are consuming too much hard drive memory?
I have an early Norton 2007 Version.
Enigma wrote:I have Windows XP Home Edition. The computer’s memory has been reduced to a tiny 161 MB. There are NO large music or video files taking up space. Old Norton Virus Definition Update Files are slowing down my hard drive and taking up too much space.
I want to get rid of the old virus definitions but I keep getting a message telling me that the files are “protected” or “in use”.
Can someone please give me step-by-step instructions on how to delete these old virus definition folders.
Hi Enigma,
Do you mean that you have 161 MB free space? You can't touch the virus definitions but there are other ways to free up disk space. Here are some basic steps to free up disk space:
1. Run DiskCleanup from Start Menu - All Programs -Accessoires - System Tools. Check all boxes. (usually I skip compress old files)
2. use the Windows "Run" command, type %temp% press enter, and delete any existing files/folders
3. reduce your browser's disk usage: for Internet Explorer 6: Tools - Options - under Temporary Internet Files click settings and reduce the amount of disk space usage to 20 MB for example. For Internet Explorer 7: Tools - Internet Options - under Browsing history click "Settings" and change the amount of disk usage. If you use another browser, the steps should be similar.
4. Reduce Recycle Bin disk usage: right click the Recycle Bin - properties - and change the maximum size of Recycle Bin to 1% for example
5. Disable Hibernation - Right click on your desktop - properties - "Screen Saver" tab - Power - Hibernate tab - and uncheck "Enable hibernation"
6. From Add/Remove programs, remove any uneeded/unused applications
7. (Optional but recommended) Remove your old Norton 2007: Download and run the Norton Removal Tool
8. (Optional but recommended) Update your Norton Product to the latest 2009 editions. For this purpose, you can use the Norton Update Center
NOTE: You'll need Windows XP SP2 installed so you can use Norton 2009. To check what is your current Service Pack, right click on "My Computer", then click "Properties".
Hi Enigma,
Those .tmp files are temporary liveupdate files which are left over after you update the Norton program. You can try the following steps to delete contents of LiveUpdate download folder which may free up the space used by LiveUpdate:
1. Click the Start button and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Symantec LiveUpdate.
3. Click Update Cache tab in LiveUpdate Configuration window.
4. Click Remove All Files From Cache.
5. Click Ok.
Otherwise, you can try to upgrade to Norton 2009 version as Vejdin posted. Make sure that you are downloading and upgrading exact program. If you have Norton AntiVirus 2007, you can upgrade to Norton AntiVirus 2009 or if you have Norton Internet Security 2007, you can upgrade to Norton Internet Security 2009. Make sure that you have the product key of your Norton 2007 program before starting the upgrade. Go to your Norton Account using this LINK and get the Product Key. You may require this same Product Key for activating the Norton 2009
Yogesh
Adding to Vejdin's and yogesh's post you can set, and delete the System Restore data too.
Open Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessoires -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup, and wait till it's finished scanning. When it's done, click on the More Options tab, and click on Clean up under System Restore. It will delete every System Restore back-up, leaving the last one only.
Then open Control Panel, and open the System Properties. Click on the System Restore tab, and here you can set how many MBs/GBs it can use.
Great suggestions Yogesh and PapauZ!
Enigma , if you don't use System Restore, just disable it. That could improve system performance and will definitely free up disk space.
Thanks to all of you. I will try out all of your suggestions. I will post again if I run into any problems.
I reduced Internet Expleroers Browser disc usage.
The disc cleanup wizard never finishes calculating; probably due to insufficient hard drive memory.
I accessed the Live update configuration window in the Contol Panel and clicked “Remove all Files from Cache” but the .TMP files are still taking up hard drive space.
I could download the Norton Unistal tool but wont this process use up even more hard drive space?
Does removing Norton and reinstalling the 2009 version delete the old TMP files?
can u give a distribution of norton av folder in ur c:\program files
i mean space distrbution, which folder in it using what amount of memory?
The VirusDefs folder is using 8.42 GB of memory.
There are 629 TMP files within this folder.
The AntiVirus folder is 1.25 MB. This is fine. The 629 Temporary Files are using up too much of the hard drive's memory. It is impossible for me to delete these files. Each time I attempt to remove them I recieve a message telling me to "make sure that that the disc is not full or write-protected". I don't understand what this means.
Hi Enigma,
Yes, use the Norton removal tool and it will remove all Norton Files including the LiveUpdate temp files. Here are the instructions:
If you have currently installed Norton Internet Security 2006, please uninstall it using the Norton Removal tool and install Norton Internet Security 2009 free upgrade.
1. Go to your Norton Account using this LINK and get the Product Key of 2006 version. You may require this same Product Key for activating the Norton 2009 program. If you are unable to find the Product Key, contact Symantec Customer Services to get it and then proceed with uninstall/upgrade.
2. Download the Norton Internet Security 2009 from this LINK, don't install it now.
3. Download and run Norton Removal Tool from this LINK. This is to remove the Norton 2006 program. Run it twice to make sure that all the previous components are removed completely.
4. Now install Norton 2009 and activate it using the same Product key.
Additional Information:
You are unable to delete the temp files from the LiveUpdate folder due to the Symantec Product protection. Try to disable the Symantec Product Protection(Options > Norton Internet Security. On the General Tab, under Protect my product, uncheck Turn on protection for my Symantec product.) Otherwise, try to delete those files in Safe mode. Make sure that you delete only .tmp files.
Yogesh
Thank you, I was able to successfully delete all of the space consuming LiveUpdate temp files by entering safe mode. My Hard drive's memory has vastly improved.
I have a question concerning the Synmatec LiveUpdate definition folders.
I would like to know if I could delete old virus definition files while downloading new virus definitions? Will the old virus definitions in the old files still be found within the new liveupdate files?
If I run a liveupdate, will the new virus defintions folder contain a cumulative list of all the virus defintions found in all of liveupdate folders from different dates?
What I'm trying to ask is whether or not a single liveupdate will contain only new virus definitions for that single update or if it will contain a collective list of all the virus definitions from the old and new live update files?
U will get total definitions in 1 live update even if u delete ur vir definitions totally.
U will have to download around 40 mb of live update instead of usuall 1 mb dats all.
My hard drive memory problem has been completely resolved. Thanks to all of you for your assistance.
So just to be clear... (I've been linked here by someone, as I have pretty much exactly the same problem)...
You can delete WHICH specific folders in the VirusDefs folder? The ones that have .temp as an extention or what? And so when I run a Live Update next, I'll still have ALL the definitions, even after I've deleted them beforehand?
Just want to have clarification before I start deleting anything. Thanks.
Can anyone confirm all this for me? I really need to get this fixed ASAP.
Hi The TenthDoctor,
The only way to clean up the virus def folder is to uninstall and reinstall
the Norton software that have produced the folder.
I´ve done this a number of times and found it to be safe and functioning.
The proceedure is very simple and strait forward.
I´ve not used the Norton Removal Tool when performing this.
For your own safety perform a complete system backup, making it possible
to recover back to if anything goes wrong.
All Norton softwares of 2009 ie NAV/NIS and N360v3 only have the latest
virus def updates in this folder.
Please use the upgrade option to the latest version if you have a valid
subscription.
It´s definitly worth doing !!