Allen,
Thank you for your prompt reply, however none of the solutions you've provided work.
1) How do you turn OFF the "Idle Time Scans" - I frequently wander away from my PC but it's never really "idle", I always have it doing something or another & Norton zapping 100% of BOTH core processors is not acceptable. I can't find anywhere to actually turn this OFF? For over a decade I have programmed Norton using the scheduler to run when I'm asleep. That arrangement worked great for me. Now that option appears to be gone in favor of this "idle time scan" b.s.? wtf?
>> From the main NIS window, simply click Computer Settings. Under the Computer Scans section is a line title Idle Time Scan. Simply set it to OFF. To set up a scan schedule of your choosing, seimply click Scan Now under the Computer section in the top right. Then select Run Custom Scanu. Then click Schedule and set as desired.
>>> This is already set to "Off" but it keeps doing it every time the system is idle anyway; the maximum setting being 30 minutes is rather absurd considering this is the slowest virus scanner I've ever seen - it took 7 HOURS to scan a 250gb hdd that has maybe 10gb of data on it. Even if I'm away for 30 minutes, I certainly will be back within the next 7 hours.
2) File exclusions - Norton is throwing false positives all over the place in regards to some of the software I personally am developing. It keeps trying to delete my projects, which are completely safe. The option to EXCLUDE files from the scans, either is not there or I simply can not find it - and trust me, I've looked. For hours on end. I tried telling it to NOT scan zip archives, but it does it anyway.
>> Are you files being found by a virus scan or as part of SONAR? Scan exclusions can be set through Computer Settings, then Scan Exclusions > Configure. If the files are being found during SONAR (which is behavioral scan) then you can only exclude it from future SONAR detection after it has been quarantined. You can then restore from quarantine and choose to exclude it from future SONAR action. Please note that starting with NIS 2011 (in BETA now) you will be able to configure SONAR exclusions at any time. You can tell NIS NOT to scan compressed files under Computer Settings > Compressed Files Scan and set to OFF.
>>>This is also set to "Off" yet it keeps scanning & trying to delete my archives anyway. I don't know if it's NIS or SONAR, how do you tell? It only pops up when NIS does the "Idle Time Scan" (that's supposedly turned off). In any case, all that's in the archives in question are obfuscated php files. There are no executables, or anything else that Norton should be worried about. I can not, and will not, send Symantec my work without a non-disclosure & non-competition agreement being signed. In any case, these files only go on my linux servers so them being falsly detected isn't a big issue, other than Norton popping up like every 5 minutes asking me if I want them deleted. There used to be a drop down to tell it to exclude the files from future scans, and I have no clue what possessed them to remove that. It also just did it from a mp3 I downloaded from a friend; Norton won't even let me access the file & I know for a fact it is not infected with anything, as my friend & I are the ones that recorded the mp3 in the first place; not to mention, at least to my knowledge, mp3s can't be infected. I tried turning the virus scanner off using the right click menu on the tray icon, it said it was off until the next reboot - then about a minute later popped up yet again saying the mp3 had a virus.
3) Is there any way possible to roll the GUI back to the original interface? This new design drives me nuts. It's clunky, not intuitive at all & about the most un-user friendly piece of software I have ever laid eyes on.
>> The only choice in GUI appearance is to set a few skin preferences. This is in MIsc. Settings.
>>> Then how do I successfully REMOVE this piece of crap from my system? I'd rather take my chances of getting a virus than have to deal with Norton b*tching every 5 seconds about false positives. I tried add/remove programs, and got an authorization error, even though I am the only administrator on this system.
I'm running NIS 2010 v17.7.0.12
I don't know who's brainfart NIS 2010 is, but they need to be sacked; this is THE worst virus scanner I have ever seen in over 20 years of computing. I didn't think anything could be worse than Kaspersky, I stand corrected.
-- Mike Solstice