How to ignore "Your PC needs to be scanned for viruses and spyware" message

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
1

I have not touched my notebook PC for about 10 days. The PC has NIS 19.6.2.10 installed. During the 10-day period just mentioned the PC has been turned off and therefore has had no exposure to any kind of threat.

 

After booting the notebook this morning and allowing Norton LiveUpdate to do its thing, I am now getting a "Your PC needs to be scanned for viruses and spyware" alert and a demand that I "fix" it. In reality there is no difference in the status of the PC from when I last used it 10 days ago because there has been no activity on the machine.

 

Moreover I have work to do and do not want the disruption of NIS forcing me to perform full system scans whenever it thinks fit. (And clearly it is not doing a good job of judging when there is a genuine problem.)

 

Q. How can I force NIS to ignore this purported "issue" and get it to stop intrusively demanding that I carry out a full system scan?

 

Thanks

SS

 



2

Welcome slowsteady

 

The reason NIS is asking you to scan your system is that the reminders are calendar/clock based. It does not track the fact that your computer was turned off in that time.

 

If you wish, you can just ignore the warning by closing the NIS interface, and the warning will go away next time a background or scheduled scan is done.

3

Hi slowsteady

      During the Computer Offline period the computer is also not connected to the Internet, so there is no chance of Norton Downloading the Virus Defs. So as soon as you turn the Computer ON it just want to make sure the computer is secure by doing a scan as soon as the computer comes Online and the product starts running.

      When you click fix  now generally a Quick Scan will be performed, which will not take much of your time. So you can let it run in a minimized manner which will not interrupt your work.

4

I thank the two of you for your replies, but neither really suggestion does what I want.

 

What it seems to boil down to is that NIS will not cede decision making to the legitimate user. NIS insists on determining how and when to scan and does not offer the option to skip. It does this despite, in this particular case, having no practical need to scan.

 

I would like to remind Symantec that this is my PC and that is *my* right to decide how virus scans are conducted, and when. You need to offer the option to skip and not coerce the user into scanning.

 

Currently I use two 3-license packs of NIS for my family. I shifted from BitDefender three years ago. I think it's time to time to go back and see if BD, AVG or Kapersky are less intrusive than NIS. This silliness has occupied more than enough of my time already.

 

SS

 

5

I recently came from BD to Norton.  I suggest you read the current posts on the BD user forum to see if their problems have been resolved.  It slowed down my Win7 x64 laptop and totally broke Win7 Indexing.  Norton runs much better on my WinXP & Win7 PCs.

 

Just one user's opinion.

6

slowsteady wrote:

 

I have not touched my notebook PC for about 10 days. The PC has NIS 19.6.2.10 installed. During the 10-day period just mentioned the PC has been turned off and therefore has had no exposure to any kind of threat.

 

After booting the notebook this morning and allowing Norton LiveUpdate to do its thing, I am now getting a "Your PC needs to be scanned for viruses and spyware" alert and a demand that I "fix" it. In reality there is no difference in the status of the PC from when I last used it 10 days ago because there has been no activity on the machine.

 

[...]

There is a difference between the current status of the machine and it's status 10 days ago.

 

A threat that installed itself without detection 10 days ago may well be detected and resolved when the 'Fix Now' Quick scan runs, after booting your computer. That's why this Quick scan is not optional, given that it only takes around 3 - 5 minutes to complete on a modern notebook. It's best to let this 'Fix Now' Quick Scan run and remove any threats detected before you start banking online...

7
slowsteady wrote:

Moreover I have work to do and do not want the disruption of NIS forcing me to perform full system scans whenever it thinks fit. (And clearly it is not doing a good job of judging when there is a genuine problem.)

 


Thanks

SS

 

Although I do not recommend stopping scans from running, you might try going to Settings-Computer-Computer Scan and click Configure beside Full System Scan. There you can go through the many options for the full scan. Maybe something there will suite your needs.

8

"A threat that installed itself without detection 10 days ago may well be detected and resolved when the 'Fix Now' Quick scan runs, after booting your computer. That's why this Quick scan is not optional, given that it only takes around 3 - 5 minutes to complete on a modern notebook. It's best to let this 'Fix Now' Quick Scan run and remove any threats detected before you start banking online..."

 

I will decide what is and what is not "optional" on my PC, making judgements as I see fit. I do not cede that responsibility to a piece of software, particularly one with such inflexible heuristics. (In any case, if such a virus were to manage to get past NIS "undetected" 10 days ago, despite NIS being up-to-date and on-watch during that time, then I would conclude that NIS is just not doing a very good job.)

 

This is a simple issue: Symantec (or other vendors) should not be coercing users into certain courses of action. Give us the choice.

 

SS

 

9
slowsteady wrote:

[...]

(In any case, if such a virus were to manage to get past NIS "undetected" 10 days ago, despite NIS being up-to-date and on-watch during that time, then I would conclude that NIS is just not doing a very good job.)

[...] 

As no security product currently on the market can guarantee you 100 percent protection, your statement above applies equally to all other security vendor's products as well. The proverbial grass won't be any more greener over there! :smileywink:

slowsteady wrote:

[...]

I will decide what is and what is not "optional" on my PC, making judgements as I see fit. I do not cede that responsibility to a piece of software, particularly one with such inflexible heuristics.

[...] 

In your opening post, you were initially under the impression that the 'Fix Now' process was going to run a time-consuming full system scan. Now that you know that NIS is only going to perform a Quick Scan when you click 'Fix Now', do you still consider that this scan will have any material impact on your workflow?

 

While you've stated above that you like to decide what-happens-when, are you aware that a Quick Scan always runs, without your consent, every time that LiveUpdate downloads a new Virus Definitions set? This particular Quick Scan takes advantage of Idle time ie it only runs when your computer is not being actively used. Take a look at your Security History:

 

Open NIS > Advanced > History > select 'Scan Results' in the Show dropdown.

 

Based on your Quick Scan results in your History, on average, how long does it take a Quick Scan to run on your notebook? This will help us assess the impact that this scan has on your notebook.

 

Are you even aware that these particular Quick Scans were taking advantage of your notebook's idle time? If you didn't notice that these Quick Scans were silently occurring, then adding an option to skip the 'Fix Now' scan is going to have a placebo effect at best. Sure, you could click 'Skip' and everything will turn green in the Norton interface. The moment you leave your computer to make yourself a cup of coffee (or beverage of choice) and Norton detects that your computer has entered Idle time, then that Quick Scan proposed by 'Fix Now' is going to run because LiveUpdate, after a 10 day hiatus, will have undoubtedly downloaded a new Virus Definition set...

 

Please advise.

 

On a secondary note, you made the comment 'I do not cede that responsibility to a piece of software, particularly one with such inflexible heuristics.'. I'm curious to know what you are experiencing in terms of 'inflexible heuristics'. If you'd like to discuss this further, then please start a new thread.

 

Thanks.