Flo,
And with even longer life .....
Earlier today:
followed by a repeat whichl dealt with one of the two
and now a few hours later
At the first failures FixIt found an 8920,223 which basicly says try again and be patient ....
Nothing more frustrating to troubleshoot than an intermittent fault ......
floplot wrote:Hello
Living thru my long life, I have found out that there is really nothing that can be perfect all the time. All we can do is hope that the things that don't work will eventually work. I haven't seen anyone post yet about an update that just won't install at all. Some will install right away and some will take a little longer to get installed. There are many things in life that do take a little patience to see improvements. I too have been seeing failed installs of various parts of the updates, but they do come thru. With so many different computer operating systems and different programs running in them and different makeups of the computers, there are bound to be some things that will take longer for some people to get the updates and for them all to be working. This latest patch just came out and the problem seems to be going on for a long time, but with each update, it really could be a different problem internally, but shows up to the users as the same problem because the results are the same. The causes of the problems may be different with each patch and with each individual computer. Thanks for reading.
Flopot,
I agree, life has many irritations and frustrations. And in the grand scheme of things, this one doesn't rank very high. But when you are paying for a service, and it isn't working as advertised, that's a little different than the hurdles that we all encounter in everyday life. I agree that we need to be patient, and to give the folks who we are paying for the service time to fix it when there are problems. My point was not that the world will end over this problem, or even that it is intolerable. My point was simply that (a.) it has been going on (either the same problem, or multiple ones that manifest themselves in the same manner), for a long time, and (b.) there has been very lttle feedback on whether it is even being worked on or not. It may be unreasonable to demand an immediate fix. It is not, in my estimation, unreasonable to have the problem acknowledged, and some indications provided on the status of progress (or lack thereof) of resolving it.
macinwwwv,
Norton has a problem that has yet to be solved. First, they have to purchase equipment which has been made by machines made by humans. Neither are perfect. Then they have to hire humans to run and maintain the equipment and they aren't perfect. I think you see where this is going. Given the best equipment and the best technicians and engineers available they are both still subject to errors and failures. Norton still has to pay for both of them and I'm sure they hope you will continue to pay for their hard work and continuing desire to be as close to perfect as their humans and equipment will allow.
Stay well and surf safe
dickevans wrote:macinwwwv,
Norton has a problem that has yet to be solved. First, they have to purchase equipment which has been made by machines made by humans. Neither are perfect. Then they have to hire humans to run and maintain the equipment and they aren't perfect. I think you see where this is going. Given the best equipment and the best technicians and engineers available they are both still subject to errors and failures. Norton still has to pay for both of them and I'm sure they hope you will continue to pay for their hard work and continuing desire to be as close to perfect as their humans and equipment will allow.
Stay well and surf safe
Dick--
I understand that. And I fully recognize that perfection is something often sought, but seldom achieved. But what is frustrating to me at least, is that Norton has a problem, that they have had it for some time (but not forever), and that we, the customers are pretty much in the dark about what the status of solving the problem is. It strikes me that there are three (possibly more) possibilities: 1. The problem is either unsolvable (or in the judgement of Norton, not worth the effort to solve,) and they are no longer working on it. 2. They know what the problem is, and understand how to fix it, but for whatever reasons, it is going to take a while (hopefully they would have some idea of how long). 3. They don't know what the problem is, but they are still working on it and trying to find out. As I said, there are possibly (probably) other permutations. But what would be reasonalble, in my opinion is to simply TELL us which of the above situations applies. Personally, if it were either of the last two, I'd be willing to wait, and provide whatever feedback might be of assistance in getting the problem solved. If the answer is the first one above, then I would decide whether or not the problem was enough of an annoyance to make it worth it to seek an alternate product. But as of right now, we don't have a clue which of the above (or something else) is true. For a while, we got some limited feedback--the gist of which was, "this is a difficult and complicated problem, but we're working on it." That wasn't a lot, but it was something. But for the past several weeks (months?) it has been as silent as a tomb. The truth is, the silence annoys me more than the problem. They may not be able to solve the problem. They SHOULD be able to at least let us know what is going on.
Just my personal opinion, of course.
macinwwwv,
I can't argue with any of your statements. I don't know the status of the fix. I suspect that it has to do with hardware and that they are waiting for it to be delivered. Once that happens it will then take time to install and configure befroe we get to see the results. The other half of that equation is the budget. Capital expenses don't happen over night.
I may try to bug one of the administrators and see if an answer is available but in the middle of this beta test I'm not expecting any quick responses.
dickevans wrote:macinwwwv,
I can't argue with any of your statements. I don't know the status of the fix. I suspect that it has to do with hardware and that they are waiting for it to be delivered. Once that happens it will then take time to install and configure befroe we get to see the results. The other half of that equation is the budget. Capital expenses don't happen over night.
I may try to bug one of the administrators and see if an answer is available but in the middle of this beta test I'm not expecting any quick responses.
Dick--
I sincerely appreciate your comments. I do understand constraints--hardware, shipping, manpower, budget, debugging, testing, and the like. And if they said something like "parts on on order, and we expect to have them in X weeks (months), please bear with us," or "we haven't got the technical problem figured out yet, but we're working on it," or something like that, I'd be as quiet as a mouse on the subject. And it wouldn't need to be an extensive explanation, or a daily update. Just an OCCASIONAL bit of feedback to let us know that they aren't under the misaprehension that the problem is solved. If you can nudge an occasional status report out of the administrators, I for one would be forever in your debt.
"If you can nudge an occasional status report out of the administrators"
No promises but I will ask
As for the debt - pay it forward, help someone else 
dickevans wrote:"If you can nudge an occasional status report out of the administrators"
No promises but I will ask
As for the debt - pay it forward, help someone else
Dick--
Thanks. I appreciate it. As for paying it forward, I try to do that when I can. But my view is that bad avise is worse than on advise at all. So I don't try to help in areas where I know my competence is limited (and that amounts to a LOT of areas). I do help in some other forums, where my experience can be helpful. But there probably isn't much that I can contribute technically to this forum. Mostly, here, I ask questions, and learn from the expertise of others.
macinwwwv wrote:
dickevans wrote:"If you can nudge an occasional status report out of the administrators"
No promises but I will ask
As for the debt - pay it forward, help someone else
Dick--
Thanks. I appreciate it. As for paying it forward, I try to do that when I can. But my view is that bad avise is worse than on advise at all. So I don't try to help in areas where I know my competence is limited (and that amounts to a LOT of areas). I do help in some other forums, where my experience can be helpful. But there probably isn't much that I can contribute technically to this forum. Mostly, here, I ask questions, and learn from the expertise of others.
Not a problem. 
Just about the time that I begin to think the problem is fixed, it rears its ugly head again.
Ran Live Update on my Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit system today at 1:00 PM EDT with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Success
Norton 2012 Smart Virus Definitions X64: Success
Norton Pulse Updates: Success
Norton AntiSpam Definitions: Success
Norton Activity Map Data: Failure
Norton Safe Web Statistics: Success
Norton 2012 Reputation Revocation List: Success
Ran Live Update again at 1:04 PM EDT with the following results:
Norton 2012 Smart Virus Definitions X64: Success
Norton Activity Map Data: Success
I have no idea whether or not providing this data is of any use to whoever is working on this issue (if indeed, anyone is). But some time back, I was asked to provide it, so I'm continuing to do so.
Hello
I've had no problems today, but I don't run the smart definitions and I'm on xp pro. I am in the EDT area also.
Just in case anyone is still paying any attention to this subject, I had another faliure last night. This was on a Windows XP systm about 11:30 PM EDT. Ran Live Update, and got only two products--Norton Pulse Updates, which was succesfuly, and the Norton Activity Map Data, which failed. Reran Live Update about 5 minutes later, and got ONLY Norton Activity Map Data, which this time was successful.
macinwwwv wrote:Just in case anyone is still paying any attention to this subject, I had another faliure last night. This was on a Windows XP systm about 11:30 PM EDT. Ran Live Update, and got only two products--Norton Pulse Updates, which was succesfuly, and the Norton Activity Map Data, which failed. Reran Live Update about 5 minutes later, and got ONLY Norton Activity Map Data, which this time was successful.
Hi,
I see failures of updates from time to time and accept that it all part of the game and give the servers and the Internet a few minutes to reset and then try again. Usually I get the download without any problem the second time. The last time I had any 'real' problem was when there was a server crash at Norton which caused a bit of a problem for everyone at home in at the server farm.
Stay well and surf safe
dickevans wrote:
macinwwwv wrote:Just in case anyone is still paying any attention to this subject, I had another faliure last night. This was on a Windows XP systm about 11:30 PM EDT. Ran Live Update, and got only two products--Norton Pulse Updates, which was succesfuly, and the Norton Activity Map Data, which failed. Reran Live Update about 5 minutes later, and got ONLY Norton Activity Map Data, which this time was successful.
Hi,
I see failures of updates from time to time and accept that it all part of the game and give the servers and the Internet a few minutes to reset and then try again. Usually I get the download without any problem the second time. The last time I had any 'real' problem was when there was a server crash at Norton which caused a bit of a problem for everyone at home in at the server farm.
Stay well and surf safe
Dick--
What is (to me at least) odd is that until last October, it was very rare to experience a faliure, and if one did, it usually didn't resolve itself. Then there was a flood of problems with update failures. They could normally be resloved by rerunning Live Update (though it sometimes to several attempts to succeed). There was a lot of discussion about the problems, and that Norton was working on a fix. Then things seemed to improve. But since then, while things generally seem to be improviing, there are still these breakouts of problems--sometimes just one or two, other times a string of them.
As I have mentioned before, the frustration to me is not the extra time that it takes to make multiple LU sessions. That's a minor annoyance. My real frustration is based not so much on the practical effects of the problem, but more on the principle involved. If the problem can't be fixed, then they should as a matter of principle, tell us so. As it is, we have no idea whether or not anyone is even working on it, or if it is just considered such a minor thing that it isn't worth the expense or effort needed to fix it. That may be a legitimate conclusion. But if that IS the conclusion, it should be shared with the paying customers.
Dismounting my soap box now.
macinwwwv wrote:
dickevans wrote:
macinwwwv wrote:Just in case anyone is still paying any attention to this subject, I had another faliure last night. This was on a Windows XP systm about 11:30 PM EDT. Ran Live Update, and got only two products--Norton Pulse Updates, which was succesfuly, and the Norton Activity Map Data, which failed. Reran Live Update about 5 minutes later, and got ONLY Norton Activity Map Data, which this time was successful.
Hi,
I see failures of updates from time to time and accept that it all part of the game and give the servers and the Internet a few minutes to reset and then try again. Usually I get the download without any problem the second time. The last time I had any 'real' problem was when there was a server crash at Norton which caused a bit of a problem for everyone at home in at the server farm.
Stay well and surf safe
Dick--
What is (to me at least) odd is that until last October, it was very rare to experience a faliure, and if one did, it usually didn't resolve itself. Then there was a flood of problems with update failures. They could normally be resloved by rerunning Live Update (though it sometimes to several attempts to succeed). There was a lot of discussion about the problems, and that Norton was working on a fix. Then things seemed to improve. But since then, while things generally seem to be improviing, there are still these breakouts of problems--sometimes just one or two, other times a string of them.
As I have mentioned before, the frustration to me is not the extra time that it takes to make multiple LU sessions. That's a minor annoyance. My real frustration is based not so much on the practical effects of the problem, but more on the principle involved. If the problem can't be fixed, then they should as a matter of principle, tell us so. As it is, we have no idea whether or not anyone is even working on it, or if it is just considered such a minor thing that it isn't worth the expense or effort needed to fix it. That may be a legitimate conclusion. But if that IS the conclusion, it should be shared with the paying customers.
Dismounting my soap box now.
Agreed.
I understand that the original problem was related to hardware failure. I am also under the impression that the cause was identified and resolved. I suspect that some of the continuing problem is related to traffic on servers. I am also under the impression that this is also known and that steps are being taken to resolve this problem. Please note that I am saying "I" in all cases since I do not and cannot speak for Symantec/Norton under any circumstances nor in any way.
The ongoing, suggested workaround is as you have stated to take a break and then rerun live update. How long this will be necessary is an unknown since it appears to be a dynamic sort of failure.
In the meantime stay well and surf safe
dickevans wrote:
macinwwwv wrote:
dickevans wrote:
macinwwwv wrote:Just in case anyone is still paying any attention to this subject, I had another faliure last night. This was on a Windows XP systm about 11:30 PM EDT. Ran Live Update, and got only two products--Norton Pulse Updates, which was succesfuly, and the Norton Activity Map Data, which failed. Reran Live Update about 5 minutes later, and got ONLY Norton Activity Map Data, which this time was successful.
Hi,
I see failures of updates from time to time and accept that it all part of the game and give the servers and the Internet a few minutes to reset and then try again. Usually I get the download without any problem the second time. The last time I had any 'real' problem was when there was a server crash at Norton which caused a bit of a problem for everyone at home in at the server farm.
Stay well and surf safe
Dick--
What is (to me at least) odd is that until last October, it was very rare to experience a faliure, and if one did, it usually didn't resolve itself. Then there was a flood of problems with update failures. They could normally be resloved by rerunning Live Update (though it sometimes to several attempts to succeed). There was a lot of discussion about the problems, and that Norton was working on a fix. Then things seemed to improve. But since then, while things generally seem to be improviing, there are still these breakouts of problems--sometimes just one or two, other times a string of them.
As I have mentioned before, the frustration to me is not the extra time that it takes to make multiple LU sessions. That's a minor annoyance. My real frustration is based not so much on the practical effects of the problem, but more on the principle involved. If the problem can't be fixed, then they should as a matter of principle, tell us so. As it is, we have no idea whether or not anyone is even working on it, or if it is just considered such a minor thing that it isn't worth the expense or effort needed to fix it. That may be a legitimate conclusion. But if that IS the conclusion, it should be shared with the paying customers.
Dismounting my soap box now.
Agreed.
I understand that the original problem was related to hardware failure. I am also under the impression that the cause was identified and resolved. I suspect that some of the continuing problem is related to traffic on servers. I am also under the impression that this is also known and that steps are being taken to resolve this problem. Please note that I am saying "I" in all cases since I do not and cannot speak for Symantec/Norton under any circumstances nor in any way.
The ongoing, suggested workaround is as you have stated to take a break and then rerun live update. How long this will be necessary is an unknown since it appears to be a dynamic sort of failure.
In the meantime stay well and surf safe
Dick--
I appreciate your feedback, even if it is "unofficial." And I appreciate your efforts to both find out the status, and prompt some official feedback, now and in the past.
I told myself that if we could get 2 full months without a recurrence, I'd consider the problem solved. Alas, this evening, after about a month and a half, it reared its ugly head again.
Ran Live Update at 8:06 PM EDT with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Failed
Norton 2012 Smart Virus Definitions X64: Success
Norton Pulse Updates: Success
Norton 2012 Anti Spam Definitions: Success
Norton Activity Map Data: Failed
Ran LU again at 8:09 PM EDT, with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions (hub); Success
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Failed
Norton Activity Map Data: Failed
Ran LU a third time at 8:23 PM EDT with the following results:
Norton 2012 Wep Protection Definitions: Success
Norton Pulse Updates: Success
Norton Activity Map Data: Success
Can't say for sure that this is the same problem that has been going on for several months, but it behaves the same. Had not (to my recollection) previously encountered the Web Protection Definitions (hub) entry. But haven't been checking the update details unless there is a failure, so haven't looked at the details in the last month or so.
If anyone is still paying any attention to this intermittent, but persitent problem, I experienced another update failure today. This is on a Windows 7 64 bit system. Live Update was run at 1:00 PM EDT, Wednesday, 8 August, with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Success
Norton 2012 Smart Virus Definitions X64: Success
Norton Pulse Updates: Success
Norton Activity Map Data: Success
Norton 2012 Reputation Revocation List: Failure
Reran Live Update at 1:05 PM EDT, with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Success
Norton 2012 Reputation Revocation List: Success
macinwwwv wrote:If anyone is still paying any attention to this intermittent, but persitent problem, I experienced another update failure today. This is on a Windows 7 64 bit system. Live Update was run at 1:00 PM EDT, Wednesday, 8 August, with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Success
Norton 2012 Smart Virus Definitions X64: Success
Norton Pulse Updates: Success
Norton Activity Map Data: Success
Norton 2012 Reputation Revocation List: Failure
Reran Live Update at 1:05 PM EDT, with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Success
Norton 2012 Reputation Revocation List: Success
Hi macinwwwv,
I read through this entire thread, including all of your posts that are detailed with live update successes and failures. Just like in many of the replies to this thread, I also have the occasional failure updates, but not often. At the same time, I no longer consider it an 'extremely serious issue', because when the live update servers fail on a couple of updates, they are right on top of it.
Most important is to watch the last time a virus definition was updated. If it's more than 24 hours, then you will want to select 'Get Support' under any failed virus definition update, after clicking 'View Summary'.
Follow the steps on the corresponding web page, for updating the virus definitions.
After all these years, I've yet to experience going even a few hours without updates, unless the computer is off for a few days.
Ed
Edjr60 wrote:
macinwwwv wrote:If anyone is still paying any attention to this intermittent, but persitent problem, I experienced another update failure today. This is on a Windows 7 64 bit system. Live Update was run at 1:00 PM EDT, Wednesday, 8 August, with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Success
Norton 2012 Smart Virus Definitions X64: Success
Norton Pulse Updates: Success
Norton Activity Map Data: Success
Norton 2012 Reputation Revocation List: Failure
Reran Live Update at 1:05 PM EDT, with the following results:
Norton 2012 Web Protection Definitions: Success
Norton 2012 Reputation Revocation List: Success
Hi macinwwwv,
I read through this entire thread, including all of your posts that are detailed with live update successes and failures. Just like in many of the replies to this thread, I also have the occasional failure updates, but not often. At the same time, I no longer consider it an 'extremely serious issue', because when the live update servers fail on a couple of updates, they are right on top of it.
Most important is to watch the last time a virus definition was updated. If it's more than 24 hours, then you will want to select 'Get Support' under any failed virus definition update, after clicking 'View Summary'.
Follow the steps on the corresponding web page, for updating the virus definitions.
After all these years, I've yet to experience going even a few hours without updates, unless the computer is off for a few days.
Ed
Ed--
I understand what you are saying. Truth is, the situation HAS gotten better. And I don't argue that it isn't tolerable. At this pont, my primary frustration is more with the principle than the magnitude of the problem. If Norton came on, and said something like "This problem is going to exst intermittently but permanently and the reason is ...." I'd shut up about it. And as long as it got no worse, I'd likely keep my subscription. But the fact that comments about the problem go ignored (or at least unanswered) is annoying. When someone has a problem with a service that their customers are paying for, in my opinion, they owe the customer one of two things: (1) A fix for the problem within a reasonable time, or (2) An explanation of why the problem continues and whether or not it is beig worked on. If the conclusion is reaced that the problem is minor enough (or difficult enough to resolve) to not justify continued efforts, then the customers should be so advised. As it is, we as customers are left in the dark. The lack of information and feedback bothers me more than the inconvenience of occasional falied updates.
Perhaps I'm just too stubborn to just accept that "this is the way it is going to be." I could even accept that, if they would simply tell us. It is the silence that is most frustrating.
