I have read many threads regarding discussions on how to set up Norton Online Family (article got that working) and multiple instances of Norton Safety Minder running in the system tray (link), associated I expect with the multiple instances of ccSvcHost running with the identity of the current logged I user. The obvious impact of this has already been pointed out as a drain on memory resources along with general slow down in PC performance once the memory drain demands page file swapping. I've read some mention of the issue being related to not being able to recognize user SIDs and that the product does not support running on PCs on a domain, but come on, it doesn't take much effort to recreate this issue on a Windows domain and then come up with a simple solution such as having a parental setting for domain users to prevent the prolific spawning of the same process. Perhaps the setting could influence whether the service monitoring elects to use the default option of user SIDs as in the current version, or a domain option which then monitors the services checking to see if there is already one for the current user name. It may not be perfect, but surely its better than forcing users to uninstall the product. I can't see the point in running the risk of running software that will use up all the computer memory and then cause any number of unexpected failures as it kills the computer, potentially preventing it from restarting without a complete re-install or restoration from backup. If this feature isn't addressed soon, I'll uninstall and look for another product, which is a shame since I've been running Norton Internet Security and Antivirus for many, many years now.
So Norton, can you make a commitment to fix this issue?
I read the article from the link you supplied, but did not see any further action that I could take.
I already have AD accounts and local accounts in use, with both types added to the Local Users group on each PC and both selected for monitoring in the portal, but have the same issue of mutliple instances of the host process being spawned.
I also note that another user suggests more granular control in the settings of the portal.
I'm having this problem, too, and I am not running Windows Domain. One of the computers the kids use works fine, and the other spawns up to 16 active copies of Safety Minder, acting exactly like a worm and eventually freezing up the computer. We've uninstalled an reinstalled multiple times, and the program still spawns multiple copies.
Further, the process in the memory, even on the working computers, often runs into the 450,000 range in the virtual memory. You can imagine multiple copies of a process that memory-intensive would be a problem.
Any solutions to this? I like Norton Online Family, but this is ridiculous!
I have been using Norton Online Family for a couple years and have seen a little bit of this problem, but it appears to have gotten worse on an XP system I have that is set up only as a PC in a workgroup, not using Domains. The other day I found maybe 20 sessions of ccSvcHost running and it took forever to cancel all of them and get rid of these jobs each eating up 10 -14 M of memory.
This is a problem that Norton needs to fix if they want this product to be taken seriously.
I have observed a similar problem. I am running Windows 7 and no domain. I've noticed multiple instances of Norton Family in the system tray (double digits) and eventually, it starts to block websites on my account. An account that is not monitored. I end up having to log off and log back in. This is quite a nuisance. I have used this for years, but I've seen the quality of the product decline. The interface to Norton Family in Norton Internet Security still doesn't work and hasn't worked since November 2012 or earlier.
I have read many threads regarding discussions on how to set up Norton Online Family (article got that working) and multiple instances of Norton Safety Minder running in the system tray (link), associated I expect with the multiple instances of ccSvcHost running with the identity of the current logged I user. The obvious impact of this has already been pointed out as a drain on memory resources along with general slow down in PC performance once the memory drain demands page file swapping. I've read some mention of the issue being related to not being able to recognize user SIDs and that the product does not support running on PCs on a domain, but come on, it doesn't take much effort to recreate this issue on a Windows domain and then come up with a simple solution such as having a parental setting for domain users to prevent the prolific spawning of the same process. Perhaps the setting could influence whether the service monitoring elects to use the default option of user SIDs as in the current version, or a domain option which then monitors the services checking to see if there is already one for the current user name. It may not be perfect, but surely its better than forcing users to uninstall the product. I can't see the point in running the risk of running software that will use up all the computer memory and then cause any number of unexpected failures as it kills the computer, potentially preventing it from restarting without a complete re-install or restoration from backup. If this feature isn't addressed soon, I'll uninstall and look for another product, which is a shame since I've been running Norton Internet Security and Antivirus for many, many years now.
So Norton, can you make a commitment to fix this issue?