Norton AV 2009 looks good and I was impressed with it to start - then I started having problems.- it became a Memory Hog. This slowed my system to a crawl. It appears that I am not the only one to suffer this aggravation. I do not have the time to mess with this -have spent many hours trying to change the settings for idle scan but every time I leave the computer for more than 30 minutes, the system has slowed down to an unusable level and does not respond to anything. I have tried waiting for a response but after a few hours gave up. I ended up just doing a cold boot and restarting.
I have checked and my laptop complies with NAV 2009's minimum spec. An enquiry to the Tech rep gave me the following reply (which I have copied here in case it can help someone else) - I will try what is suggested later- I wish that they had given such advice when I first installed it: (Note, I have already turned idle scan off before this but it made no difference) (The advice about optimizing my computer and cleaning up temporary files, I do anyway, so that will not make a difference)
Why did Norton not warn one of this and why have they developed such an intrusive program -there are better things to do than waste time with this. I think I might just take the option of uninstalling 2009 and reinstalling 2008! I still have over 300 days subscription left so I cannot just get another program without losing out.
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Response - 11/05/2008 08:48 AM
Hi .....,
Thank you for contacting Norton Support.
I understand from your email that your system is slow after installing Norton 2009. Background process freezes your computer and need to roll back to previous version.
We apologize for the delay in replying and thank you for your patience.
Norton AntiVirus keeps your computer secure from ongoing threats by automatically running scans on your computer by using the Idle Time Scan feature. Idle Time Scan detects the time when you do not use your computer and intelligently runs scans depending on the scan history of your computer.
Idle Time Scan is automatically turned on when you install Norton AntiVirus. Even though Idle Time Scan automatically runs the scans, you can still customize the settings of Idle Time Scan. Norton AntiVirus decides when to run an Idle Time Scan, depending on your settings and a few other predefined parameters.
To turn off Idle Time Scan
1. In the Norton AntiVirus main window, in the Computer pane, click Settings.
2. Under Computer scans, in the Idle Time Scan drop-down list, select Off.
3. In the Settings window, click Apply.
To check for system performance, click the web URL given below:
To perform a basic optimization of your computer, I suggest that you follow the steps given below:
1. Empty the Windows Temporary folder.
2. Disable unnecessary startup items
To clear unwanted Windows Temporary files and disable unwanted startup, please click on the web URL given below:
Title: 'My computer runs slowly'
Document ID: 20080711114100EN
Web URL:
http://solutions.symantec.com/sdccommon/asp/symcu_contentredirect.asp?docid=20080711114100EN
If the issue persists, I suggest you to freeup disk space and then detect and repair Disk Errors. To do this, I suggest you to browse through the following Microsoft article in improving the computer's performance speed:
http://www.microsoft.com/AtWork/getstarted/speed.mspx
1. Free Up Disk Space
2. Speed Up Access to Data
3. Detect and Repair Disk Errors
NOTE : Please note that the location of this document or link is subject to change without notice. Symantec provides these links as a convenience only. The inclusion of such links does not imply that Symantec endorses, recommends, or accepts any responsibility for the content of such sites.
Also, It is not advisable to enable two firewall or AntiVirus programs on a computer, as this can make conflicts with each other slowing down the computer. If you are having any other firewall program or third-party security products on your computer, please uninstall it. Please refer to the firewall/third-party security products documentation or contact your program vendor for further assistance in uninstalling the program.
If you are not satisfied with the upgraded Norton 2008 and need previous version of Norton reply.
Thank you for your patronage and we look forward to a continued association with you. While replying to this message, please do not change the subject line of this message.
Regards,
Norton Support