What is the actual version number of the NIS you have – Help & Support / About / NIS TAB
NIS 2008
version: 15.5.0.23
I hope sunnyc will pick up on this as on the others.
If you have already contacted our free Customer Support:
http://www.symantec.com/norton/support/selectproduct_ts.jsp
then I would recommend trying the steps in Sunnyc’s post. Please let us know how this works for you. Thanks!
Tony,
Described my problem and every solution I had tried to Sunnyc and it is not a problem they have encountered. I have since provided files that were requested and am awaiting a response. Thanks for your help.
upguy
upguy wrote:Tony,
Described my problem and every solution I had tried to Sunnyc and it is not a problem they have encountered. I have since provided files that were requested and am awaiting a response. Thanks for your help.
upguy
PMJI but if you have a referece number connected with this I am sure it would help Tony track it down -- he's very good at bottlenecks <s>
I have run every diagnostic tool that Symantec has and it either says activation error or it says everything is fine...no malware.
Still I CANNOT activate this product even though it was activated back last November when I purchased it. Up until about 4 weeks ago, it was zipping right along fine. I did read somewhere that my Spybot S&D program might have removed something from the registry that could be (?) affecting NIS????
If anyone has any additional information as to the steps I could take next, I'm all eyes! I'm guessing I could remove Spybot S&D then remove NIS, then reinstall NIS???? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!!!!
I have used Norton products for years on all my computers and nothing like this has happened to me. I'm getting very frustrated with this product and would like to get it resolved before I go MADLY INSANE!!!!!!
Thanks!
Loungeact
Loungeact wrote:
I have used Norton products for years on all my computers and nothing like this has happened to me. I'm getting very frustrated with this product and would like to get it resolved before I go MADLY INSANE!!!!!!
Thanks!
Loungeact
Hi Loungeact and ehg and Tony (Weiss),
The presenting problem is not at all new and was discussed years ago, in 2002. Do a bit more research and you might notice a recurring pattern with this problem and how Symantec (the company - it's policies and practices) has continued to mishandle the issue and mistreat customers.
Cutting to the chase for both of you:
No. I see no reason to believe malware caused your problem (subscription loss). It was first reported when Symantec went over to a subscription based business model and has appeared (in varying numbers) regularly since then. One Symantec executive suggested (years ago) the problem was a function of Symantec's success.
Perhaps. But if that is an accurate quotation surely it was said with an expectation of things improving?
No. It is not good business practice to force customers to waste their time and energy trying to sort out an issue that could be resolved with the press of a button. This is evidence of consistent disregard of individual clients - irrespective of the industry.
There is no excuse for this behaviour. The insult is made worse because these people seem to be being misled - as in, a bug or a virus or something either person did might be at fault. Symantec - you created this beast and you so need to deal with it properly.
Please.
I mean no disrespect to any Symantec tech / admin staff on the forum. But guys ... ??? Sorry .. this is not the way to treat paying customers. It took me a little while (10 minutes - Google) to find out about the background to this issue. Not shocked ... I stopped believing in fairy tales years ago.
Companies joined Symantec's much criticised entre into a subscription based income stream. The original criticisms resolved to concerns about "big brother" and understandable resistance to changes in service models. Customers and the IT industry adapted. Heaps of companies still use this model. Symantec, however, stands alone for ignoring this issue (however caused: flawed server side controls / infrastructure / systems) over time. Additionally, some customers get the novelty of this experience a number of times (another system glitch) - makes sense if you think it through.
I can't identify where in the Symantec "system" the glitch occurs. Perhaps someone has been working on this over the years? We are customers - so we aren't told anything. It's not a leap of logic to suggest it is unwise to purchase any Symantec Software from their on-line store because you do not have a physical commodity (receipt from an independent agent and a box with a key). Logical entities (a record held at Symantec) can be "lost" much more easily than than a physical box ...
A cynical person might also be puzzled about the apparent absence of similar glitches that are made in favour of the customers.
Instead of having subscriptions cut short, your subscription is doubled without costing you a cent. Either transaction fault involves real money and real loss and real gain. As it stands, the side bearing all loss appears to be the customer and there is no evidence to support any assertion that Symantec have been pushed to the wall by a glitch where they inflated customer subscriptions.
I'm a paying customer like everyone else on the forum. I do not expect a palatial service for a $60 subscription fee. I don't expect others to solve all my problems for me ... and I'm perfectly happy to contribute along with others on the forum. We are all unpaid support resources - enthusiasts.
What others do is there business. As for me, I'm drawing a line in the sand on this issue with this company. I value other's time - it is unique and limited. When people take the time to help me, I truly apprecaite their efforts. Likewise, my time is precious to me. and I don't appreciate anyone wasting it. Symantec are wasting your time by misleading you and having you run around like rats in a maze trying to sort out their problem.
The solution is simple and offends none - it also happens to be best business practice:
Rule 1: The customer is right.
Rule 2: Fix the problem for the customer in the most cost effective way possible. (Cost calculations includes client costs / time.) This might involve issuing a new subscription to compensate the cutomer for the inconvenience caused through Symantec's poor infrastructure and sustained failure to address a problems affecting customers.
Rule 3: If Rule 2 involves expense then see Rule 1 and fix the problem properly.
So - stop looking for malware. None of you have probably done anything exceptional.
Stop looking. You are wasting your time. This is a problem that Symantec caused and Symantec must fix.
Over to you Symantec Support: Please. Fix this problem properly.
This forum should NEVER see any further posts along these lines again because the automatic default must be to issue a subscription to whomever experiences the problem and has proof of purchase until such time as the problem is actually, properly, finally and completely fixed.
As for the suggestion that you contact customer service, don't bother. You are just wasting your time again.
Please, don't use this post as an opportunity to bash Symantec or staff on the forum or the products. The products are excellent for the most part. Individual staff deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect just like you. Work the problem ... first requires correct problem identification and ownership.
Warning: the following *may* cause hair loss and teeth gnashing. It is a snippet of a Symantec on-line customer support discussion involving this issue - made 4 am local time (Brisbane). Although you can't tell - I lost over 30 minutes of my life for no useful purpose. The customer service person *may* have been a person ... was not responding to the context of my questions / comments ... and I have no idea why Symantec bothered providing this time wasting torture.
I articifially condensed the discussion by removing time stamp tokens. You can't tell ... each new line is another comment or question or response. Not all followed imediately one after the other. So ... to get the proper affect you need to draw it out for about 30 minutes.
Also, put things in perspective. This person claims that Symantec have no idea there is anything wrong with the subscription process at all (quite incorrect as Ive shown). An issue like this is serious because it can cost customers and expose businesses to damages claims. READ: "Whoops! Better tell someone up the fod chain about this so we can sort it out ASAP!"
Instead, I'm put on hold and invited to fill out a form - hell yeah! I'm so waiting in that que and ready with pen in hand to fill out a SYMANTEC form that will help the company fix their problem ... yup.
Right.
I'm not being precious ... this left me feeling enraged. My simple requests were ignored and I was shuffled off like a thankless child to stand on another line.
Not good enough. The person wasn't rude or offensive or otherwise impolite - they did not provide any customer service and they did not know how to handle what must be the most basic issues imaginable. This is outsourcing at it's finest ... great training. Not.
Cheers,
--------------
The person claimed to know nothing of this problem. They offered to put me in contact with someone in Symantec so that the issue might be<Abdul>Thank you for bringing this attention and we are not aware of this.
<Mike> Sorry ... who are "we"? This is old news ... nothing new about this at all.
Customers believe they are being ripped off. We hear horror stories of run-arounds and no results.
BTW - this issue appeared when symantec went to a subscription based business model around 2000 or so.
It's linked to server load balancing (at least, that's what I suspect based upon what I've read).
<Abdul> I suggest you to contact authorized people of Symantec and inform the issue. And if you have any particular issue with Norton in your computer I can assist you. So I can give the link to contact management.
<Mike> Customers need to know (a) it is very simple to get the missing subscription back (b) it is a quick and painless process (c) they will be accommodated for any unreasonable delays in fixing what is a problem at the Symantec end of the world - not theirs.
Ummm ... R u serious? How hard a question did I ask?
Yes please ... I'd like contact info on someone at Symantec who know what they are doing.
This is unacceptable as a triage service ...
<Abdul> Okay
<Mike> Can I save a record of this 'discussion'?
Why are u unable to answer my questions?
<Abdul> www.symantec.com/feedback
<Mike> I'm not angry with you ... this makes no sense.
Ummm ... that is not what I asked for.
I need contact info for a PERSON not a form
Please provide me with contact details of a person with whom I can discuss this issue before it hits CNN.
Please tell me how to save a copy of this discussion?<Abdul> Please note that once you send an email to symantec with your contact details and phone number they will call you back as it is an issue which need urgent attention.
<Mike> Cool ... absolutely NOT what i asked of you and nothing related to the problem.
I think I have the answers ... this is disappointing. Make an interesting story for the news, I guess. I'm perfectly happy for you to pass on my email address to someone in your office / symantec / executive - and I'll help them design a better cusomer service sytem. This one doesn't work.Bye
<Abdul> Thank you for contacting Symantec Technical Support. Have a great day!
I have provided the files but have not received any reference numbers. I received an automated reply when I sent the last file that the person will be out of the office until the end of the month.
upguy
Ok all, I'm back with some more info:
I've been building BartPE boot disks with a variety of scanning tools for the last couple of weeks whenever I could get time to work on this problem, and tonight I finally decided to give up looking for malware and assume it was just a glitch in the software. I did turn on the Windows Firewall so as to have some protection while I attempted to reactivate NIS. As I suspected, once I connected and clicked on Activate Now, the software went through the activation process using the product key I entered 6 months ago when it was first installed (and Activated!!). After a minute or so, it went on to the Norton Account signup screen, which I skipped as always, and voila! NIS 2008 was back up and running. After some updates (Windows & NIS LiveUpdate) and a full system scan, the good old green X returned to my taskbar!!
sunnyc,
I still don't understand why you thought I would need to reenter the product key ?? Whenever I have installed NIS, the product key is required at installation time, NOT during activation. When the product is activated sometime later (I usually run all my updates and scan once to make sure everything is working correctly), it then uses that stored product key. The only time the activation process will prompt for a product key (in my experience) is if the stored key is either invalid or has been used too many times. In my case, the system appeared to be in the same state as if I had installed the product (without activating), run LiveUpdate and then turned the machine off for 6 months!!
Loungeact,
Can you describe in more detail exactly what happens when you try to reactivate. If you start up Norton and select the Norton Internet Security tab, there should be an option on that screen that says "Activate Now".
1. Do you see this option??
2. If so, what happens when you click on it ??
As I said, in my case it successfully activated with the original stored product key. If the activation process fails, it usually gives you some kind of error msg along with options to resolve it.
cheers,
e
Upon clicking on the activation (inside the "help & support" menu), It attempts to activate for about 2 minutes or so, then the screen says "Product Error" and below that it reads "an error has occurred during your activation".
The online support suggested downloading 2 different files: KBsymFIX and another one that escapes me??? anyway I have tried both numerous times and both times it comes back with something like "unable to activate, etc."
So I then go back to the main menu of NIS and in the upper left corner I click on the tab "Fix now"...then a few seconds later a window pops up that says "SymCUW has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience". Yeah I bet they are! Whether I choose to send or not to send the error report, it doesn't matter. It will pop up over and over again until I drag it to the bottom out of sight. Meanwhile it tries in vain to continue "fixing" the problem, before it finally says activation unsuccessful ... Nice huh?
I have used NIS for years in all of my systems alongside of Spybot S & D and NEVER had any issues. (I read in another thread that some think that Spybot may have removed something from the registry that is affecting NIS activation???)
Any help is appreciated. Otherwise I will NEVER NEVER buy Norton's again!!!!!!
Loungeact
Hi ehg and Loungeact,
Thanks heaps for your patience.
I'm going to try and cause your problem on a partition here.
In the meantime ... the extra info has been very helpful. I've been in your shoes too many times to count and it never gets easier. You have both shown remarkable tolerance and grace.
Do either of you know how to read your system event logs or the live update logs?
The first is accessed by copying and running thisin start / run.
%SystemRoot%\system32\eventvwr.msc /s
Depending on what your settings are, you may see evidence of 'something' screwing with your software. I haven't played in this for a little while so let me refresh.
Also ... if you are wireless ... you are secured / changed the default admin and password for your h/ware firewall? Sorry, I know it's cratching the barell. Thing is that I have mine set on mac addresses (or so I thought). We had an outage and it reset to default everything. My neighbour has been bludging off my connection for a couple of months and I didn't notice.
Ever heard of Network Magic? Yes, NIS has wireless networking controls ... but it is so not in the same league as that product. Cheap as a few beers and perfection ... I won't have wireless without it ... no offence Symantec :)
Have either of you done an absolutely clean OS install - bottom up?
If this had happened to me then I would work the numbers. Muck around trying this and that ... or bit the big one and kill them all and let god sort it out.
It's not that dumb and idea. Over a few months (and especially the last few months) MS have released a truckload of updates ... their blade servers must be bathed in liquid nitrogen. Anyway, I was bored and thought I might see how fast I could do a full system reinstall - OS, everything. I did it a couple of times - started with format and ended with the last application, NAVPRO (it was a couple of years ago).
This is weird. No two installations were ever the same. Each installed slightly different drivers and each registry was different - some a little and some enough to notice. It made no sense until I factored in MS and the way they process updates and drivers.
I can't tell what your system configurations are ... except, I think the dude with the Pentium. Interesting choice for a processor ... gotta ask, why chose that one? Quads are being given away.
I'm after enough hard drive space to set up a dual boot system. One will be the working one and the other - the one we test to see if we can get a solution.
It's just after 3 am and I have a contracts law exam in a couple of hours. Wish me luck :)
Cheers,
[edit: removed a sentence, PM'd the author.]
Loungeact,
It sounds like you have more corruption of your NIS software than I did. I don't know what the Symantec folks have suggested, but at this point I would recommend uninstalling NIS 2008 and then running their cleanup tool, available at:
http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039?OpenDocument
I don't think you need to uninstall/reinstall Spybot, although you might want to update to v1.5 (or even 1.6) depending on what version you currently have.
The steps I would take are:
1. Make sure you have your product key.
2. Download Norton_Removal_Tool mentioned above.
(If you are still using this computer on the net, I would turn on Windows Firewall since NIS is not working!!)
3. Disconnect from the Internet.
4. Uninstall NIS 2008
5. Reboot
6. Run Norton_Removal_Tool.
7. Reboot
8. Install NIS 2008 and see if you can Activate at this point.
One final note: since your problem involves Activation, you need to know that Symantec leaves some traces on your computer, EVEN after uninstalling AND running the above tool.
(A simple test to prove this is to install a Symantec product but leave it unActivated. It should say you have 15 days remaining to activate. At this point, uninstall and run the removal tool and your system should have NO Symantec stuff on it, right?? Wait a few days and install the same Symantec product again; you should notice that it now says you have fewer than 15 days to Activate !!)
Because of this, you may still see the dreaded red X as soon as you reinstall NIS 2008, since it will probably know you've had the product installed before. However, the corrupted files that are causing your problems may be fixed and simply connecting to the net and selecting Fix Now or Activate Now may result in success.
Good luck and let us know what happens,
e
Edited to update: I had a similar problem with NIS 2008 suddenly telling me it needed to be activated. Eventually someone from chat support was able to fix the problem by reinstalling NIS 2008.
I am running NIS 2007 and had a similar problem. But I may have a Trojan/Virus that caused this.
I was at a client, and connected my laptop running NIS2007 on their network. I had run a complete scan the day before. While skyping I noticed that the red cross of NIS2007 began flasing. Something/someone first disabled my firewall, then the anti-virus programme, and finally erased my subscription (still valid for 100 days!) to 0 days. Finally, it came up with the re-activation screen.
I suspected a threat, and disconnected from the network.
After rebooting, I used the FIX button. I managed to get the firewall and virusprogrammes back on again, but not the subscription.
After reading this forum on another computer, I downloaded the Norton Security Scan & Clean programme, and ran a full scan.
It found the INFOSTEALER virs/trojan on my laptop in a subdirectory which had been there since 2006. It cleaned it with no problem.
None of the NIS2007 complete scans ever found this INFOSTEALER!
So my first hypothesis is that I got infected with the INFOSTEALER virus on the client's network, and that it disabled NIS2007. Can someone tell me whether INFOSTEALER is capable of doing that??
Second hypothesis is that the INFOSTEALER has always been there, and that NSSC is better in finding it than NIS2007? Could Symantec comment on this? In that case maybe INFOSTEALER is not the culprit? My client's computers could not track down INFOSTEALER on their network
Third hypothesis is that some firewall or security programme on my client's network has disabled my NIS2007. Is it possible that a security programme on a network takes over my laptop and disables NIS2007?
I was also running Spybot S&D v 1.52. I have since removed it.
Maybe this experience provides a hint for the original problem?
Anyway, will now have to try and make my NIS2007 work again...
Wilbert
Hello,
Well I am STILL having issues with activating NIS2008!
I have:
-uninstalled Spybot S&D, rebooted
-tried to activate, unsuccessful
-ran (once again) Norton's SymKBfix program, unsuccessful in correcting issue
-ran Norton's SymLMTS program, also didn't fix anything
-uninstalled NIS2008 thru Norton's online removal tool, rebooted
-reinstalled NIS2008 (never asked me for a product key?), rebooted
-tried to activate, unsuccessful - got the dreaded red X
-screen popped up saying "Symantec Core Component has encountered a problem and needs to close.
C:\DOCUME~1\Chuck\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERa5ff.dir00\symlcsvc.exe.mdmpC:\DOCUME~1\Chuck\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERa5ff.dir00\appcompat.txt
along with the Error Signature:
szAppName : symlcsvc.exe szAppVer : 1.9.2.74 szModName : symlcnet.dll
szModVer : 1.9.2.74 offset : 00011204
So I'm still not sure what else to do???? I was able to run liveupdate and it seemed to download and install updates - although I still have the red X.
Apparently I am NOT in any trial period, since I have no "days remaining" information present. Obviously when I uninstalled, some traces remained of NIS2008?
***THE QUESTION IS....How do I verify (or even change) the product key? Perhaps I don't have the right one. The whole reason for even screwing around with this is b/c my "product is not activated" thing came up despite the fact that it doesn't expire until the end of November. So where can I locate where the existing Product Key is??? Perhaps I can put in this new one and go from there?
I appreciate all the posts and GREATLY WELCOME any help in this frustrating situation!
Irritated & close to dumping NIS altogether,
Loungeact
I really rather not do a complete OS re-install! I have some software that would not be easy to replace!
If you have the product key written down or saved in the norton account (if you created one), you should be able to go to the activation screen and select "I have already purchsed a key", or "activate with another key" (or words to that effect, and enter the proper key. It should then work for you. If you don't have the key you probably have to call the tech support people and have them retrive it for you. Maybe the key you have is old and you have the older one written down and need to retrive the newer one; or the data on your computer and the norton account don't match. A phone call may be your best bet.
I may have errored in the above. On the Norton Protection Center tab, in the lower left of the screen should be a "subscription" link. Then continue with the above. Sometimes I get confused on which product I am on :)
Loungeact,
Couple of more suggestions / ideas for you.
1. If the activation key is still intact after all the uninstall/cleanup things you've run, it can be found in the registry at:
HKLM\Software\Symantec\CCPD-LC\KStore\00000082\000000xx\000000xx\Key (the xx numbers might be different for you)
You said you "uninstalled NIS2008 thru Norton's online removal tool". Did you first uninstall via Control Panel Add/Remove Programs and THEN run the removal tool or just run it directly ?? (It might make a difference to run it again!!)
Can you give us more information about exactly what you see when you say: "-tried to activate, unsuccessful"; what is the error message??
Let us know if you at least locate your product key.
Keep trying,
e
Loungeact,
I just reread your last post more carefully and believe you answered my question about the error msg; as I now read it, you got the error from symlcsvc.exe at the time you attempted to activate; is that correct?
Also, I missed your mention of a 2nd product key (“Perhaps I can put in this new one and go from there?”) That would certainly come in handy if you ever get to the point where the system actually succeeds in submitting the product key for activation and the 1st one gets rejected for some reason.
If my assumption in the first paragraph is correct, then I believe you still have some traces of the original install. From here, I would do the following:
1. Uninstall NIS2008 (one more time) FROM Add/Remove Programs.
2. Reboot.
3. Look thru Add/Remove programs for any additional Symantec programs (LiveUpdate or LiveUpdate Notice are examples of programs that may remain and can be separately uninstalled) and uninstall them via Add/Remove programs.
4. Reboot.
5. Delete everything in your TEMP directory (C:\Documents and Settings\Chuck\Local Settings\Temp) since the symlcsvc.exe program that is being run from there MAY be from the original (corrupted) installation.
6. Finally, run the Norton Removal Tool one more time to clean up any more traces from the file system or registry.
7. Reboot.
8. Install NIS2008 once again. As I said in my post several weeks ago, you may see the dreadedredX immediatedly since Symantec retains enough info to know that you have previously installed NIS2008 more than 15 days ago and will therefore require you to activate it immediately. This does NOT indicate there is a problem with your new install. At this point, connect back to the internet and attempt to Activate FIRST (before LiveUpdate or anything else).
Let us know what msg you get at this point. Good luck,
e