NIS 2013 (20.2) still has start-up & shut-down issues

I started a thread on Sept. 25 -- "Computer won't shut down properly with NIS2013" -- and I noted later on that thread that, beyond the problem mentioned in the title, I had two more serious incidents in which NIS didn't load properly on startup and the Autofix feature didn't help.  I switched back to NIS 2012.

 

When an update (20.2.0.19), supposedly addressing the shutdown issue, was released a few weeks later, I reinstalled 2013 again.  Alas, not only does that issue still show up from time to time -- a minor annoyance -- but this morning NIS again failed to load at all.  I'm very distressed to report that NIS2013 remains unworkable for me, and, judging from other responses to my first thread, for others.  I'm running XP SP3, but I gather the problem(s) aren't limited to that O.S.

 

Anyone from Symantec listening?