NIS 2013, Win7Pro SP1 64 Bit - Stops working after standby, No icon in systray, firewalled

I've been scouring the forums for some time (ever since applying the 2013 update), and am feeling very frustrated with my installation of NIS 2013.  I've uninstalled, reinstalled, norton power erasered, norton removal tooled, many reboots, reinstalled --- very frustrating!  I have found several posts talking of similar issues - with no solutions.  This is yet another 'grumbling' as one user mentioned.  I hope that with some of the details that I list below, that somebody from the product development team can offer some assistance - or a fix!

 

Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 Bit.  All updates installed.  Well maintained computer.

NIS VERSION 20.2.0.19

 

As the computer resumes from standby, approximately 80% of the time there is no NIS 2013 icon in the system tray.  Other symptoms and things I've noticed:

 

  • While the icon is not present, the firewall will sporadically block filezilla (ftp client), chrome versions 22-24, windows desktop gadgets.
    • Sometimes I am able to get the systray icon back by clicking Start --> NIS --> Run quick scan.  The quick scan won't run immediately, but I get my icon back, and the firewall allows filezilla, chrome, and gadgets.  If this operation is not successful, I must reboot in order to use these programs
  • I have an extra copy of eicarcom2.zip in my downloads folder.
    • When NIS is clearly running, I unzip the file, and I get an immediate popup near systray saying "Protected Threat" (or something like that), and the eicar.com file is removed so quickly that explorer doesn't even show it.
    • When NIS icon is not present in systray, sometimes I am able to successfully extract the file and eicar.com is viewable, and even editable with editpadlite or notepad.
    • When NIS icon is not present in systray, sometimes I extract the file, it is immediately deleted, and there is no notification -- until I reboot the computer.  In this case, when I reboot the computer, it tells me that 'eicar threat has been handeled' -- or something like that!
  • On the rare occasion that I resume from standby, use the computer for some time - a few hours or so - and then realize that NIS is not in systray, I can sometimes get the icon back by clicking Start --> NIS --> Run quick scan.  Interestingly, I notice that the LiveUpdate notification says "Last Update: 9 hours ago."  This shows me that during my entire session (of a few hours or so), LiveUpdate has done nothing.

I have NIS installed on three computers.  The desktop computer is problematic, but my two laptops, which I believe also run Win7 64bit, are running flawlessly.  The problem is only on my desktop, and only after 'resume from standby.'  I do not use hibernate mode on my desktop computer.  (Maybe I should try that!).  "Enable Boot Time Protection" set to 'Normal.'

 

Does anybody have any ideas about how to make NIS 2013 more reliable?