Hello everybody, I'm new in here and hopefully I can get some help from the computer wizards! 
A couple of months ago I purchased a new computer, which came with Norton Internet Security pre-installed, my renewal date was coming up and I noticed that I was using NIS as a trial version... My account was renewed so I figured it would be better to uninstall this trial and download it again with the proper key from the Norton website.
I used the Norton Removal Tool to make sure nothing was left there and start fresh.
The whole download / install process seems to go fine, it completes but then when I click on the "Explore NIS" button and nothing happens. Windows doesn't give me a flag for not having an antivirus program, I check the "Start" button and it shows me all the Norton shortcut items (NIS, Recovery Tool, etc.).
If I click one of the shortcuts, once again, nothing happens. Also, the desktop icon is missing, not sure if that has anything helpful to say, but I thought it was weird.
I've followed every instruction in FAQ sections, they don't work, I googled my problem and the only solution I could find was to format my computer and start all over! I really don't want to do that, so I turn to you guys to see if anybody had this problem before and / or possesses the solution. I would be very grateful!
THANKS!