Norton 360 v5.0 Registry Clean-up Issue; will not complete but run continuously

I recently installed Norton 360 v5.0.  When I run the Registry Clean-up, it will initiate the action, status the it is going through several sections, then it just continuously runs, without further status messages, until I Cancel.  I am running XP Pro.  Any ideas on how to correct this issue.

 

Thanks!

Hi Lakecity,

 

Welcome to Norton Community!

 

Do you have any other security products along with Norton 360 V5.0?

Which was your previous security product before installing Norton 360 V5.0?

Are you running registry cleanup from an Administrator Account in Windows?

 

You may try uninstall/reinstall using Norton Remove & Reinstall Tool:

http://www.norton.com/nrnr

 

Thanks,

HarryP

Hi HarryP,

 

I had Norton Internet Security 2011 installed prior to installing the Norton 360, and only have the Norton 360 on the computer now.  I used the Norton Removal Tool to remove the NIS, and in speaking to Norton support on issues with another install on a second computer, he indicated that I should have just uninstalled the NIS using the Windows XP Add/Delete routine in the Control Panel.  That led me to believe that the Norton Removal Tool may have missed some file(s), and that may be causing my issue.  It is my hope that someone has had the same experience and can let me know if there is simply a file that I need to delete/update.  Assuming that it is some remaining NIS file, since the Norton Removal Tool may have missed it the first time, it may not get it on subsequent runs.

 

Regards,

Hi, lakecity,

 

Actually, the issue is the opposite: it is important to use the Removal tool and not just rely on Windows Add/Remove, because Windows is prone to leave "debris" scattered through the Operating System that can cause problems. The importance of uninstalling first using Add/Remove is to decouple the Windows drivers, etc. that the Removal Tool has been known to mess up if run by itself.

 

The symptom you're having does not sound like something that would be caused by this issue, though, so I think we need to keep looking for its cause. What is the longest you have allowed Registry Cleanup to run before concluding that it's not going to complete? I have seen a few issues here where a process just takes an interminable length of time under some configurations, without showing any indications of progress--so unless you've allowed it to run overnight (for example) it may be worth exploring that possibility.

 

I should also ask what symptoms you were experiencing that led you to run Registry Cleanup. Working on the Registry is inherently a somewhat risky business, and many of our Gurus strongly advise against it if it can be avoided. If the Cleanup removes something that's associated, for example, with an application you no longer have installed--and it turns out to be leveraged by something else that was more sloppily coded and didn't declare it--you could end up doing serious damage to your configuration. And while a Registry backup or a System Restore Point can in theory allow you to recover, System Restore, in particular, tends to "break" security software, requiring a removal and reinstall.

 

On that subject, unless someone else offers something more promising, I guess you could try an Add/Remove Programs uninstall of your Norton 360, then reboot, run the Removal Tool, reboot again, and reinstall.

 

Good luck. Let us know what you try, and what results you get, and we'll get this figured out.

I was having problems with Norton v5.0 clean-up and after running the CHKDSK tool (it's built in your Microsoft Windows operating system), no more registry issues with Norton.  I AM NOT A PRO but you should run this tool periodically anyway to keep your computer running with optimum performance.  First, close all active and open programs.  Then, open the My Computer window and right click on the hard drive to be checked (usually your C:Drive).  Select Properties/Tools/Check Now.  I chose both options to fix system errors and recovery of bad sectors.  Click on the Start menu to begin the CHKDSK tool.  You will probably have to restart your computer before the utility will run.  You will be prompted.  Once the computer has restarted, the tool should launch automatically.   My computer ran much faster afterward too!!   Good Luck.

Hi HarryP, DistEd2, and dwright77,

 

Thanks for the feedback.  To answer some of your questions, I was running the Registry Clean-up because when I was loading Norton 360, some funny things were happening to my computer, and I thought that there might be some Registry issues.  I did a ChkDisk on the drives and all came out well.  In looking further into my issue, I had some funny things happening to my backup system, a WD My Book -USB.  When I disconnected the WD My Book, I was able to successfully complete the Norton 360 Registry Check-up.  It seems that there is an issue with Norton 360 and the WD My Book backup system.  A Google search also revealed that some folks are having compatability issues with Norton 360 v5.0 and their WD My Book backup.  As I would like to have both the WD My Book backup and Norton 360 fully functional, I am still looking for solutions.

 

Regards,

The issue I had with Norton 360 Registry Check-up not completing was resolved after I installed a new WD My Book Essentials -USB drive.  It appeard that the old drive has several damaged sectors.  My advice to those who experience the same issue as I with the Norton 360 Registry Cleanup would be to remove any external storage media and then try the Registry Cleanup.  If successfull, then you know there might be an issue with the removed storage media, as I have experienced.

 

Thanks for all thjose who provided input.

 

Ahh, interesting! Thanks for the report, and the solution flag to help others find what you discovered.

 

Glad you got it worked out. Happy computing!