When I connected to the internet the other day Norton prompted me to upgrade from v4 to v5. I checked out what was being said about v5 and decided to update. Things seemed OK. I have switched on my PC a couple of times since and I'm fairly sure there was one Windows automatic update. But today Windows would not start. It had to revert to a previous restore point but now Norton 360 v5 is not working. A Norton Gadget appears in the Sidebar but the logo of dots in a circle run continuously. If I try to run Norton from the Start button the choices available are Norton 360, LiveUpdate, Get Support and Uninstall. Nothing happens if I try the first two (not tried the second two). I have come to this forum after going to symantec.com on the internet.
Norton has not come up with any error messages.
My PC is running Windows Vista Home Premium. I have not had any viruses to my knowledge. I simply followed the update process which came the other day. When the update completed it said I had 145 days subscription remaining.
I have in the past found that after Windows Updates had been made my PC would quite often not restart properly next time out and it would have to go back to previous restore point. Norton would then complain it was out of date so I would have to fix that. This time I was quite pleased that Norton 360 v5 survived one Windows Update. But it seems I spoke to soon and now it has lost itself from my PC. How do I get it back please?
I have my product key from the original box the product came with when I bought on CD in 2007. I have also found that the key text has been written out as a text file on 26th May to My Documents (this must have been when I upgraded). By the way in C:\Program Files/Norton 360/Engine I see there are two folders. One called 4.3.0.5 and another 5.1.0.29. I guess these are debris left over from the system restore. It seems a bit unfortunate that Windows Restore doesn't put v4 back in operation. But I guess that's for Microsodft and Norton to sort out one day.
Before I embark on restoring v5 please could you enlarge on a couple of points:-
1. "Please back up your identity safe file if you use that feature"
I am not sure what this is. How would I know if I use this feature or not? What file should I look for on my PC?
2. "Pick the proper product you want to remove"
I assume this means Norton 360 as opposed to other Norton products?.
3. "Please pick the appropriate link based on the amount of backup space you have"
I don't know how to check how much backup space I have without Norton installed. I've never upgraded or bought more so I guess I would have the standard version. I originally bought Norton 360 All-in-One-Internet Security in 2007. I'm in UK.
1. "Please back up your identity safe file if you use that feature"
I am not sure what this is. How would I know if I use this feature or not? What file should I look for on my PC?
The following support article contains the steps to backup the Identity Safe. If you do not use that feature, you do not need to follow it. You need to select the section "I am uninstalling Norton 360 Version 4.0"
I assume this means Norton 360 as opposed to other Norton products?.
Yes, you need to select "I have Norton 360 Version 2.0/3.0/4.0/5.0". Because when you select it, download it, run it, and restart, you get a Web page with the download instructions for Norton 360 V5.
3. "Please pick the appropriate link based on the amount of backup space you have"
I don't know how to check how much backup space I have without Norton installed. I've never upgraded or bought more so I guess I would have the standard version. I originally bought Norton 360 All-in-One-Internet Security in 2007. I'm in UK.
There are mainly two Norton 360s. One is standard, which comes with 5GB (I hope so) backup space. Another is Norton 360 Premier, which comes with 25 GB Backup space. This is what floplot meant by "the amount of backup space you have". From your description, I think you have the standard version of Norton 360.
Thank you for your help. It didn't go quite as expected so here's my feedback.
* Download Norton Removal tool - OK
* Download Norton 360 v5 - OK
* Use Control Panel method to remove N360 and reboot - failed. Tried this twice, the second time with a cold reboot. Windows Control Panel continued to show Norton as installed on 5/5/2010 size 88Mb.
* Use the Norton Removal Tool twice with reboot after each run - a box flashed up on screen very quickly - too quick to read - but no indication that it had done anything. Tried several times and then with a cold reboot for good measure.
* Run the proper version of N360 which was downloaded earler and when it wants to get back on the net, let it. OK but... it first showed Preparing to Uninstall (which suggests to me that the Control Panel uninstall and the Removal Tool had not done anything as I had suspected). It then didn't ask to connect to the net.
* Run LiveUpdate. After a while it reported it couldn't find an internet connection. I had read that Norton v5 has its own browser capability so I thought it would ask. So I connected manually. Updated OK.
I was not prompted to re-enter the product key. It shows the correct number of days of left until renewal. In C:\Program Files\Norton 360\Engine there are now no folders beginning 4. , only 5.1.0.29 so that feels OK.
I've since run a quick scan - all clear apart from a couple of cookies, and then a full scan - all clear too.
So all now OK (unless there is a clue in what I have reported that I should repeat)
It seems like you were successful in getting version 5 installed this time. Version 5 is also made to uninstall the previous version which is ok as long as version 4 was working ok. It didn't ask for the key because it picked up the key from your version 4. It didn't ask to reconnect to the net because you were already on the net. It seems to be working ok from your description. Thanks.
When I connected to the internet the other day Norton prompted me to upgrade from v4 to v5. I checked out what was being said about v5 and decided to update. Things seemed OK. I have switched on my PC a couple of times since and I'm fairly sure there was one Windows automatic update. But today Windows would not start. It had to revert to a previous restore point but now Norton 360 v5 is not working. A Norton Gadget appears in the Sidebar but the logo of dots in a circle run continuously. If I try to run Norton from the Start button the choices available are Norton 360, LiveUpdate, Get Support and Uninstall. Nothing happens if I try the first two (not tried the second two). I have come to this forum after going to symantec.com on the internet.
Norton has not come up with any error messages.
My PC is running Windows Vista Home Premium. I have not had any viruses to my knowledge. I simply followed the update process which came the other day. When the update completed it said I had 145 days subscription remaining.
I have in the past found that after Windows Updates had been made my PC would quite often not restart properly next time out and it would have to go back to previous restore point. Norton would then complain it was out of date so I would have to fix that. This time I was quite pleased that Norton 360 v5 survived one Windows Update. But it seems I spoke to soon and now it has lost itself from my PC. How do I get it back please?