Norton Removal Tool fails

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
1

Hello,

 

I am trying to uninstall an expired copy of Norton Internet Security (10.1.0.26) from an Acer laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium.

 

I used the Programs and Features icon in the Control Panel. Shortly after clicking 'Remove All' and then 'Next' I receive the error:

 

"Install failed. Gathering error information. This may take several minutes."

 

After several minutes, a dialog with the title "System Information" appears saying:

 

"Refreshing System Information ..."

 

with a progress bar. After several more minutes a dialog titled "CD not Found" appears asking me to:

 

"Please insert your Norton Internet Security CD to continue." and  ".\Support\SPBBC\SPBBC32.msi".

 

Not having a CD, I click "Cancel", after which I received the following error:

 

"The uninstallation encountered an error and was unable to remove...

 

You will now be directed to the Symantec Support website. 9999, 172"

 

I clicked on the "Send" button and a dialog appears sending information to Symantec and I am taken to a Symantec web page. The dialog finishes stating:

 

"The transfer operation completed successfully. Thank you for helping improve your Symantec product."

 

The web page instructs me to download and run the Norton Removal Tool. I download and run the tool and receive the following error after clicking the "Next" button:

 

"The version of Norton Removal Tool that you are using is expired.

Please click the following Web link for help.

http://www.symantec.com/nrtexpired"

 

So I click on the link and am taken to a web page which instructs me, as step 1, to "Run a tool that deletes Windows temporary files". I click on the "RUN IT NOW" button which pops up a window with the following message:

 

"Clean Windows Temp Files

To remove temporary files from your computer

Automated task failed.: You must run this tool as an Administrator. Please right click the Internet Explorer shortcut, and then click run as administrator. If you receive this same message, please log in to an account that has Administrator rights and re-run this action"

 

So I close all Internet Explorer windows (after copying the URL to the clipboard) and then I run Internet Explorer by right-clicking on it's shortcut and clicking "Run as administrator". I paste the URL into the address bar and shortly thereafter receive the same error message above. The account I am logged in is the only Administrator account on the computer.

 

Any advice on how I might remove NIS would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

Message Edited by clicksnapwhiz on 11-20-2009 10:44 AM
Message Edited by clicksnapwhiz on 11-20-2009 10:46 AM
2

We usually receive the NRT expired error message if the system date or time (or both) is incorrect. Please correct if it is wrong and then download and run Norton removal tool.

 

Vineeth--

3

Hi clicksnapwhiz,

 

Try downloading the Norton Removal Tool from here:

http://www.symantec.com/nrt

 

Or from here:

http://www.symantec.com/norton/support/kb/web_view.jsp?wv_type=public_web&ssfromlink=true&sprt_cid=1a13409b-29db-4397-a286-9dec49f8e252&seg=hho&ct=us&lg=en&docurl=20080828154508EN

 

Please tell us if this works.

4

Hi Vineeth,

 

The first time I ran the NRT, the system date was incorrect (The year was 2022), but I have corrected the date and downloaded the NRT a number of times since then with the same result.

5

Hi Yaso,

 

I tried downling the NRT from both links and am getting the expired error message with both.

6

Hi

 

Does the standard Norton Removal Tool that we use in this Forum also work for the Corporate versions? Isn't 10.xx.xx.xx a corporate version?

7

Hi Floplot:

 

Just noticed your post.

 

I believe that designation is a Corporate edition, but why would the OP say NIS?

 

This needs to be clarified.

 

If it is Corporate, then the OP needs to be directed to that group.

 

clicksnapwhiz - What is the exact title of the product?

 

Thanks.

Message Edited by Plankton on 11-20-2009 11:51 AM
8

I think it is NIS 2007.

But I am mystified as to why the Norton Removal Tool is faulty in that case.The "expired" message can also pop up if the Norton Removal Tool has been/is being updated.

Message Edited by Yaso_Kuuhl on 11-20-2009 05:50 PM
9

The title is “Norton Internet Security”. There is no year in the name.

10

Hi Yaso:

 

You wrote:

 

"I think it is NIS 2007."

 

If so, wouldn't the version number be in the 14 range?

Message Edited by Plankton on 11-20-2009 11:57 AM
11

I believe that you are trying to remove a version that is not included in the Norton Removal Tool.  V10.1.0.26 maybe from NIS2002 (if it was called that).  Your best thing to do is to contact Customer Support here and see if they can get you the proper tool and documentation to remove this software.

Message Edited by dbrisendine on 11-20-2009 11:58 AM

12

Would NIS 2002 be able to run on Vista? :-)

 

I discovered this thread, and the following post by Vineeth (concerning the NIS version):

http://community.norton.com/norton/board/message?board.id=nis_feedback&message.id=4902#M4902

 

However, it is best to contact Symantec Customer Support as dbrisendine has suggested.

Message Edited by Yaso_Kuuhl on 11-20-2009 06:12 PM
13

I may be too late, but here are instructions from Yogesh Mohan, whom I asked for advice in this matter and who told me to post the following:

 

Clear your temp files by going to Start, then to Accessories, and then to Run. Type into the Run box: %temp%

Delete everything in this folder. Then restart the computer to Safe Mode (tap F8 key repeatedly during booting-up of the computer), download and run the Norton Removal Tool.

 

PS: I also received confirmation from Yogesh that version 10.1.0.26 is NIS 2007.

Message Edited by Yaso_Kuuhl on 11-20-2009 06:31 PM
14

Hi,

 

Norton products and their version numbers:

 

NIS 2007 -- 10.x.x.x

NAV 2007 -- 14.x.x.x

NIS & NAV 2008 -- 15.x.x.x

NIS & NAV 2009 -- 16.x.x.x

NIS & NAV 2010 -- 17.x.x.x

 

To ocnfirm this (In 2007 products), go to Add/Remove programs > Click Norton Internet Security > Click here for more information > Then you can see the version number

 

Also try to uninstall NIS from Add/remove programs. if that does not work, log on to Safe mode and then run the Norton Removal tool.

 

Vineeth--

15

Hi Vineeth:

 

Thank you for that!

 

How do you tell if it is NAV or NIS just from the version number, though?

Message Edited by Plankton on 11-20-2009 12:36 PM
16

I myself had NIS 2007 (upgraded from 2007 to 2010), but I was no longer sure about the version number, but it seemed kind of familiar :smiley:

Message Edited by Yaso_Kuuhl on 11-20-2009 06:38 PM

17

I contacted Customer Support as suggested. I used the “Instant Online Chat” and followed the support persons instructions to establish a remote connection. The support person then took over. They first downloaded the NRT and ran it, getting the same expired error. Then they checked the date and time in the system tray. Then they ran regedit and did something with a key which I think was \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\SymNRT (Sorry. I was distracted a bit at this moment.) After that they ran the NRT again, and this time it worked. After the NRT was finished, they rebooted the computer. After reboot they went back to regedit and deleted a couple keys (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\SymNRT and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SymNRT I think). After that they deleted the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared folder.

18

Thanks to everyone for your assistance!

19

Hi clicksnapwiz:

 

Glad that they were able to assist!

 

What plans do you have for protecting that laptop?

20

Thanks for posting back with the good news, clicksnapwhiz :slight_smile: