How about you not disable an active product "because automatic subscription renewal was cancelled".
I cancelled automatic renewal the day after Christmas because it did not expire until end of January. I wanted 2 wait a couple weeks.
Now Norton Utilities Premium is disabled "because automatic subscription renewal was cancelled". It is still an active subscription but the product is disabled. WTF?
I will not renew. Ever.
Hey @Krusty13,
Time flies ! I have been meaning for at least a week to retun some posts.
I thought since you kindly took your time to offer some constructive information to me, I would clarify my observations on uninstalls. When I say "authentically" it refers to the literal definition of the term "uninstall." When I, as the user, see fit to remove a program for any reason, I have choices. I can remove it manually, which most often requires registry key modifications, and operating in safe mode to delete every file left by the offending program. A dangeous and time consuming task. Or, a couple of mouse clicks to execute the official uninstaller and take my chances.
I understand that in most cases, a complex application uninstaller may leave some breadcrumbs behind. Those are typically empty directories, or non-excecutable text and .ini files. Very innocuous stuff. I also knew that the NRnR tool does not act like a "permanent" uninstaller for multiple reasons. I am a skeptic, and I looked at every known directory that Norton uses to manage its software components. The complex applications that require a running service(s), like NAV, are concerning to me for a couple of reasons. First, leaving a running service after an uninstall while keeping the admin in the dark is bad faith. I am referring to a couple of Norton .dll files left over from a "formal" uninstall that are static in the %r00t%:/ProgramData/Norton directory and restart the service after each reboot. I don't recall the filenames as it was a year or so ago, and for all I know the uninstaller has been updated to be more diligent. I must believe others have found the same Norton services using a tool such as Sysinternals ProcessExplorer. Or maybe, I am on Mars with a broken ground wire breathing from an Ozone tank. I am compelled to wonder. Either way, it took 45 minutes to surgically remove the binaries and correct the registry.
It's one thing to be lazy and not want to add code to terminate a service, then mop up leftover binaries after a forced reboot, but it is another thing when these services "touch base" with the mothership, interfere with other applications, and report the presence of an AV system that is not active per se. I ran a cool little program from Nirsoft called SecuritySoftView v1.00, and it told me that NAV was still registered as a security provider on my system, even though it had been uninstalled. Again, a simple tweak of a few registry keys could have made things the way I expected them to be. This is the part of my frustration that I own personally: my expectations. If I did not expect good faith when I executed a piece of code on hardware that I own, I would be a happy individual. If I walked through life not caring that the charlatans who sold me some things I don't need failed to tell me that I bought a POS and not think that it was going to do what the box it came in told me it was (whew), then hooray for me.
My question revolved around an awareness that many things are not what they appear. We all know that antivirus vendors do not play well together. Registry entries left from a distantly removed program, which we can call "McAfee," can interfere with operation of another known AV package, replacing McAfee, por exemplo, we can call "Norton." Memory hogging, CPU toasting, disk caching, slow scanning performance and a general hatred of all AV products by the admin occur simultaneously. Is it by accident, or design? My generalized experience tells me that there is a probability that the leftover .dll files and running services are not "authentically" benign. That troubles me and I hope it troubles others who might have a couple of hours to read this.
Cheers to all you gurus. FWIW I read what you have to say on every post I read. There is alot one can tell from your collective responses. Fight the good fight - in honesty.
In Peace
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Sorry for taking so long to get back. I only just seen your post.
Why does NU Premium turn on the "optimizers" even if not selected by the user?
As I have asked before, why does Norton not ask for consent when it makes critical decisions that affect my machine? And the CPU optimizer?
Great question! Sorry, I don't know. Again, in their wisdom...
Finally, I must ask you, knowing the answer: Norton never really, authentically uninstalls, does it?
Not sure what you mean by "authentically uninstalls". If you mean Norton does not completely uninstall, you are correct. They do have the Norton Remove and Reinstall Tool which can be used in Advanced Mode to uninstall Norton AVs and is supposed to remove most of their files, but as you are aware, there will still be files and potentially registry keys left over. Sometimes manually searching your machine can allow you to delete those leftovers.
The NRnR tool does not remove NUP so you would have to run its uninstaller, then again manually search for leftovers. That's where a tool like REVO Uninstaller can come in handy.
I'm sorry I couldn't give better answers but you probably know as much or more than me anyway.
Cheers.
Hey Krusty,
Why does NU Premium turn on the “optimizers” even if not selected by the user?
I have to say that Norton’s insistance of doing what it pleases, against my wishes and without my knowledge, are two reasons I cancelled my subscription after almost 30 years of loyal use.
First, “optimizers” do not always do what they say. They can conflict with other applications and potentially consume bandwidth rather than making it available. In many cases, they only do simple things that can be done using Windows utilities manually. Adding things that make things faster is a set of diminishing returns.
As I have asked before, why does Norton not ask for consent when it makes critical decisions that affect my machine?
And the CPU optimizer? After I installed NU Premium, I could not turn it off using the interface.
Finally, I must ask you, knowing the answer: Norton never really, authentically uninstalls, does it?
In Peace,
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Did you take advantage of a free subscription to NUP with N360? If so, unfortunately in their wisdom that is a condition of the NUP subscription.