Norton was gone, and now wont reinstall

I have no idea what has happened.  My Norton seemed so have disappeared - the icon was still there, but it wouldn't open or scan.  I didn't realize this until I went to open it (says the last scan was 4/2).  I did have to do a system restore this past week, but I don't know why that would kill the antivirus that has been on there for 4 years. 

 

I went to do the uninstall/reinstall option and it wouldn't get past the initializing.  Dowloaded the removal tool which seemed to work and am now stuck again on the re-install.  It's just on the initializing screen with the yellow bar going across and has been this way for a few hours now.

 

What to do?  I am very frustrated and for the $ this has cost me in renewals the past 3 years I cannot believe I can't get a real person to help without paying more.  Can anyone out here suggest something please?

have you tried starting in safe mode ?

I had to run the removal tool in safe mode because it wouldn't work in regular mode, but when it was finished the program ran a restart and automatically began to try and reinstall the 360.  This is where I am now stuck.  It's still just spinning away...

after you start up in safe mode try installing norton again  heres a link to norton removal tool if you need it again you might want to run nrt again before you start up in safe mode  .   www.symantec.com/nrt.    


katemack wrote:

I have no idea what has happened.  My Norton seemed so have disappeared - the icon was still there, but it wouldn't open or scan.  I didn't realize this until I went to open it (says the last scan was 4/2).  I did have to do a system restore this past week, but I don't know why that would kill the antivirus that has been on there for 4 years. 

 

I went to do the uninstall/reinstall option and it wouldn't get past the initializing.  Dowloaded the removal tool which seemed to work and am now stuck again on the re-install.  It's just on the initializing screen with the yellow bar going across and has been this way for a few hours now.

 

What to do?  I am very frustrated and for the $ this has cost me in renewals the past 3 years I cannot believe I can't get a real person to help without paying more.  Can anyone out here suggest something please?


Hi katemack,

 

I believe the answer to your problem may be the words I changed to red in your response.  System Restore will often break Norton as the definitions and the updates are often built on previous updates.  If you revert back (even a few days) it can mess up he sequence of updates and thus break a path that was built on.

 

In this case I feel your best bet would be to attempt a clean install of Norton 360.

 

If you use Identity Safe for your Logins, please back it up (export) the data so it can be Restored (Imported) after you install a fresh copy of N 360.

 

Plese remove the copy of N 360 you have installed, using the Control Panel uninstall via Add/Remove or Programs & Features.

 (If the program does not exsist, attempt to continue with the NRT below)

 

Download and run the Norton Remvoal Tool once and reboot after it is completed. The NRT can be found here: https://www-secure.symantec.com/norton-support/jsp​/help-solutions.jsp?lg=english&ct=united+states&d......

 

Download a fresh copy of N 360 from here:

N360 V6 Standard- www.norton.com/n360s_6

N360 V6 Premier - www.norton.com/n360p_6

 

Once installation is complete, open N 360 and manually Run LiveUpdate as many times as necessary for it to respond "no more updates available". If a reboot is requested, reboot and then continue to Run LiveUpdate until it responds "no more updates available" and then reboot one last time.

 

Once totally updated, don't forget to Restore/Import your ID Safe data.

 

Please keep us posted.

Thank you, I will try again. It makes sense that the system restore would mess it up, but shouldn't it just have run a live update in order to back up?  I know asking for miracles!

 

 Please note I did uninstall and am trying to reinstall and that is where I am stuck.  Also, I have no idea what safe ID is...is that part of Norton?

 

 


katemack wrote:

Thank you, I will try again. It makes sense that the system restore would mess it up, but shouldn't it just have run a live update in order to back up?  I know asking for miracles!

 

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as running liveupdate as the updates must come down in the correct order and Norton Tamper Protection (something that prevents changes to N 360) also comes into play.

 

 Please note I did uninstall and am trying to reinstall and that is where I am stuck. 

 

I am aware you have tried to uninstall and may have in fact removed part of it - but there may be some remains - thus the NRT.  BTW if you get any errors please pass them on exactly as they are worded.

 

Also, I have no idea what safe ID is...is that part of Norton?

 

 ID Safe is part of the Norton Toolbar that saves your log-ins and passwords.  If you do not use it, then you can skip those steps.


 

 


 

Thanks.  Such a non savvy techie!  I appreciate your patience.  I do not use the password program.

 

I went back in to remove again, and got an error of:

 

Could not initialize installation:  File size expected = 4291196 Size returned = 4221970

 

Also, went on remote chat/assist and they reinstalled but now it's it stuck in reboot - waiting for a call back, again (2nd time).  I am not sure what he did.  Norton seems to be on there now, but it won't shut down out of windows.  I don't know if I should just hard power off or not.

Kate,

 

<< Could not initialize installation:  File size expected = 4291196 Size returned = 4221970 >>

 

Just as background -- that is is precisely one of the things that a system restore can cause since Norton monitors all the files on your computer and keeps track of when they are changed in a normal way. Then it saves time in the future by only checking files that have changed and leaves the rest perhaps until a major scan comes along.

 

But after a system restore some of the files in the system will no longer agree with the record Norton made when it last checked the system which can upset Norton into thinking you may have been attacked.

 

The uninstall that Windows runs is in fact a script that Norton provides and so it spotted the discrepency and put up an error message.

 

You ae in good hands with Yank so I'll leave him to guide you onwards but using the Norton Removal Tool should sort things out.

Thanks Yank & Hugh - I think the remote guy in India fixed it.  Norton is back and updated. Hopefully!!!

 

I cannot thank you enough for the help and if it happens again I will be sure to follow all of your instructions.

Thanks for letting us know, Kate.

 

You know where to find us if you need some help .... before or afte things go wrong ....

Glad you got it sorted.