I have a Dell XPS7100 with Windows 7, 64bit. I installed Norton 360 v4.0 Internet Security for 3 pc's 9 months ago. Everything has been fine, but when I recently ran a full scan over night, the next morning my screen was frozen. Ctl/alt/dlet did nothing, so I powered off.
It looks like the scan completed. Idle scans in the background complete fine.
My problem is that ever since I ran Norton, if I leave my computer, it freezes after 5 minutes. The screensaver will freeze. I turned off the screensaver, and then it just freezes on whatever was last up. Does anyone have any ideas? Did Norton cause this? All the other posts about screen freezes seem to occur while Norton is running.
notageek wrote:
I have a Dell XPS7100 with Windows 7, 64bit. I installed Norton 360 v4.0 Internet Security for 3 pc's 9 months ago. Everything has been fine, but when I recently ran a full scan over night, the next morning my screen was frozen. Ctl/alt/dlet did nothing, so I powered off.
It looks like the scan completed. Idle scans in the background complete fine.
My problem is that ever since I ran Norton, if I leave my computer, it freezes after 5 minutes. The screensaver will freeze. I turned off the screensaver, and then it just freezes on whatever was last up. Does anyone have any ideas? Did Norton cause this? All the other posts about screen freezes seem to occur while Norton is running.
Welcome,
Dell ships their systems with preinstalled security software, windowd includes security software, you have installed 360 - which is security software. If you have not yet done so please do a control panel uninstall of the Dell product, microsoft security essentials and windows defender. 360 is better than the combination and really doesn't play well with them.
The freeze may be 360 trying to get pulse updates and any one or all of the others considering the file a threat and then fighting over who will be the one to remove it 
The result is that the system gives up and quits.
Your message indicates that your are running 360 v4. May I also suggest that you update to 360 v5. This is the current version and will not be replaced until next year. If your subscription is current then the upgrade will be free. Find it here:
http://www.norton.com/n360s_5/
Keep us in the loop
Windows Defender can be disabled, but in Win 7 should not be uninstalled (I'm not sure if it can be uninstalled). It is required for other components.
Hi Everyone - thanks for your input. I did run malwarebytes again and the report is clean. I ran a PC tuneup - seemed to run fine. Windows Defender was already disabled. Honestly, I'm a little hesitant to uninstall stuff. After this started I did try to restore my computer to a point before Norton ran, but that didn't seem to do anything - actually I'm not even sure what happens when it restores...I thought maybe a registry that had to do with the screensaver might had gotten deleted/corrupted by Norton so I was trying to hopefully restore it....but that didn't work.
OK, so the most dangerous possibilities seem--at least for now--to be off the table. I don't think your screensaver is the problem--because, as you say, you're experiencing the same issue with other programs too.
I see two major possibilities at this point for the culprit. First, there's a good chance that Dick is right: you may have pieces of another security product that does real-time scanning conflicting with your Norton 360, and have to remove one or the other to get your system working properly again.
However, there's a second hypothesis that I think we should explore first. Because the problem--whatever it is--arises when your system goes idle, it may be an issue with your computer's power management/EnergyStar software. It is possible--though I would say unlikely--that this could be a conflict of some sort with Norton. While that's unlikely (seems like more users would be experiencing it), it could be worth your upgrading to Norton 360 version 5 at this point. As Dick mentioned, there's no charge (upgrades are covered under your current subscription), and either (1) the new version, or (2) simply starting from a clean install may fix your problem.
So here's what I suggest. You will not have to pay for the program again, and your subscription days will automatically be recognized when you do this.
- Export your Identity Safe cards/credentials to your desktop if you've set these up, so you'll be able to import them back in when your clean install is complete.
- Make sure that you have set up (and can still access) your Norton Account, and that your current Norton 360 subscription is showing under the "Products" tab, with a big yellow "Download" button at right; this is how you will reinstall your Norton product and have it linked automatically to your subscription.
- Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to ensure a complete uninstall of your existing Norton product. This is necessary because of the extent to which a security package needs to have its tendrils deeply intertwined throughout the Operating System to do its job. Do not simply uninstall from Windows Control Panel; this is likely to leave debris behind that may interfere with proper operation of your Norton product.
- Once the Norton Removal Tool has finished, reboot your computer and immediately log back into your Norton Account and click that big yellow Download button. Remember, until you do this, you are temporarily without your Norton protection.
This last step will reinstall Norton 360--the current version, v.5--and link it automatically to your existing subscription. You should now be back in business, protected by "the speed and power of Norton!" 
Please let us know how this works out. We're here to support you until you can click that "Accept as Solution" button!
For some reason, I never created a Norton Account. I just did it, and here's a dumb question, how do I get my version of Norton listed under the Products tab - there's nothing listed right now? Do I need to do this? I do have the CD to reinstall N360 v4 with the product key.
I have a Dell XPS7100 with Windows 7, 64bit. I installed Norton 360 v4.0 Internet Security for 3 pc's 9 months ago. Everything has been fine, but when I recently ran a full scan over night, the next morning my screen was frozen. Ctl/alt/dlet did nothing, so I powered off.
It looks like the scan completed. Idle scans in the background complete fine.
My problem is that ever since I ran Norton, if I leave my computer, it freezes after 5 minutes. The screensaver will freeze. I turned off the screensaver, and then it just freezes on whatever was last up. Does anyone have any ideas? Did Norton cause this? All the other posts about screen freezes seem to occur while Norton is running.
OK, you should be in good shape. Follow my directions above as written, but after you've run the Norton Removal Tool, instead of continuing--to download version 5 from your Norton Account (which obviously won't work if it's not there!)--just reinstall version 4 from your CD, activate it with your product key, and register it to your Norton Account when you're given the opportunity. You will then be able to upgrade to version 5 for free, as part of your remaining Norton 360 subscription.
The original v4 installation is going to be linked to an account somewhere via email address. I don't see how that could have been avoided. I'm thinking that if the OP makes a new account to reinstall and enters a key that is already on record it is going to throw an error.
It would be better to get any account issues settled by CHAT before doing anything drastic. Symantec servers have to be able to keep track of the days remaining on a subscription somehow.
Most likely, it would just allocate the second of the three licensed installs...but that would eventually lead to Live Chat anyway, to get the extra license freed up again, so might as well just go there to start with, as you say. Might be able to handle the upgrade to version 5 in the same step then, by following my original instructions.
Also--since I don't see it mentioned here--delphinium corrected me on a different thread that old versions of Norton should be installed from Control Panel (Add//Remove Programs) first (especially on Windows Vista), to properly decouple drivers, etc., then run the Norton Removal Tool to clean up the debris, and proceed with my directions from there.
I found the correct Norton Account that my N360 v4 was registered under and there is a Download button next to the product...so now I'm a little confused by the last post that said old versions of Norton should be installed from the Control Panel and then run the Norton Removal Tool (and then I'd reboot, sign on to my account and download v4 back in and upgrade) ...Does the first part of this apply to me or did you mean old versions of Norton should be UNinstalled from the Control Panel?
Oops--yeah that was definitely supposed to be uninstalled! Good catch; thanks for pointing it out...as it's too late for me to go back and fix it! LOL
There we go! Just like tag team wrestling. 
Hi again! I'm not having much luck. I uninstalled Norton, ran the Norton Removal, rebooted, reloaded N360 v5, rebooted - and my comp still freezes, but it takes about 30 minutes to get to that point. Do you think this actually is NOT a Norton problem? I just assume it's a problem caused by Norton because it started after I ran a full scan.
Does the clock on your task bar normally "stop" when your screensaver pops up? I had one where it's just bubbles floating around so I can still see the desktop behind it and I noticed that when the screensaver starts, the clock stops. The comp then freezes about 1/2 hr later. I then changed my settings so that there's no screensaver - the clock continues to run and then everything freezes 1/2 hr later.
Any more ideas? It's kind of annoying to have to keep shutting down when I'm going to be gone for awhile or to just move the mouse every few minutes...