I am running Windows XP SP3 on my home computer. While using Firefox, a popup appeared saying that viruses had been detected and that I should install Norton 360. I have, in general, heard good things about Norton so I stupidly clicked on the popup and purchased/downloaded Norton 360 from Symantec. It was one of the worst mistakes of my entire life and I thoroughly regret it.
The moment after the scan ran I lost ALL internet connectivity. I was not running any third-party firewall or antivirus program. All I had on my computer was CCleaner and HijackThis and the default Windows firewall.
First, I disabled Norton 360 but that did not solve the problem. Next, I uninstalled Norton 360 using the Add/Remove programs. Still nothing. I tried doing a System Restore but that didn't work either. I tried booting up in Safe Mode to remove any other Norton products but that didn't restore internet connectivity either.
Then I went to the Device Manager and discovered that Norton had installed two "ghost" network adaptors in addition to the one I use. The two devices were listed as follows:
Intel(R) PRO/1000 - with a yellow ! symbol in front of it
WAN Miniport (IP) - with a yellow ! symbol in front of it
The error in the properties device status window is:
Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)
Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.
At this point I had NO internet so I had to start looking for answers on my blackberry browser. Thanks so much Norton!!! I called the support line...no easy feat since Norton conveniently uses live chat or email which are not supported by my blackberry browser. Again, thanks for the lovely Christmas gift Norton!
After calling the support line, I was told by the representative that my problem had absolutely nothing to do with Norton, that Norton couldn't have possibly caused my internet connectivity problems and that the best they could do was issue a refund.
Next, I researched the issue on any tech forums that my blackberry browser supported and I found one site that described a problem almost exactly like mine. The user said that when he had tried to uninstall the "ghost" network adaptors, he was unable to because he got an error message saying the were needed to boot up. The fix they suggested was to use regedt32 and search for the key WAN Miniport IP, right click on permissions every time it's found, add everyone as a user and give full control, then delete the WAN Miniport IP key and repeat until Find tells you that it cannot locate any other keys with that name. After deleting all of the keys, you should find that the "ghost" network adaptors have been removed and do not show up on the Device Manager. Well finally something that actually worked. I followed all of the instructions and sure enough the "ghost" adaptors were gone from my computer. But of course STILL NO INTERNET!
I checked my TCP/IP protocol and it appears that Norton 360 has completely hosed my TCP/IP settings. This is my first day back in the office and the first time I have access to the internet. Oh, did I mention that all of this happened the day before I was going on vacation with my children to Orlando.
I so regret EVER having installed Norton 360. Can anyone here help me with my problem?