Windows Hello stops working after upgrade to Norton 360 Premium

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
1

Hi,

Similarly as in the below threads (surprisingly closed, without a solution), I have upgraded Norton Internet Security to 360 Premium on a 2017 Surface Pro i5 8GB RAM. I am using standard Windows 10 build 1909.

Immediately after finishing the installation bluetooth devices such as mouse, keyboard and pen stopped working with 'driver error'. Windows Hello started saying it cannot find compatible camera. Bluetooth driver issues were possible to be resolved by removing devices and scanning for them in the device manager, so mouse and two others are now working.

Windows Hello, however, still says it does not find compatible camera. Windows camera app is able to use both front and rear camera of my Surface Pro.

What I tried:

- Updating Windows using Windows update

- Downloading and installing newest Surface Pro drivers from Microsoft

- Disabling Norton's secure cam feature as suggested in one of below's thread.

- Chatting with Norton Support in India with no help whatsoever

What I am about to try:

- Disable Norton and reboot

- Remove Norton

- Restore Windows to a Restore Point.

I find such issues ridiculous, guys, how do you test your stuff? Windows Hello is a key feature, testing it should be part of your release! The threads I have found indicate that either very few people use Norton on such devices or the issue is very specific.

Hope to identify a solution, if not, I will need to do clean reinstall and change Norton subscription to some other software. Have been using it for several years, would not like to change, but also so used to Windows Hello and not really considering saying good bye to it, that typing PIN to login is not an option.

Regards,

Adam

 

https://community.norton.com/en/forums/facial-recognition-signin-disabled-after-norton-update

https://community.norton.com/en/forums/windows-face-no-longer-works-after-installation-norton-360

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/not-able-to-use-windows-hello-after-installing/1292a721-b6da-48d8-a2ca-4f7ec745a4bc

 

2

 Thank you anyway for showing interest in my issue and hopefully this info will save some customers some time.

You are very welcome. And thank you again for posting back the resolution.

To add, it is quite annoying however that in dicussions with Norton support in Poland seemed that their primary goal was to prove that it is not Norton issue (and that I should keep trying NRNR), instead of trying to understand and resolve customer's problem.

Microsoft support is up to the best standards, in contrary (or I just had luck on reaching skilled specialist).

To be a little fair here. Any developer's support departments are primarily there to resolve problems with their product's installations. They are not always going to be up to date on all the ins and outs of all Windows features. When you contacted MS support, you were conversing with someone who supports all Windows functions on a daily basis. So it would be easier for them to diagnose and fix  the particular issue you had.

Now that MS was able to pinpoint the issue, Norton can take that information to further investigate the issue with their product.

 

3

Thank you.

An update / additional details that may help to define scope of affected users / configurations:

Before MS technician identified a fix, we went through full uninstall of Norton, which did not help, the issue remained. Then he performed the fix that I shared above.

After fixing and installing Norton 360 through standard 'Install on this device' way, the issue does not reappear.

So I would say that the problem may affect people using Windows Hello, who previously had Norton product (like I had Internet Security), which they upgraded to Norton 360 using Norton NRNR tool, which with very high probability is to be blamed for messing with face recognition drivers (a tool intended to make a shortcut actually makes the upgrade path longer ;). If I knew how much mess it causes, I would have uninstalled Norton from control panel and reinstalled in standard way.

To add, it is quite annoying however that in dicussions with Norton support in Poland seemed that their primary goal was to prove that it is not Norton issue (and that I should keep trying NRNR), instead of trying to understand and resolve customer's problem.

Microsoft support is up to the best standards, in contrary (or I just had luck on reaching skilled specialist).

Thank you anyway for showing interest in my issue and hopefully this info will save some customers some time.

4

Thanks for posting back with the solution provided by MS.

I'll escalate this thread to have the NRNR checked for disabling features it should not touch.

 

5

With help of Microsoft technical support, here are the steps to fix the issue.

I am sharing it here, so hopefully no-one will need to go through 1.5 hour session of chatting with Norton support (no help) and Microsoft support.

 

1. First, we go to file path C:\Windows\System32\WinBioPlugIns\FaceDriver.

2. Then, right click on two files which are HelloFace.inf and HelloFaceMigration.inf and then click install.

3. After that we restarted the Surface to refresh the database.

 

Norton support claimed it is not their issue.... Yet the issue appeared after running Norton remove and reinstall tool (no other system changes performed during that time)...

I am really dissatisfied with how Norton supports their customers and satisfied with Microsoft support.

6

Hi,

Yes, I went through all possible driver updates, also ensured that local policies have biometry enabled. No success there.

Disabling Norton also does not help.

I am now trying to use Windows restore point. If successfull, I will post an update.

Regards,

Adam

7

FYI   Threads are closed automatically by the forum software after 30 days with no replies. This is to prevent old threads with similar sounding issues from being dragged up when that specific issue may have already been addressed.

Did you try the information in your third thread from answers.microsoft? Specifically using Device Manager to reinstall/update biometric drivers.