Windows 7: "Waiting for Background Programs to Close" Symantec

A friend has this problem with main PC running Win 7 Ultimate:

When Symantec Endpoint Protection is installed he logs off & gets the above "Waiting for Background Programs to Close" message. It then says, "to close the program that is preventing windows from logging off" click cancel or something, blah blah, but there is nothing in the programs list, no offending programs are given... the list is empty in other words and there is no refernece to Endpoint Protection being the culprit!

Upon uninstalling or removing this Symantec Endpoint program Win 7 behaves normally as before, i.e. it logs off without a hitch and in just a few seconds. However, if Symantec Endpoint Protection is once again installed the same log off difficulties are experienced with the same message, "Waiting for Background Programs to Close" with an empty list with no indication of a culprit!

He wants any info on what to try to resolve this. Or else not run Symantec? Anyone have any ideas or experience the same thing?

P.S. The same OS and Symantec program run on the laptop without any difficulty whatsoever!!

My experience with Norton is that is uses much resources and therefore slows down the machine. It also can cause problems such as the one you are describing. My personal favorite Security program is Microsoft Security Essentials. It is lightweight, and runs nicely in Windows 7.
http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

No such problem here with Endpoint under Windows 7 x64, however I'd suggest checking the version is the latest available and that he tries configuring it to not use the Symantec Firewall to see if using the Windows 7 native firewall changes anything...