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NORTON 360 dead from the word go ... and will not uninstall
Hereunder a cry of pain from an absolutely non teckie .... (that's why the following is such a long dirge, because (being a dumbo) I have had to itemise out everything that occurred).
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I have just, 30th of June 2012, bought an AVENT computer with Norton 360 onboard. This 360 antivirus item is supposed to be free for the first month ... to be then bought or uninstalled as per the whims of the computer owner. I think it worked for the first day or so. Now, a few days later, it is completely KAPUT ! REASON ? ....well it could well be because there was a clash between WORD Starter 2010 and JARTE a prog I have always used in conjunction with WORDPAD. That clash (which occurred when I was renaming a wordpad file done in JARTE) caused the keyboard to go dead. I tried a couple of reboots but could not get the keyboard (a USB one) working again. Nothing for it .... I had then to return the computer OS to an earlier restore point .... in fact the one which was established as soon as I had turned the comp on for the first time; or rather, the restore point auto-established after an enormous load of MS updates had downloaded, without even asking permission :-))
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That restore point got the keyboard working again .... but NORTON from that point on was and remains absolutely dead.
PRESENT SYMPTOMS OF FAULT
(1) - In Control panel>Review your comps status> .... the TURN ON NOW button will not turn NORTON on. The message 'Norton 360 reports that it is turned off' cannot be got rid of.
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(2) - START MENU .... Norton 360's nine part side-menu ; Run quick scan; Run live update; Run backup now; View recent history; Get support; Turn on silent mode; Disable smart firewall; Disable anti-virus auto-protect; Check for newer version. ALL THOSE produce the ERROR MESSAGE ..... Unspecified error .... C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton 360\Engine\5.2.1.3\uistub.exe
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(3) - START MENU ....ALL PROGRAMS>Norton 360> .... then the five options, trying to OPEN them one by one :-
(a) - GET SUPPORT : For a few seconds search system trys to find 'uistub.exe' ... then 'Problem with Shortcut' Box then appears.
(b) - LIVE UPDATE ... same result as (a);
(c) NORTON 360, same result as (a);
(d) NORTON RECOVERY, brings up WEB screen to go online for NORTON RECOVERY TOOLS (what's the point in that .... just more complicated pay-for progs !!)
An option on the RClick menu is the "Restore Previous Versions". This brought the DBox up with the NORTON ONLY restore dates .... I chose the one the 30th of June one. This was the day I first turned the comp on, when the first thing that happened was the auto-downloading of all the MS updates, the second thing that happened was the auto-establishment of the above 30th June restore point. With NORTON restored to 30th june ..... nothing had changed ... still KAPUT !
(e) - UNINSTALL NORTON 360 .... again nothing doing : be it a LClick (which for a few seconds does a search for InstStub.exe file before quickly giving up); or a RClick to get the menu, when neither the OPEN (again a brief search for the InstStub.exe file) or RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR (again a brief search for the InstStub.exe file)
=========NEXT UNINSTALL MOVES=============
Neither will Norton 360 uninstall by the (a) or (b) methods below :-
(a) using Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features" to get up the "Uninstall or Change a Program" listing of progs that can be uninstalled.
I Rclicked on Norton 360 to get up UNINSTALL/CHANGE. Rclicking on that option brings up nothing .... nothing moves !!!
(b)- In START type in 'uninstall.' Up comes "uninstall a program." But that just brings us back to the above mentioned "Uninstall or Change a prog" listing of progs that can be uninstalled .... which, as can be seen at (a) above, does not work for this Norton prog.
The only action (as above stated) coming out of NORTON 360 (when clicking on any of the Norton 360 options in startup) is the Norton error message box :- "Unspecified Error" C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton 360\Engine\5.2.1.3\uistub.exe
I am not sure but I think one of the error messages contained the following:-
C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton 360\Engine\5.1.0.29\WSCStub.exe
---------NOTES ON PROG SIZES & LOCATIONS------------
On the prog list arising from C:\Program Files (x86)\ are two NORTON folders :-
(a) Norton 360 [106mb]
(b) Norton Installer [4.88mb]. clicking on 'Open' (thinking to do a reinstall) does no good at all .... no response. (Prog is housed in {0C55C096-0F1D-4F28-AAA2-85EF591126E7} 7 Folders 11 files)
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C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton 360 = the four Norton folders Branding (1.21 mb); Engine (84mb) ; engine 64 (11.3mb); MUI (9 mb) & the small file "isolate" (1kb)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton 360\Branding = Norton folder 5.0.2.1 & Folder EN-US & 3 files.
C:\Program files (x86)\Norton 360\Engine = Norton Folders 5.1.0.29 (83 MB) & 5.2.1.3 (2MB)
C:\Program files (x86)\Norton 360\Engine64 = Norton Folders 5.1.0.29 (83 MB) & 5.2.1.3 (2MB)
C:\Program files (x86)\Norton 360\MUI = Norton Folder 5.2.2.3 & 3 files
----------GETTING DESPERATE------------
My LAST ATTEMPT :- Thought to do a DELETE (i.e. send the (a .... Norton 360)&(b .... Norton Installer) files above to the trash bin) to see, what, if any, warning messages I could provoke.
NORTON INSTALLER went as good as gold !
NORTON 360 said, no chance, I've got files open that cannot be left behind. So I then had to bring back Norton Installer out of the bin .... so back to square one
QUESTION IS ..... SHOULD i TRY TO DOWNLOAD ANOTHER NORTON 360 AND HOPE IT OVERLAYS THE ORIGINAL AND INSTALLS ITSELF WHILE AT THE SAME TIME SORTING OUT ALL THE PRESENT PROBLEMS THE ORIGINAL 360 got itself into ...??
I would be very grateful if some kind knowledgeable person could point me in the right direction .... ?
Sat here moping, more in hope than in expectation
alec