Ready to shoot PC, or myself. :( Please help...

That's a good point, but I have not recently had any problems when removing the Symantec stuff with the "standard" windows uninstall. I can't remember the last HP models we did, but we had no problems.

At one time this software caused massive registry bloat, and usually registry corruption, when removed. Often rendering a machine unusable, or preventing other software from running.

I have had no problems removing it on Windows 7. I don't like to get newbies involved with special tools if it can be avoided. Often causes more problems than it solves.

The OP does not seem to have had any problems.

One may run the tool after the software has been uninstalled by Windows; Here is the "original" from Symantec;

http://us.norton.com/support/kb/web_...834EN&ln=en_US

Regards....Mike Connor

Mike Connor said:

That's a good point, but I have not recently had any problems when removing the Symantec stuff with the "standard" windows uninstall. I can't remember the last HP models we did, but we had no problems.

At one time this software caused massive registry bloat, and usually registry corruption, when removed. Often rendering a machine unusable, or preventing other software from running.

I have had no problems removing it on Windows 7. I don't like to get newbies involved with special tools if it can be avoided. Often causes more problems than it solves.

The OP does not seem to have had any problems.

One may run the tool after the software has been uninstalled by Windows; Here is the "original" from Symantec;

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product | Norton Support

Regards....Mike Connor

Thanks for your comments Mike, and yes I know she hasn't had any problems with the Norton uninstall. . . yet. The problems (the conflict) wouldn't occur until after she installed her new antivirus software. Just trying to be very cautious and to avoid any further harm to her system. I mentioned the problems because IF they happen they can be overwhelming, and I didn't want her to have to deal with any more than she is already dealing with. Better to be safe than sorry, and I wish someone had warned me about this issue when I blithely uninstalled my Norton Antivirus software from my new HP system, and it turned into a huge nightmare!

As you write, better to be safe than sorry, but in this case the OP is installing MSE, and I have never had any problems with that. The only other Anti-Virus I personally recommend to people is Avira;

Avira anti-virus for home and for business

and I know of no problems with that either, after removing the Norton stuff. ( Although it does require that Bit-Defender be disabled).

On a number of occasions I was obliged to do intensive registry searches in order to fix machines that had the Norton stuff on them, very carefully deleting every single entry I could find. But I have not had to do this on windows 7. Simply uninstalled it. I have also not had to run their "Removal tool" on windows 7 either. To be honest, I don't actually trust them much! :) If their software was sensible these problems would not arise, and I see no good reason to trust their "Removal Tool", any more than their other software..........

Regards....Mike Connor

If Symantec wasn't uninstalled using Revo in Advanced mode as originally suggested, then it needs to have the Removal Tool run to get out the leftover Registry keys and files which can number in the hundreds.

Although this is probably a good idea, a few hundred obsolete registry entries wont normally cause any problems. This of course assumes that they ARE obsolete, and don't interfere with anything else.

As I wrote, I have not noticed any problems on Win 7 ( 32 and 64 BIT), using the "standard" uninstall, and although I like REVO and use it quite a lot on various machines, and have recommended it in the past, I no longer do so, because people are reluctant to pay the price for the full version. ( The free version does not support 64 BIT systems).

Also, complete newbies to REVO and similar programs can do a lot of damage by indiscriminately deleting the registry entries displayed. You still have to know what you can safely delete, and no newbies do. This is also extremely difficult to explain in detail. Knowledge of the system is required to do this safely.

Regards....Mike Connor

Thanks again for everyone's help!

So, just to be clear, the recommendation is to only have Security Essentials? No Super-anti Spyware removal, or anti-malware or anything like that?

Also, I downloaded Revo and based on the icons it shows there are no remnants of Symantec. So, Revo is in on my PC and available for use, but I am not going to mess with it unless I get very specific instructions on what I should do with it, and unless it is highly recommended to do so. At least I now know I can use it to remove other programs I don't want.

It is amazing to me that Norton rendered my PC almost useless and caused all these problems.

Thanks again!

alienalias said:

Thanks again for everyone's help!

So, just to be clear, the recommendation is to only have Security Essentials? No Super-anti Spyware removal, or anti-malware or anything like that?

Also, I downloaded Revo and based on the icons it shows there are no remnants of Symantec. So, Revo is in on my PC and available for use, but I am not going to mess with it unless I get very specific instructions on what I should do with it, and unless it is highly recommended to do so. At least I now know I can use it to remove other programs I don't want.

It is amazing to me that Norton rendered my PC almost useless and caused all these problems.

Thanks again!

Basically yes. You can use an "on demand" scanner like Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes ( The free version)

<http://www.malwarebytes.org/>

now and again if you wish, or if you think you have a problem, but it is contra-productive, and often extremely deleterious, to use more than one resident running anti-virus program.

The free REVO wont remove 64 BIT programs. Normally, and unless you have some sort of problem the built in windows uninstall is adequate.

If you want something more thorough, ( only really necessary if you install and uninstall a lot of stuff all the time), then you can use this;

Windows Software Uninstaller, Windows Registry Clean up, Restore Windows Applications - Comodo Programs Manager

<http://programs-manager.comodo.com/>

Glad to hear it is all sorted out for you now. One positive aspect of trying to solve such problems is that one learns a lot! :)

Regards....Mike Connor

I run this on any new computer my family or friends buy.
Welcome | The PC Decrapifier

rvbfan said:

I run this on any new computer my family or friends buy.
Welcome | The PC Decrapifier

That is excellent for some things, but you need to know what it removes in order to see whether it will be of any use in a particular case;

Application List | The PC Decrapifier

<http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/removes>

In this case it would not have helped much.

Regards....Mike Connor