removing norton

For JMH:
I downloaded the norton removal tool (n-r-t) located at your first link last night.
I am hoping all goes well, and I won't have to use any of the additional tools at your second link.

I will keep everyone up-dated.

For TOF:
I appreciate the links, and will keep them in consideration after I use the n-r-t, and Revo.

I will paraphrase a statement I made to gregrocker below.
I have always been under the impression that it is always better to use an uninstaller built for a particular program first, then use Revo or Ccleaner.

For gregrocker:
I already have Revo installed.
Could you explain further on your choice to use Revo first, then the n-r-t?
I have always been under the impression that it is always better to use an uninstaller built for a particular program first, then use Revo or Ccleaner.

I had planned on doing a sfc/scannow, and I can only hope there is no damage. The only recovery disks I have are the ones that I made when I brought the PC home.
It seems that, that is the “Industry Standard” nowadays. The Mfg's are even indifferent to passing on the cost to the user.
To heck with the user, lets save some money, time, and effort on disks, and manuals.

If I have to resort to them, I'm afraid I'll be right back into the same boat, owning to the fact that the recov disks will “Restore my computer to the original factory settings”

For malexous:
We am going with Comodo firewall and anti-virus.

The norton trial is going okay. The only annoyance for me is that norton is too complicated to shutdown when I am installing new programs.
When I install new programs I want “all” the other processes stopped, I don't want “Bystanders” gumming up the works.

You have to go here to shut-down real-time, but then you have to go elsewhere to kill other processes i.e. anti-fishing, spam and, firewall.
Even norton's “fix now” button doesn't fix entirely; you still have to go in, and check that fishing, spam, and firewall are back on.

For the DW, and me it boils down to a matter of economics. We are on a fixed income, and the added expense is unacceptable.

For Victek:
According to a google search, norton internet security, version 16.8.0.41 is from 2009.
You say “generally problem free” can you elaborate?

I checked the Symantec folder in "Control Panel/Programs and Features" to see if there was an uninstaller (unwise) there, and found no files at all listed, it was an empty folder That alone doesn't bolster my confidence in Symantec.

I did find a folder in the gateway partition that did have a reference to an "eraser"

For gregrocker:
From your reaction it seems you have had first hand experience in removing norton, would that be true?


For All:
I have no doubt that norton is a fine program, but as stated earlier it is a matter of economics for us.

IMHO:
For most users it does become a matter of economics when looking a PC.

The percentage among all users is low that really have the time, effort, and expertise to track down the parts/programs that they only want or need to build their own PC's.

Because of the volume that Mfg's deal with a user can usually find a deal like we did, but the cost of that deal invariably includes for lack of a better term 'Bloatware', and this includes the OS.
At the end of the trial periods the user has to make a decision on whether or not to upgrade.

Comodo's antivirus is not particularly good. I suggest trying Avast! 5 Free along with the Comodo Firewall and scanning with the free versions of Hitman Pro and Malwarebytes once a week/month.

malexous said:

Comodo's antivirus is not particularly good. I suggest trying Avast! 5 Free along with the Comodo Firewall and scanning with the free versions of Hitman Pro and Malwarebytes once a week/month.

Comodo's installer does give the option to install one or the other or both.

Avast, Hitman Pro, and Malwarebytes (All free Versions) are old friends on our XP Pro SP3 box.

Victek said:

So there is no entry for Norton Internet Security in "Control Panel/Programs and Features"? - that's unusual. When I said "generally problem free" I was acknowledging that even the best software can fail sometimes. It may have been better to say that I've uninstalled NIS 2009 and NIS 2010 on my own machines and numerous customers' machines and never had a failure. I've only needed to resort to the Norton Removal Tool with versions older then 2009.

Regarding economic considerations I completely understand. You can put together a good combination of free security products with a little extra effort. One important consideration is whether or not the users can deal with security alerts. Some programs are noisier then others. Good luck!

My apologies,

I meant to say:
I checked the Symantec folder in....Windows Explorer....to see if there was an uninstaller (unwise) there, and found no files at all listed, it was an empty folder.

Instead of:
I checked the Symantec folder in..."Control Panel/Programs and Features"...to see if there was an uninstaller (unwise) there, and found no files at all listed, it was an empty folder.

It was getting late, and this old brain of mine doesn't work as well as when I was a youngster.

There is a listing in my CP/P&F, and Thank You for the clarification on my question.

I had a bad experience with Symantec's software some years ago where I botched my system trying to uninstall it because of system problems on Windows XP. I once thought very highly of Norton Security up until then and have never looked back. I wish I had AppRemover then as well as Revo Uninstaller.

I have never used AppRemover yet, but the review at the following link from CNet is pretty darn good. If you decide to use it, I would be interested in knowing what you think of it. Thanks!

AppRemover - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Anak,
I have removed Norton successfully many times over the years, using the recommended Uninstall tool only. [ Don't forget to reboot the computer on completion.]
IMO that is all you need to do.

JMH said:

Anak,
I have removed Norton successfully many times over the years, using the recommended Uninstall tool only. [ Don't forget to reboot the computer on completion.]
IMO that is all you need to do.

The question I have about this method is whether or not Norton completely removes the software, or do they remove certain registry entries and system files "ONLY" that are giving everyone their removal problems? I would rather trust a third party application that has no connection with Norton to get the job done right.