Certain programs fail to launch

[why7]

On Monday morning, 9/21/2015 I was able to use FF 37.0.2 & IE 9. After leaving the PC idle most of the day I discovered that FF would not launch. Tried IE and it too would not launch.

Today after not using the PC for several days, I find that MS Word, MS Outlook, and Adobe Reader also no longer launch.

PC shows no signs of any hardware faults. OS is Win 7 Pro SP 1 and is patched through 9/16/15.

A review of system event logs shows each of these various launch failures and the logs all indicate Norton Internet Security\NortonData\21.1.1.7\Definitions .... .(Current Norton NIS version is 21.7.0.11)

A review of the affected programs does not indicate any files being changed in the involved timeframe.

A review of various Norton files shows numerous files being updated throughout the day on the 21st.

Any attempt to launch any of the programs referenced above result in a Windows popup report such as "Firefox has stopped working". Selecting the option to check on-line for a solution results in nothing being found and a reference #0x80000003 which provides nothing useful (NOTE: all affected program produce the same reference #).

There have been no (intentional) changes made to the system, which is about 3 years old. I DO NOT routinely install new software unless I need some (new) functionality that may become available. So far I have resisted trying rollbacks, uninstalling programs, (re-)installing new/additional programs, updates, etc.

Are there any suggestions to resolve this problem?

 

[Layback Bear]

I have no proof but I do have a suspicion that Norton is causing your problem.

Can you use Restore Point to go back before this problem arose it's ugly head.
It could of been the last update you got from Norton.

 

[why7]

I've resisted doing a rollback since the rollback would take me back to 9/16 and prior to installing most of the Sept Win 7 updates. I'm a little concerned about creating additional problems.

 

[NortonSupport]

Sorry for the delay. Can you please upgrade your Norton to the latest version and see if that helps?

Praveen
Norton Support.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Did you find this ?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/230176

 

[why7]

To: Praveen @Norton Support

Thanks for your interest and reply, but I fail to see how installing the latest version of FF can address this problem. While it may indeed get FF to work it will not address the similar problem with IE, nor will it address the bigger issue of MS Word and Adobe Reader not working.

Nothing was changed during the day when these problems started except for Norton Interned Security doing it automatic updates throughout the day. How can I restore Norton to the state it was in the morning of 9/21 before the problems started?


To: ThrashZone

Thanks for your interest and reply, but MS bulletin you referenced is over 3 years old (June 2012) and provides information to obtain the latest SP for NT4.0. As noted in my original question my OS is Win 7 Pro SP 1 and is patched through 9/16/15. If there is a way to use the information the bulletin you referenced please provide specific details.

 

[why7]

To: Layback Bear

I am inclined to believe that the problem is related to one (or more) Norton updates during the day on 9/21.

I am trying to decide which would be the best approach:

1. Simply remove Norton IS, including using the Norton removal tool
2. Do a system restore point rollback to 9/16/15 before any of the MS Sept 2015 patches were applied.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi
Sorry I still do not notice any reference you made to the link I posted in your original question besides this little bit ?

Selecting the option to check on-line for a solution results in nothing being found and a reference #0x80000003 which provides nothing useful

The link suggests running clean boot and running sfc file checker so have you done those two items ?
Use Clean boot,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

 

[why7]

To: ThrashZone

Sorry for the confusion. My reference was to my OS being Win 7 Pro SP1 and patched through 9/16/15 ---the kb information you provided earlier refers to NT 4.0 ????

As for the 2 links you provided in your most recent post, No, I have not tried either of those paths yet.

I will not be able to work on this for the next few days, but I will look into the information in those links later in the week.

 

[torchwood]

earlier posts

So your running out of date FF and IE9.

Did you ever solve your Bits problem???,
This may imply that the rest of your system is out of date,(including Netframework & word)

Firefox now automatically blocks Flash, and ie9 is probably unable to use the latest version of flash.

You should have at least 250 windows updates on your system.
Can you post a screenshot of what Norton is showing you as being installed, on the 21st.

Roy

 

[why7]

To: ThrashZone
Today I finally got a chance to try the suggestions you posted 2 days ago:
RE:
system file checker = nothing found
clean startup boot = the aforementioned (5) programs still did not work --have not found any others
(Firefox, Internet Explorer, Word, Outlook, Adobe Reader)

After trying the least invasive measures first, I am about to try uninstalling Norton --tommorrow

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[why7]

FWIW
Today (10/1/2015) I uninstalled NIS 2014. Launching and using all 5 programs (Adobe Reader, Word, Outlook, IE, Firefox) once again performed properly. After running some brief tests on each, I activated Windows Firewall & installed MS Security Essentials without incident.


For now, at least, I will use the MS security programs while I decide if I want to try re-installing NIS 2014.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Thanks for posting your findings. I subscribed to your thread after post #2. I was interested to see if uninstalling Norton would solve the issue.


In post #4, you were asked to "upgrade your Norton to the latest version". In post #6, you responded to that request with, "I fail to see how installing the latest version of FF can address this problem". I'm not suggesting that you go back to using Norton. I'm just pointing out my confusion. Perhaps there was a PM that we were not privy to.

 

[NortonSupport]

Sorry for the delay. That's odd, please install the latest version of Norton and see if you have the same problem, we'll investigate and make sure it's all fixed.
Thanks for your patience.

Praveen
Norton Support.

 

[why7]

To Praveen

Please explain "latest version"

I do not want the use NS 2015 version or the 2014 version with the 'cloud based' function taken from NS 2015.

I am only interested in the original NIS 2014 functionality (21.7.0.11)