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darkman2_a219f1
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January 13th, 2005 13:00
Antivirus (again)
I am upgrading to Windows XP Professional. In my first attempt I was not careful enough (user error) and Norton AV 2003 caused me problems. I called Microsoft (who actually answers and helps) and a technician walked me through a fix that involved careful removal and reinstall of NAV. That didn't seem to fix things so another call to Microsoft produced an even more cooperative technician who walked me through a removal and reinstall. There still seem to be some problems, so I am doing a clean install and starting over. My question is simple. What do I do about an Antivirus Progam. The MICROSOFT TECHNICIAN, who works on these issues all day long, said Norton is pure trouble and is at the bottom of most of the calls he handles. He didn't have too much to say about ANY program that was good. If I look online I find reviews that praise everything, as well as people who condemn everything. Norton worked beautifully under Windows 98SE, and caused no problems, but I have heard enough from Microsoft (at least this one person) to make me stay clear of it. I am more interested in stability and compatibility than I am in bells and whistles. Does anyone have any suggestions?
darkman2_a219f1
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Posted January 13th, 2005 13:00
I was previously running just the antivirus,under 98SE. I reinstalled it and updated it (automatically) with the patch (as I understand it the program upgrades when you run the first update). When that didn't work I did not install it again. I haven't been running anything for the past two days, but the computer keeps forgetting settings and acting generally weird. The Microsoft technician went through the entire program list (we spent three hours on the phone) removing everything he thought was not compatible, but after the second installation there were still some bits and pieces of Norton in there. I guess it's possible there is something else wrong, but he was so adamant about not using Norton---and this is what he does---I am reluctant to try it again.darkman2_a219f1
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Posted January 13th, 2005 14:00
I have no specific error numbers. In the first upgrade, after reinstalling Norton, my computer could not find MY COMPUTER. When I used the Restore feature I could get it back, but it would go away again. That is when the Microsoft technician told me to uninstall the whole program, that Norton was at the bottom. This time, with Norton officially uninstalled (but some Norton files still around) the computer forgets its settings. The browser doesn't seem to know what its home page is and just hangs. Sometimes the browser asks me to re-enter its phone number. On start-up, the computer wants to stop and do a check disk before it finishes start-up. (This is with a regular shut down.) Some program buttons don't react when you attempt to start them. Just things that are not normal that the computer didn't do before. I can ususally get it to do anything after a series of boots---complete shutdowns, not Restarts, but after it is working okay, it goes back, after 30 minutes or so, to misbehaving. This is why I am going to do a clean install. Now after I have that clean install I don't want to put anything on this computer that might have some compatiblity issues.- I happen to agree with the MS tech for this reason. When Norton works, it works well, when it doesnt, its pure heck to fix or repair. I gave up on Norton products years ago, as they get progressively more bloated and harder to deal with. You might consider using AVG free, which alot of users here in the forum use and like. Its much simpler to deal with and wont kill your system in the mean time. Kip
Jason98036
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Posted January 13th, 2005 14:00
I'm using Norton Internet Security 2005 on Win XP SP2 on three differently configured machines with no problems. I've also used the 2003 and 2004 versions with XP on one of those machines without an issue. To be honest, I would suspect the problem is actually something else, not Norton. You didn't mention the problems you encountered, could you describe them? Was there an error message that you could post?
If you've decided definitively against Norton, I've also had good experiences with two others that I can recommend, either Kaspersky and/or Trend Micro. I know others on these forums who like AVG and Panda as well, but I had some minor glitches with those. Nothing major, just install errors that needed working around, they're good products overall. The only package I recommend against is McAfee's Internet Security package due to problem I encountered on my parent's machine with their 2004 package (McAfee finally acknowledged that on some systems their 2004 package had conflicts within itself, and gave the advice to deactivate a component in order to be able to send emails with attachments).
Message Edited by Jason98036 on 01-13-2005 08:21 AM
Jason98036
317 Posts
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Posted January 13th, 2005 17:00
What environment were you upgrading from when you went to XP pro? I did a Google search on the problem that you described. I didn't see mention of the problem with Win XP home to Win XP pro, but I did find examples of the upgrade to XP Pro from Win 9x and Win 2K causing them. Most of them seemed to resolve it by doing a clean install. They didn't mention using Norton or not, so not sure if that was part of it too.
If you're upgrading from Win 9x or Win 2K, then my guess is that the root of the problem is the upgrade to XP Pro. The Norton software likely caused the internal problems created by the upgrade to be magnified, resulting in the symptoms that you described.
As long as you're doing a clean install, you could try by applying Norton AV. If the problems occur, do a new clean install (unless you have Ghost to create a clean image as a starting point, then just use that to roll back to the pre-NAV image). If Norton's still the problem, go out and get Kaspersky, Trend Micro, AVG, or any other AV of your choice.
darkman2_a219f1
4 Posts
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Posted January 14th, 2005 10:00
I was upgrading from 98SE to XP Professional. Thanks to everyone for your help. I am suspecting, as several have said, that the problem is coming from something "in the mix," not necessarily Norton by itself. I think there are programs or pieces of programs in there that only the clean install will fix. So that's what I'll do.
jmwills
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Posted January 13th, 2005 13:00