How to remove Symantec Internet Security 2005

You may have to start Windows XP in Safe Mode, to be able to uninstall.  In safe mode, the Live update shouldn't be running.  You can then uninstall it in the Control Panel add/remove programs.

Norton has a utility that is supposed to remove any traces of it but that cause XP problems and I woiund up having to do a Windows XP "Repair" to recover.  When I dumped NIS 2005 I ultimately had to manually edit the registry and remove the Symantic/Norton entries as my new AV/Firewall software kept detecting Norton on my system and would not install (it kept telling me to uninstall Norton first).  If it gets to the point you have to edit the registry, back up the registry first, then you can use the search feature in the Registry editor to find all the Symantic and Norton entries.

I have PC-Cillin, replacing Nortons because of all the headaches it gave me...PC-Cillin was even rated higher than nortons in one of the computer mag's and I am very pleased.  Cost for the software for internet security was $49.00.  I too had problems uninstalling the darn nortons and finally had to do a system reformat. 

Dim 4400 ( June 2002 )
2.6 Ghz
Bios A06
1 Gb DDR 2100
Windows XP Home
SP-2
1703 FP LCD monitor
PC-Cillin Internet Security

Thanks - I did finally manage to get the thing off my machine by doing a system restore and using the Norton unistall to get the 2003 version uninstalled, too. Now, of course, I find there is nowehere on the Symantec website to download the blessed software from.
I sometimes think that I'd waste less time removing viruses that I let get onto my machine than I spend in trying to get anti-virus software to work.

If you happen to be on RoadRunner, they offer a free 1 year subscription to C.A. EZ Armor, which includes Antivirus, Firewall and SPAM blocker.  The Firewall/SPAM Blocker is the ZoneAlarm Pro version.  I've been using it for 9 months and no firewall/virus problems so far.   It's a lot smaller install and none of the Norton "bloatware".

johnmnz

You are correct in that Norton is more of a hassle than it's worth. I stuck with them for over 5 years with all their RNAV.exe  and whatever NAV.exe  uninstall proceedures just to get the latest version to run. It just isn't worth the hassle. I believe if you, the end consumer, has to go through Norton h_ll to get their program to run properly, it just isn't worth the aggravation. I now use AVG AV which is free and does just as good or better at removing virii as Norton. The latest release has a beta firewall for testing:

http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1

Look for:

Beta version of AVG Anti-Virus with integrated Firewall

OK, I've got it installed and Symantec told me where I could download the 2005 version from (odd that they don't tell you that when you buy it). It has now taken nearly an hour to update the virus defintions. I suspect I need to uninstall again. I'm starting to be really unimpressed with this.