Uninstalling Norton AV?

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1

This has probably been brought up before, but let me ask: is it painful to uninstall Norton AV and replace with something else? I’m going to help a friend with this soon, but I don’t even know which version she’s got and I don’t want to mess her system up. Will it work to just uninstall and then run CCleaner’s registry cleaner? Should I get some Norton removal tool from their website?

Advice please, I’d hate to ruin my friend’s system!

Thanks,
LA

2

Put your friend’s HDD in a strong acid (fluorosulfuric acid, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid or fluoroantimonic acid recommend) or in a volcano, and Norton will be completely removed.

On a serious note, try Norton Removal Tool (wouln’t recommend it, since it’s also made by Symantec :P), or else I found this on Google.
It would also be helpful to know what version your friend’s using.

Cheers,
Ragwing

3

Thanks Rag, I will look into it. I briefly checked her system, but I didn’t figure out what Norton related software it had. “Server” something, perhaps. Not really Norton Antivirus 200X. Also, no antivirus is launched on system startup, so I’m really not sure what is going on in that system.

/LA

4

Another option is to run this utility called pc decrapifier,it gets rid of a variety of unwanted stuff including Norton,AOL etc.

http://pcdecrapifier.com/home

5

NOTE if he has viruses in quarantine, norton will release and allow those viruses to reactivate.

so make sure there is nothing too horrible in quarentine first :wink:

6

I agree with Info-Sec on the quarantine file. Norton is my least favorite of “legimate” programs to uninstall. No two uninstalls seem to go the same way. Allow enough time for hand-to-hand combat with individual files and registriy items. Then, pick up the Norton AV box (if it is still around), get your friend’s attention, point at the box, and say “NO!” Then toss/recycle it.

7

Thanks for your information, I have never had any experiences with quarantined files before. Now I know. I haven’t had the chance to visit her yet, we’ll see how it goes.

/LA

8

Yea its a shame. I cant tell you how many people that have had norton from the beginning, have viruses quarentined. Then I uninstall and notice strange behavior. I had to reformat them. Its symantec’s way of sticking it to the consumer that is getting rid of their precious product. Its a shame, and if I remember right there is no way to delete the viruses in quarantine from the program itself.

9

i think this topic is appropriate for bashing symantec product ;D . so i wanna share my bad experience here.
i use symantec AV before using CAVS.

  1. it can detect & quarantine, but never succeded to remove >:(
  2. when i use system restore (got a problem on my system), guess what, bad move! the AV losed all
    the malware signature!
    do not use symantec product!

oh, btw the symantec Av i used was illegal cracked version ;D

10
  1. Do you know why? Because Symantec needs a hold on you. They want you to stay with their AV. :wink:
  2. Loosed ALL signatures? And you didn’t get them back by updating?

:P0l

/LA

11

oh, btw the symantec Av i used was illegal cracked version

I know how that is :wink:

12
  1. yeah, they love illegal freebie
  2. no, got error when updating too. i think doing the system restore mess the program. i end up undoing the restoration.

O0 ;D

13

lol are you even allowed to bring that up here ???

14

I must admit that I should read the forum policy again (not the least, being a mod), but I see those posts mainly as confessions. They are no tips of how to get/use illegal software.

But I’d like to just use one of those new smilies now:

Enough about that, it’s off topic.

/LA

15

how to get it? it’s easier to get the illegal than the legal one here ;D

(:TNG) OK, sorry.