Norton AV slows my system to a crawl

[sky9]

Help.
After my daily virus scan with NAV my system slows to a crawl taking 15 secs to open IE and OE. Shutting down the system and restarting clears the problem until next time I do a virus check.
The fault became apparent a couple of weeks ago around the time that I added 2mb or DDR2 to my system. I also downloaded Adobe Photoshop Album starter at the same time as I downloaded the latest A Reader.

I have been on the Symantec chatline for about 90 minutes and they cleared my temp files and increased the size of something else all to no avail.

Any suggestions?

[twiggs]

I suppose you mean apart from ditching NAV?

[Keef]

The received wisdom, which you will see in many places on here, is to remove Norton (not easy, because it sprays its stuff all over your computer), and to use one of the FREE alternatives (I use AVG, which has been flawless for several years, but other folks speak highly of other packages).

The sequence is:
1. Find and print off the instructions for removing Norton (search in here will find 'em)
2. Download AVG (or whatever) installer.
3. Disconnect from the internet
4. Remove Norton
5. Install AVG
6. Reconnect to the Internet and tell AVG to update itself.
7. Continue your Internet life with a far faster PC.

[BRL]

Had a similar problem here so I binned Norton and installed Zone Alarm and Avast and have had no problems at all since.

[sky9]

Thanks guys I might well end up doing just that however Norton did not exhibit this fault for the last 10 years so if there is a short term problem I would prefer to sort it out. If not I will do exactly as you suggest.

[Slasher]

Ive used Peter Norton for yonks and never had a prob.

The farkup could be in the startup options and scheduled
checking. Go to "Options" and uncheck anything that does
any "auto-ing" (except Auto Protect, but uncheck the bootup
option). This could include program scans at startup (like that
Adobe of yours) and auto-updating when online.

Try that and see.

[dazdaz]

SKY9

If you decide to remove Norton, try their link............
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

Daz

[sky9]

Slasher
Many thanks, my system was set up as you suggest. I think that I will have to try uninstalling it and do a clean reinstall. (now all I have to do is find my product registration number!!)

[hellsbrink]

Sky

If you use Norton Internet Security, do a search on your PC for "Norton Internet Security.txt". If it exists, that file will have your serial.

Also, once again, do not believe the instructions that Norton say for removing their stuff. The Norton Removal Tool does NOT remove Norton fully, there are bits of it left all over the place which you have to remove manualy, especially in the registry. Do not believe the so-called instructions on the link provided by Dazdaz

[antic81]

Hellsbrink,

a few months ago I moved away from Norton thanks to the advice I got here, moved on to AVG and Zone Alarm, what I am interested in finding out is, how would I go about getting rid of all the left over bits manually?

Cheers,

Ant

[hellsbrink]

First, do a search on your PC for any folder called "symantec". You'll find it's left in "Program Files" and "Documents and Settings". Delete them and any others that show up in your search. You'll probably see that Live Update is left behind, so delete it too.Then you have to go into the registry and delete the :mad:load of reg entries that are left, search for "Symantec", "Norton", "NIS" and "NAV". Delete them.

That's it, but it can take a while to trawl through the reg. Also, some of the registry keys left are "legacy" entries which cannot be deleted normally until you right click on the entry and change the permissions to allow them to be deleted.

[antic81]

Sounds like hell!

Thanks mate!:)

[Saab Dastard]

Sounds like hell!

Ah, so that explains his pprune name - Hellsbrink! He must remove Norton a lot! :):p

SD

[hellsbrink]

only done so twice, but you never forget after the first time!!

[Oracle]

Just a thought - if you upgraded your memory, remove the upgraded modules or try it with the old unit/s and see if you still have the problem. Incompatible memory modules often bring about the same system slow-down. But first check the SYSTEM box on SETTINGS and make sure that the total Memory Capacity shown under the Windows System info agrees with what you have installed (quick common-sense check that it is working and up to speed).

If it is a Norton problem - some computer makes and mixes of software just don't like Norton. McAfee is a good alternative [and you can put as many copies on as many computers as you like if you have an account with them].

Also check for spyware - as nasties of this nature drag your computer to snail-pace. If you go onto mcafee.com and search 'stinger' it will give you a weblink for a downloadable stand-alone nasty-hunter (Stinger AV) that will quickly and painlessly scan your computer for nasties.

If you still have problems, your Operating System (XP?) might have been corrupted by a virus/trojan and require reloading. Hope not!

Remember that some viruses which can also cause such performance problems often hide behind the SYSTEM RESTORE firewall, so unless you turn off your system restore (MENU/SETTINGS/CONTROL PANEL/SYSTEM/SYSTEM RESTORE) every now and then, scan the whole C drive [and afterwards reselect System restore again (through Help & Support Menu)] you will never get to the little bugger as it will constantly re-infect on booting up!

Good luck!

[sky9]

Hellsbrink
Many thanks, I have found my code on the CD.
Oracle
I am pretty sure that the memory is OK, I have run Memtest without a problem and can see that the current usage is compatible with having the 3MB rather than my previous 1 and yes I have put the 2*1mb in the first slots and moved the 2*512 to the second slots.

After using the Symantic chatline I answered a questionnaire with poor feedback and have been promised that someone will phone me so I might get away from the "analyst" who clear out the temp files and get someone who knows!!

In the meantime I will run Stinger and see if that throws something up.
Many thanks

[sky9]

Thanks guys I downloaded ccleaner and removed systemworks from the system, defragged then reinstalled; Everything now going smoothly.
That's after spending 60 minutes on the phone (at their expense) with a Symantec expert.