Norton virus scan

[Guest]

My Norton (Symantec) virus scan is set to run automatically one day each
week. If I'm away from the computer and the screen saver comes on during the
scan, the virus scan program slows to a crawl.

The result? It can take a couple of hours (or more) to complete the scan.

Is there a logical way around this w/o disabling the screen saver one day a
week?

 

[smlunatick]

Depend on which screen saver you are using, it is using Windows
resources. You could try not using a "busy" screen save and just use
the "blank" one.

 

[Curt Christianson]

Hi Jorie,

I think you'll have to contact Symantec support for that issue.

--
Curt

http://dundats.mvps.org/
http://www.aumha.org/


| My Norton (Symantec) virus scan is set to run automatically one day each
| week. If I'm away from the computer and the screen saver comes on during
the
| scan, the virus scan program slows to a crawl.
|
| The result? It can take a couple of hours (or more) to complete the scan.
|
| Is there a logical way around this w/o disabling the screen saver one day
a
| week?

 

[marta]

My Norton (Symantec) virus scan is set to run automatically one day each
week. If I'm away from the computer and the screen saver comes on during
the
scan, the virus scan program slows to a crawl.

The result? It can take a couple of hours (or more) to complete the scan.

Is there a logical way around this w/o disabling the screen saver one day
a
week?

Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs

- Remove everything by Symantec

After all the rebooting:

Start --> My Computer

- Delete all left over Symantec directories

After they are all deleted:

Start --> Run --> regedit

- Delet all left over Symantec registries

After they are all deleted:

Download and install Avast (free)

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

 

[Rock]

Depend on which screen saver you are using, it is using Windows
resources. You could try not using a "busy" screen save and just use
the "blank" one.

Another work around is don't use a screen saver. Unless it is a very old
CRT monitor, screen burn in is not a problem.

 

[Poprivet]

My Norton (Symantec) virus scan is set to run automatically one day
each week. If I'm away from the computer and the screen saver comes
on during the scan, the virus scan program slows to a crawl.

The result? It can take a couple of hours (or more) to complete the
scan.

Is there a logical way around this w/o disabling the screen saver one
day a week?

Run it at a time you'll be away from the computer, like overnight.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Another work around is don't use a screen saver. Unless it is a very
old CRT monitor, screen burn in is not a problem.

And still another workaround: don't use Norton Anti-Virus, which is almost
certainly the worst possible choice. The behavior Jorie is reporting is only
one of its many issues.

There are several free antivirus programs that are better. My personal
choice is Avast, and one of the things I particularly like about it is that
you can set it to do its antivirus scans automatically whenever the screen
saver comes on.

 

[Guest]

Another work around is don't use a screen saver. Unless it is a very old
CRT monitor, screen burn in is not a problem.

 

[Guest]

And still another workaround: don't use Norton Anti-Virus, which is almost
certainly the worst possible choice. The behavior Jorie is reporting is only
one of its many issues.

There are several free antivirus programs that are better. My personal
choice is Avast, and one of the things I particularly like about it is that
you can set it to do its antivirus scans automatically whenever the screen
saver comes on.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm kinda scared to try to remove Symantec (Norton antivirus) for fear that the remnants will continue to cause problems. I've "heard" that it's really hard to get rid of the bits and pieces and I suspect they will continue to create issues in the future

 

[Guest]

Marta, will it be obvious which are the symantec leftovers when I run
regedit? will they all be identified as Symantec?

 

[Rock]

No. Very old means means like me - from the 80's or earlier...lol. See
this link:
http://www.helpus.com/text/misccon/Burnin.htm

 

[witan]

Another work around is don't use a screen saver. Unless it is a very old
CRT monitor, screen burn in is not a problem.

My experience has been that some (or all?) screensavers use up a LOT
of CPU. As Rock said, screensavers are not needed. If you are still
concerned about the unlikely "screen burn", you can set the power
management to turn off the monitor after a few minutes of keyboard
inactivity -- I use 10 min. It has worked very well for me while using
Norton (Symantec) anti-virus.

 

[Jonny]

No, not all will be obvious in the registry. There are also a
folder/subfolders, and files under the common files folder regarding
Symantec products. There are also a few files in the windows folder.
Go to the Symantec website and locate the cleaning tool for your particular
version of NAV. Use this AFTER you've uninstalled NAV in windows via the
program designed for uninstalled NAV or add/remove programs area in windows
if it doesn't exist. Run the tool after a reboot.

Most any other AV product scheduled scan may produce similar results of
heavy cpu use during screen save mode. So, you may be spinning your wheels.
Not that this an issue if scheduled overnight when away from the PC for most
people.

 

[Howard]

Go to the Symantec website and locate the cleaning tool for your particular
version of NAV.

I just used the 2007 cleaning tool to get uninstall my damaged copy of
GoBack 24.02. The tool removed GoBack. It also removed all of the
partition information for my second hard disk. It took me about 4
hours using some partition software to get the partitions back. --
Howard

 

[Phisherman]

My Norton (Symantec) virus scan is set to run automatically one day each
week. If I'm away from the computer and the screen saver comes on during the
scan, the virus scan program slows to a crawl.

The result? It can take a couple of hours (or more) to complete the scan.

Is there a logical way around this w/o disabling the screen saver one day a
week?

Try using just a blank screen for your screen saver. Some screen
savers use a lot of CPU.

 

[Guest]

How very true, and the act of removing it can cause problems with other
packages.
Still I would do the research and remove it, Norton is a PITB and less than
reliable for finding and Catching Virus.

 

[Guest]

Thank you everyone for your comments. Since I'm afraid to remove Norton for
the very reasons some of the respondents have mentioned, I'll probably leave
it alone for now (I have the Professional version and have thought it did a
reasonable job). NEXT computer I will try Avast. Thanks for the suggestion.

My immediate action will be to take off the screen saver and just let the
computer go idle when not using it for 10 minutes.

I'm grateful for everyone's helpful suggestions.