Problem Vista/Symantec

[André Landreau]

I am faced with a weir problem; I would appreciate if somebody can help.
The hardware : an HP workstation equipped with an Intel Centrino Duo, 2.2
GHz, 4 GByte memory, running Microsoft Vista Ultimate.

Configuration: One user as Administrator and one user as guest without
administration rights
Antivirus: Symantec AV version 10.2.0.276

The problem:
A) Using the Administrator side.
When I double-click the Symantec AV application it takes MINUTES to load and
display its window on the screen! Nothing else is running except processes
that are automatically opened by Vista itself.
When it finally shows up if I click on an element in the left plane it takes
MINUTES again to display the result in the right plane with a message saying
"Loading, Wait .."?
During the waiting time, the application does not accept any other commands
(i.e. move window, close, etc.)

B) Using the Guest side (no admin rights)
Doing the same set of actions works fine quick and safely!

What could be the difference?

 

[PNutts]

Not really a solution, but as part of your troubleshooting you might want to
upgrade Symantec to 10.2.0.322 (10.2 MP1). On my 32 bit rig Symantec is
"slow" to load (not as slow as yours), but the navigating within the
application is not slow.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

You should uninstall Norton 'Anything_at_all", and then forget about it.
Send the installation media to somebody you do not like.

Stage 2.. Install either AVG or Avast free versions or pay for and install
NOD32..

 

[BChat]

Andre,

I have to agree with Mike, get rid of any/all Norton/Symantec software.
There are a few who report satisfactory results, most don't. There are
several free programs that seem to do the job. I use AVG free AV - no issues
on XP or Vista.


I am faced with a weir problem; I would appreciate if somebody can help.
The hardware : an HP workstation equipped with an Intel Centrino Duo, 2.2
GHz, 4 GByte memory, running Microsoft Vista Ultimate.

Configuration: One user as Administrator and one user as guest without
administration rights
Antivirus: Symantec AV version 10.2.0.276

The problem:
A) Using the Administrator side.
When I double-click the Symantec AV application it takes MINUTES to load and
display its window on the screen! Nothing else is running except processes
that are automatically opened by Vista itself.
When it finally shows up if I click on an element in the left plane it takes
MINUTES again to display the result in the right plane with a message saying
"Loading, Wait .."?
During the waiting time, the application does not accept any other commands
(i.e. move window, close, etc.)

B) Using the Guest side (no admin rights)
Doing the same set of actions works fine quick and safely!

What could be the difference?

 

[Ron\(Tx\)]

Andre,

I have to agree with Mike, get rid of any/all Norton/Symantec software.
There are a few who report satisfactory results, most don't. There are
several free programs that seem to do the job. I use AVG free AV - no
issues
on XP or Vista.

I run NIS on my XP laptop and Vista Home Premium desktop with no problems.
And, after adding a 4G Ready Boost thumb drive (2G memory), I can use my
desktop while NIS does a system scan. Before the Ready Boost thumb drive,
using the computer during a system scan was slow.

Also, the only problem I have had with Vista was intermittent lockups. The
cause was my Microsoft Elite wireless keyboard and mouse.

Ron

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

The scan would be slow because Norton slows everything up, as does McAfee
too. Dump them

 

[Drew]

I was a diehard Symantec user for 10 yrs at least....Others were running Avg
and Avast and I used to tell them they were foolish....Norton 2004 internet
security was probably the last decent thing that came from Symantec..I
upgraded to 2007 and it did nothing but cause problems..The cd's lasted
about 2 weeks before they became Frisbee's off the top of a parking garage
downtown...Get all of their products off your pc and watch it go.....I
installed Avg back when I was running xp and when I built this rig I
installed it on this as well...Never any problems..............Just my 3
cents

 

[Ron\(Tx\)]

As I said in my post, NIS isn't slowing it down since I added the 4GB
thumbdrive. The drive is a PNY Optima ProT Attaché®
http://www2.pny.com/category_buymulti.aspx?Category_ID=292 if anyone is
interested.
Ron

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Personally, I think that it is a high price for a product which works no
better than other solutions which do not present the same overhead..

 

[CB]

As I said in my post, NIS isn't slowing it down since I added the 4GB
thumbdrive. The drive is a PNY Optima ProT Attaché®
http://www2.pny.com/category_buymulti.aspx?Category_ID=292 if anyone is
interested.
Ron

I am glad you are such a staunch supporter of Norton/Symantec products. You
say NIS is not slowing down your computer. I think if you uninstalled
Norton/Symantec and installed AVG, Avast or NOD 32 you would find your
computer running faster with fewer problems.

Norton/Symantec is bloated software that causes more problems than it fixes.
I wouldn't give it to my worst enemy. I would consider that too harsh of a
thing to do. Also, Norton/Symantec customer support and technical support is
the worst I have encountered. Their standard answer to the many problems
caused by Norton/Symantec software: "You must uninstall and reinstall your
operating system". What a crock of shit. This is the answer you get from
people who do not really know the answer.

My suggestion to you is to NOT listen to the abundance of users who have had
a myriad of problems caused by Norton/Symantec. Then, when your system
crashes, your email will not work, your firewall is having problems and you
seem to have inconsistencies and problems with your other applications you
can remove Norton/ Symantec from your system as you have been intelligently
been advised to do.

You will, in all probability, have serious problems with your system in the
future. I can't tell you when, but it will more than likely happen.
Norton/Symantec has a way of biting users in the ass at the most unfortunate
of times.

If you wish to defend Norton/Symantec, simply because you purchased it
without researching the matter beforehand, that is your prerogative. Paying
more than the software is worth, and refusing to listen to knowledgeable
people concerning the matter, is also your prerogative.

When your system crashes, or you have many problems caused by your NIS
software, you will get your just rewards. At that time you should not consult
these forums or request help. You have already been offered help but you
refuse to listen. By the way, good luck in trying to uninstall or delete all
of the Norton/Symantec entries in your program files, registry and system 32
files. It is almost impossible to do without a reformat and clean
reinstallion of your operating system.

If my comments offend you I apologize. That is the consequence of hearing
the truth. I have a habit, which I will not apologize for, of being blunt,
especially when the party I am speaking to refuses to take the advice of
knowledgeable people.

My suggestion to you and all the other Norton/Symantec defenders and
apologists, is this: BChat and Mr. Hall have given you the proper advice.
Listen to them.

These comments and advice are based upon personal experience with
Norton/Symantec products, which include NIS 2006 and 2007, Norton AV and
Norton 360.

Have a nice day.

C.B.

 

[TFM]

I totally agree with CB's reply.

I had used Norton products back in the DOS / Win3.1 days and they worked
well. Since Symantec came along, the advice I give persons looking for AV,
defraggers, anti-spyware, etc. is, "Look elsewhere." Peter Norton should
sue Symantec to remove his name from this software as it has no relationship
to the way Norton used to be.

As CB also stated, about the *only* way to remove a Symantec product from
your computer is to reformat the HD and start over. Symantec cannot even
remove their own software! The so-called Symantec Software Removal Tool
doesn't work (at least, it didn't for me; I followed my own advice and
reformatted).

Alwil's Avast! AV is good although it does take over the machine as soon as
you boot up and an internet connection is detected. It calls home to update
its definitions file. I guess they all have to do that. Kaspersky has been
highly rated in the media but I have no direct experience with it. I expect
to soon, however, because I think it is in one of the boxes containing the
parts for my next computer based upon an ASUS Crosshair motherboard and an
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ CPU. There is no way on this green earth Symantec is
getting anywhere near that machine!!

Raxco's Perfect Disk is what Speed Disk should be right now. It allows a
boot-time defrag, i.e., it will defrag the system files, hiberfile, pagefile
(if there is one) before Windows XP or Vista starts and locks the files.
O&O's defragger has a screen saver mode where it starts defragging and
displaying a 3D floating grid as it works. Neat. It's pretty fast, too. I
use them both (on different computers) and both outpace Symantec's Speed
Disk.

I hated to see Norton succumb to Symantec, but I guess money wins out every
time.

Regards and good luck,

Turner

 

[André Landreau]

Thanks a lot to all of you!
I appreciate your comments and advises very much! At a first glance I did
not think the matter was so controversial.
Anyway I'll follow Mike Hall's recommendation. Like I did under Win98, I'll
remove Symantec gears and install AVG from Grisoft.
Thanks again.
André M. Landreau