Windows won't forget Symantec

[Bruce W. Given]

I recently installed a new anti-virus program and wished to completely
delete all reference to Norton Antivirus on my Windows XP (SP2) computer.
Later, for no apparent reason, at bootup I receive the following message:
"Windows cannot find C:\Progra~1\Symantec\Liveup~1\LUSetup.exe'. Make sure
you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file,
click the start button, and then click Search." A tech rep suggested I
delete all registry lines containing reference to Symantec. That doesn't
sound like good advice to me! My logic suggests I should be looking for
whatever it is that is telling Windows to look for the live update program,
but there's no mention of such a command in any of the startup menus I can
find. A registry scan with Registry Mechanic found one problem under the
startup section. The location was listed as
"HKEY_LOCAL-MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\current version\RunOnce" and
the LUSetup=C:\Progra~1\Symantec\Liveup~1\LUSetup.exe. While this is not
a critical fault it is most frustrating; if I click the "OK" button, my
desktop appears and things progress as normal. I would be much obliged,
indeed, if someone can explain what's happening and how I can fix it.

 

[JS]

You can completely remove all traces of Norton by downloading the SymNRT.exe
file from their web site.

When I ran it the removal was total, after re-installing Norton the
subscription date was as if I had installed a new copy with a full year plus
on subscription renewal.

Notes:
1) You should also delete any remaining Symantec directories.
2) It has been reported that this utility does not always do a total
removal.
(I suspect that they have changed the removal process to leave certain
subscription keys in place).

JS

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I recently installed a new anti-virus program and wished to completely
delete all reference to Norton Antivirus on my Windows XP (SP2) computer.
Later, for no apparent reason, at bootup I receive the following message:
"Windows cannot find C:\Progra~1\Symantec\Liveup~1\LUSetup.exe'. Make
sure
you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file,
click the start button, and then click Search." A tech rep suggested I
delete all registry lines containing reference to Symantec. That doesn't
sound like good advice to me! My logic suggests I should be looking for
whatever it is that is telling Windows to look for the live update
program,
but there's no mention of such a command in any of the startup menus I
can
find. A registry scan with Registry Mechanic found one problem under the
startup section. The location was listed as
"HKEY_LOCAL-MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\current version\RunOnce"
and
the LUSetup=C:\Progra~1\Symantec\Liveup~1\LUSetup.exe. While this is
not
a critical fault it is most frustrating; if I click the "OK" button, my
desktop appears and things progress as normal. I would be much obliged,
indeed, if someone can explain what's happening and how I can fix it.

Actually, the advice was good. Deleting registry references to Symantec and
Norton are pretty much what you need to do, and you've cited the registry
key you need to remove.

LiveUpdate is the Symantec mechanism for updating Symantec products, and
when you removed NAV, unless you have other Symantec products like
pcAnywhere, you need to also remove LiveUpdate and LiveReg from Add/Remove
programs. If you do have other Symantec products, you need to re-run
the install to fix LiveUpdate.

HTH
-pk