I tried to uninstall Symantec from Windows XP and OH MY

First, I tried it through add/remove programs, and it hung up and gave an error. Then the entry disappeared from there, so I decided to manually uninstall it.
I come from linux, so I thought how hard it could be. Foolishly I started following instructions on
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ent-security.nsf/docid/2005050210381448

OH MY GOD, it keeps on and on and on. I think I followed all the steps, but there are other symantec components, and I'll have to do the same for all components

It hooks everywhere, man Linux is SOOOO much better.
aptitude uninstall foo (or your favorite package manager), and boom, its done.

 

You should of used CCleaner, http://www.ccleaner.com/, that has quite a nice little add/remove utility.

 

I believe there is an uninstall utility available for download from Symantec
that removes everything for you.
Go here http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

ps I agree with you its simpler in Linux. Once you setup your system the way you like it (that may require some effort) it just works!!

 

I stopped using Symantec a few years back. It just became too much to handle. Now I live happy with Nod32 *hugs nod32*.

 

wearetheborg,
I am having a lot of problems with Symantec Norton Antivirus as well. What a piece of crap. I have it installed on my XP machine and then on my Vista laptop, doesn't matter, a whole host of different problems on both. My XP problems were related with the program unable to sync with the DAT server they have. In Vista I am getting something to the effect "callback manager unable to create LiveUpdate...".

There knowledge base is also very incomplete and out of date. I couldn't even find the error message. There are many posts of people spending 10+ hrs trying fix problems and giving up. I finally uninstalled it and am running Avira. Seems pretty good, stay out of your way. Don't know how it's DAT files compare in quality to Symantec.

I also use Linux mainly, so much better....

 

Yep, Norton is a virus I used NOD32 and then went to the almighty new Bitdefender Linux really is better....everytime I have to go into Vista, I appreciate it more and more....

 

I tried that now, but it does not show symantec programs

It complained that symatec client security had to be uninstallled first, but I could not see symantec client security in either add/remove or cCleaner.

So I said screw it and now reinstalling the whole system

 

You don't really need antivirus on Windows. It's just a waste of CPU cycles. As long as you don't actively execute random exe's, you'll almost never get a virus.

 

Perhap, but " almost never" is what would worry me without an AV with Windows.

 

Never say never, I've gotten a virus from just going to a web page. Not porn either, a the forum page for my WoW guild was hacked and it would run a java script that gave you a virus.

The only way I think you can stay clean is not to open .exes and run noscript in Firefox. But doing that can take a lot of fun out of the web since most websites rely on java script and flash.

If you ask me, just do something on Linux if you want to be safe. If you really must do something on Windows then run Vista 64 since most of the malware isn't made for x64 yet.

I'll add another vote in for Nod 32 also.

 

No Symantec! It's such a useless program. I always used AVG and Ad-aware. And they're both free! (Come to think about it, everything, except the OS and the games in my Windows partition is free!)

 

This is why I run NoScript: http://noscript.net/

Edit: LOL didn't see you'd mentioned that. And I don't see how NoScript takes the fun out of the internet. Once you add a few pages to your whitelist, you're OK.

 

I've tried to uninstall Norton before, but I eventually gave up and left the thing on my system until I had to restore windows. I would suggest that you try to remove Norton in safe-mode. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.

The Ccleaner was worth a try, but I'm not surprised it failed. It's still a very useful program, but obviously can't recognize the 'unique' registry values of Norton. Strange considering that the program can find all the windows updates.

 

Actually, some of those virii and trojans sometimes come preloaded on mp3 players or flash drives and stuff like that. Rare but it happens. So we're never really safe.

This being said, no, I don't run any antivirus software on my XP installation. Then again, I use XP only for gaming (no banking) and my Linux partitions are encrypted. I reckon this is safe enough. I've used Windows since the 80s and only once was infected. (Knock on wood!)

 

This belongs in the Windows sub-forum.

I gave up trying to remove Norton Anti-Virus 2007 myself. I had to nuke the whole system with the HP recovery discs, and to my horror, the factory image contained an installed trial of Norton 2003! I finally found the remover tool and CCleaner to fully remove Norton.

 

I had the same issue, but fortunately the recovery process allowed me to deselect programs which I did not want to be installed.

 

Once again, you have to actively run the executable, or it won't do a thing. If you disable autorun for optical media (using TweakUI or by directly modifying the registry), you won't get a virus that way either.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna do that. I too dont have antivirus.