Quick way to deactivate Norton?

[Xander]

Had a remote job a couple of nights ago - slow system, etc. It was coming up with a SMART warning and not much of anything else. It was ~3 years old so it could easily have been the drive.

I got the customer to bring it in for a longer diagnostic. Drive tested fine on a long check. Multiple checks, different softwares... no drive problems.

Back to Square One. He's running Norton 360 so I disabled the AV and FW side of it and started seeing some immediate improvements. {sigh} I haven't had much problems with Norton for a while so was hoping they'd nipped this one.

Went into Safe Mode and, with Autoruns, disabled everything Norton/Symantec. System is running great now. Quel surprise.

That got me to thinking --- there should be a quicker way to get everything Norton out of the way without having to uninstall it. As a diagnostic step, I don't want to uninstall only to find out it wasn't the cause and then have to put it back when I should be able to just turn it off entirely.

Maybe this is one for Nick and the D7 Suggestion Pile? Instead of using a Norton Removal Tool, we could have a Norton Deactivation Tool?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Norton (and other security software companies) would probably quickly squash any sites that had those tools. Think about it...any tool that could shut down a security package in a single click or a quick net stop command, malware writers would pay a pretty penny for these tools (and they do).

And then on the next .DAT update some definitions and patches to block that tool come out...so the tool is now useless. And the cat 'n mouse game continues.

 

[FoolishTech]

Maybe this is one for Nick and the D7 Suggestion Pile? Instead of using a Norton Removal Tool, we could have a Norton Deactivation Tool?

Hmm......... I'd need a copy of Norton to play with haven't run across one in a while - maybe I will try out a trial version in a VM...

Norton (and other security software companies) would probably quickly squash any sites that had those tools.

While I would agree with that, I added a feature in D7 to disable Microsoft Security Essentials every time you start D7 - that's been maybe 4-5 months and luckily they haven't caught on to my tactics yet because it still works beautifully. So it's probably worth it to try because I'm sure we'll get *some* use out of it.

 

[DocGreen]

Hmm......... I'd need a copy of Norton to play with haven't run across one in a while - maybe I will try out a trial version in a VM...



While I would agree with that, I added a feature in D7 to disable Microsoft Security Essentials every time you start D7 - that's been maybe 4-5 months and luckily they haven't caught on to my tactics yet because it still works beautifully. So it's probably worth it to try because I'm sure we'll get *some* use out of it.

Nick is the man!

 

[Bubbajoe]

Had a remote job a couple of nights ago - slow system, etc. It was coming up with a SMART warning and not much of anything else. It was ~3 years old so it could easily have been the drive.

I got the customer to bring it in for a longer diagnostic. Drive tested fine on a long check. Multiple checks, different softwares... no drive problems.

Back to Square One. He's running Norton 360 so I disabled the AV and FW side of it and started seeing some immediate improvements. {sigh} I haven't had much problems with Norton for a while so was hoping they'd nipped this one.

Went into Safe Mode and, with Autoruns, disabled everything Norton/Symantec. System is running great now. Quel surprise.

That got me to thinking --- there should be a quicker way to get everything Norton out of the way without having to uninstall it. As a diagnostic step, I don't want to uninstall only to find out it wasn't the cause and then have to put it back when I should be able to just turn it off entirely.

Maybe this is one for Nick and the D7 Suggestion Pile? Instead of using a Norton Removal Tool, we could have a Norton Deactivation Tool?

I run N360 on 3 different machines and have no issues. You can disable both FW and AV by right-clicking on the Norton tray icon and selecting the appropriate enty...

 

[Steve202]

I run N360 on 3 different machines and have no issues. You can disable both FW and AV by right-clicking on the Norton tray icon and selecting the appropriate enty...

I don't think that completely disables Norton.

 

[Xander]

Originally Posted by Bubbajoe
I run N360 on 3 different machines and have no issues. You can disable both FW and AV by right-clicking on the Norton tray icon and selecting the appropriate enty...

I don't think that completely disables Norton.

It most definitely does not. Bubbajoe, take a look at all the Symantec/Norton files that run via Autoruns. There's at least two dozen that you have to uncheck to get it completely out of the way and, even then, you have to do it in Safe Mode otherwise, even with those two bits "unchecked", it will prevent you from turning off the others. Edit: And MSConfig doesn't help either, incidentally. It only offers one check for the main "Norton 360" and nothing else.


Back to the main point, even it were a tool that -had- to be run from Safe Mode, it would be great to be able to flick it on and off to test, doncha think?

 

[Bubbajoe]

Ahhh, re-reading your thread, your question was how to "deactivate" N360. NVM....

What version are you looking at? I have no msconfig entry for N360 (v 20.2.1.22).

 

[Altster]

Unless your client feels that he "MUST" retain his Norton software I would simply download the Norton Removal program and get rid of all of it (including the hidden "stuff" that it installs. I've used it many times in the past and it does a good job of getting rid of the gunk left behind by Norton installers.

You can start here:

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us

 

[carrcomp]

The point here though is the OP was looking for a way to disable Norton, not uninstall it, for troubleshooting purposes.

Short answer ... no. I'm sure you could write up some script to do so in safe mode but I can guarentee they will patch it out.

 

[GeeksInKhakis]

Deactivating or disabling Norton (or any other AV) doesn't mean it's still not part of the problem. The only way to be sure the AV isn't a problem is to remove it. If that means uninstall or a removal tool, so be it. Otherwise you'll waste your time. You can always put it or another tool (MSE) back on later.