Well, I've spent weeks trying to remove an old Norton Live Update from my p.c. Following Symantec's detailed instructions and also the ones above (time and time again!) and it was still there sitting in my program list.

Eventually, I got some wonderful help on a forum and was able to install it EASILY by downloading REVO UNINSTALLER from the CNet download site. It took seconds and it's now gone!

I'd recommend anyone have problems removing this (or anything else for that matter) to do it this way. I really don't see the point of going through all the instructions above when it can be this easy.

I am tring to speed friends computer, I have followed the instructions but cannot delete the files, it keeps coming up Destination Folder Access Denied. Can you help?

I used your method for some other peskt software I could not get deleted and it worked like a charm.Thanks for the helpt

some dude installed symantec end point protection version 11 on my system and ive been trying to uninstall it.ive tried doing that from the add/remove programs in the control panel but i dont even see symantec as part of the programs installed on my system.i cant install newer versions of norton because i have to manually unistall the symantec antivirus 11 and i dont know how to do that.i really want to get rid of it cuz it is not useful and is really pissing me off.any advice??

What I did was went to the Norton Website and downloaded the Norton System Removal Tool. Restarted PC. It pretty much puts you all the way at Step 8 on Dave's Guide. Once there, I was done his whole guide within 5 minutes. Its very easy and his Guide worked like a charm! ACES!!!

Hi Dave thanks for the info worked a treat.
You the man

Gary in Australia

I followed your instruction on the norton/symantec
removal and when I got to "restart your pc" I did that and it didnt restart....it just went to "windows error recovery"...so I choose "Launch startup repair" and the screen just blinks and goes back to "Windows error recovery"..I dont understand what happened...I followed your instructions correctly..to the letter..
well I have a Dell Inspiron 1520 using Windows Vista Home Premium(32-bit).I have Drive c: Drive d : Drive e: ....I know Drive d: cannot help me because I deleted it by accident..and now I realize it was my recovery ...what do I need to do to fix all this and get my windows running again.

thanks for your insight. i'm trying to delete this dammn thing, un-inst is being running for 3.5 hrs, not done yet. any hints.
thanks.

Hello to anyone who can help me on this matter. I need the product key code for the norton's symantec system. The one that I had was only a trial, and now it's expired. So if anyone out there can give me some insights on what to do in order to keep the anti-virus on my PC, please respond to me in the e-mail above. Thanks.-

This looks great to unistall 360 but do I have to be worried about also uninstalling Win Fax or crashing that program which I would like to keep in tact?

Hey Dave, :)

Well, I am trying to install Kaspersky Internet Security, because it is the only free trial I ever used that removes the trojans and others for free without upgrading.. but it said I have Norton Internet Security 8 and must uninstall. Of course I did every step on your thread about removing NAV from the reg etc, and I also used ccleaner, and deleted the additional symantec and nav files using regedit. I used the Search tool and deleted any files that showed up even hidden, and Even went into my computer and program files and deleted everything in there. I restarted as directed, and anytime I made a change.

I then tried to install, and still am getting the message that Norton Internet Security 8 is present and must be removed, and I don't know what else I can do.

One thing I noticed is that when you use windows uninstaller to uninstall Norton, it appears to be hosed up at several points. Don't close it out. It is working on it. Go make a pot of coffee, jiggle your mouse to stop the screensaver, whatever, but I am guessing people who end up with a lot of the 'leftovers' are ones who closed the uninstall thinking it was hosed up. Which, it really looks like it is, and it took 2 hours to work its' way through it for me.

Just what it looks like to me.
Patience is a virtue.
A word to the wise is sufficient.

Hi dave, I am a window vista home premium user and I've followed your instructions to fully remove norton anti virus from my computer. But I still cannot connect to the internet.
I remove norton anti virus to install Kaspersky Internet Security 2009.

thanks!

Hey Dave,
I've tried everything to uninstall Norton and his stupid Symantic side kicks...you have helped me tremendously.I've managed with your help to remove soooo many Norton and related files but there's a few that will not let me delete.I'll keep trying.
Thank you for your expertise,
Shirley

hey hi there! i need you to know that i can't run any software installation on my hp dv6000 laptop with windows vista on it because i have installed NIS 2008 and now it won't uninstall by any of the methods you have mentioned. i have been having problems on my pc since i installed it. any of the processes involving administrative consent is denied by norton and i mean any process like gor e.g. turn on password protection,turn on media sharing,etc. it just displays "the service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled divices associated with it." and creat association also doesn't work. i want to know how i can get rid of it without formating my laptop and if thers no way out then tell me how i should format my laptop [steps]. also i don't have a vista home basic dvd or cd but an activation number on the bottom sticker [legal]. which drivers will i be needing in case of a format. also tell me how do i get a setup app. of vista on the dvd in case of format or i will have to download it.

Thanks a lot Dave. When I did a thorough search it found the Norton and Symantec folders. I never thought that they would be hiding somewhere as I manually deleted the ones i saw. But the nasty buggers were hiding! I couldn't find any entry in my registry maybe because I used CCleaner a while ago. Thanks a lot again. Norton's "00000082 folder" was coming up in my C:\ everytime I started my laptop and I was quite annoying coz I had to delete it everytime.

Hi Dave.

I have been trying to install McAfee 2009 but I kepp getting an error window saying I need to "remove norton rescue disk".

I have followed all your steps in this thread, but I cannot find/delete this issue. Do you know how i can search and destroy?

I have found that if you call 1 866 200 0892 You will contact norton and they will remove all programs in your computer within minutes. With out a lot of hassle and very little work. Thank You. Sherry

dude your a genious im a sandman i followed all the steps you said and i was able to delete everything just like you said. took me like 4 or 5 hours but i got it done and it works. thank you very much.

hey dave... ive tried to use the add and remove program to get rid of my norton and does not work,. plz HELP!!!

Hey Dave, everytime I try an delete Norton from the add/remove programs, a box pops up and says that it is gathering error information. Halfway through it exits out and Norton is still there, any ideas?

Hi Dave, i am trying to remove Norton, when i am on step 4, there is a Symantec Shared folder, that i cannot delete, it come up with " cannot delete ccEvtMgr.exe: Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write protected and the file is not currently in use" i cannot delete this folder,what should i do? Thanks a lot!

I have a question about Norton Anti-Virus.
I have a program that I used when I was at work. Yesterday I did some damage to the PC. I was able to get everything up and its good, except Norton! I have the original cd. When I insert it it does not run. On the pc I went into control panel and thought I was able to do it. Nothing... I am frustrated and went on the internet thinking that Norton would have a tool. They have tools 2003 and up. Mine I think is 2001. They don't say.
What do I do?

Thanks

I'd like to delete nav because after having my laptop for a day, it already has caused problems. Will this page work on Vista as well? Thought I'd ask before I caused any problems. And thanks for all your answers. You are awesome!

Hello Dave:

After several hours, with the help of your very clear instructions, I have removed the many tentacled Norton octopus from my computer.
The Symantec removal tools did not even come close to getting it all... It was insane how many Symantec and Norton files (some of them huge) were dumped onto my machine, slowing it down incredibly.
Now that my computer is back to it's old self, I am wondering what is the best antivirus software to install. Any suggestions?

i have to say that I generally just use the free AVG Antivirus application and haven't had any problems with viruses or other malware on my PCs. You can find them at http://free.avg.com/

i am trying to remove norton antivirus, i only get to the first part. It doesn't end. what should i do.

very frustrated

Just one additional step I had to go through - in the Windows Control Panels was another Symantec control panel for turning on/off live updates. I had to turn off "automatic" updates so that I could uninstall Norton.

...and then I had to uninstall the Symantec Live Update as well. Thanks, Dave. The uninstall went smoothly!! And now my CPU isn't pegged and the computer starts/restarts in SECONDS not many many minutes and... life is good! : )

I have faithfully followed all of your instructions to remove Norton360 that came on my Vista laptop.

I still cannot install zone alarm (either free or the security suite) and have it work. My laptop came with SP1 on and I added SP2. Perhaps my problem is something other than Norton.

Another website suggested using MSconfig to check on services because he found symantec service running months after he removed Norton!

I check on my firewall at grc.com, using the ShieldsUP! utility.

Thank you for your instructions on removing Norton. I forgot to add that I ran the Norton removal tool and then, used you instructions to ferret out the rest.

I also didn't say that I have a Toshiba laptop. Don't buy a Toshiba! Their restore media creates more problems than it solves! They are worse than Microsoft. The fix for the disappearing CD/DVD is on their website. The issue was caused by their restore software.

Since I cannot use the ZA security suite which we paid for, I am using Windows firewall with AVG and Spybot.

Maybe my next computer will be a Mac. I'm sick of Microsoft.

Thank you so much! I found your article incredibly helpful. No more Norton now...

Kudos for an extraordinarily helpful piece of work.

I've done everything, and still seem to have a symptom -- I'm hoping you'll tell me I can ignore it.

I'm running WinXP/professional. When I open the "security center" from the control panel and turn *off* the Windows Firewall, the security center tells me "Norton AntiVirus is currently ON".

PLEEEEEEZE tell me it's lying -- is there a way to determine whether the security center is reporting that status incorrectly? As far as I can tell, I see no other indications from the system behavior that any Norton firewall is running.

I don't think I have *any* Norton/Symantec files or registry entries left.

First of all, thank you for the great article. I normally would have just uninstalled this from my control panel and considered it to be completely removed. WOW, what an insight.

I have run into one small problem however. Everything has been remove except for "AluSchedulerSvcRes.loc" I cannot remove this. I keep getting an error message that says, "Cannot delete AluSchedulerSvcRes.loc: Access denied". Any suggestions?

I have followed the steps and have used CC. When I ran the issues, and fix issues. The last message I get is delete registry value. Does this mean, I still have some NIS or NAV file to remove? If so, now what is my next step. I want to install Avast asap since now I am without any antivirus protection. I am also more comfortable with Avast but I have seen post where people have been getting problems with it with Vista Basic, probably complicated with not being able to get rid of the preinstalled Norton AV on the computer. Anyway Help is appreciated. You are the best.

to add on the file i found is
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Symreader.dia
should this one be deleted?

dear dave:

i run linux so i have no need for an anti-virus app. if you use firefox for your browser in conjunction with linux you are practically 99% immune.

thank you, MIKE...

A previous employer installed symantec antivirus on my laptop and it won't allow me to uninstall without a password. Is there anything I can do to get around this? I hate Nortons products they worm their way into everything!

Dear Dave, you are genius, but probably know this already. I got rid of Norton thanks to your advice. I have another problem every time I try to sear my computer my Internet Explorer shuts down. Can you help me. Tjhanks Walter

Hi Dave,

I bought a laptop and it came with norton antivirus, I followed all your instructions but I'm still having one symptom. Every once in a while I will get a norton pop up asking for permission to allow a program to run which makes me believe norton is still on my laptop. Any ideas?

Hi, Dave,

Happy new year! It seems you have been bombarded with questions... Now, I followed all your instructions. I also did a search (Edit > Find...) on Registry Edit for the entire My Computer with keywords Norton and Symantec. I found several hits (related keys) in MUICache (HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1855425724-849780619-593837108-1007\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache) and Installer\Folders (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Folder) as well as an HP folder (since I have an HP Pavilion computer) called IS (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hewlett-Packard\cpc\LocalApps\IS). Are they save to delete as well? These are results for Symantec only. There are a few more for Norton as well. Thanks!

Greetings!
Thank you for providing a wonderful service! First, let me state that I'm not very tech-savvy. My question concerns step 6. My "Norton" search rendered 480 results! Some have Norton or Symantec in their titles, but most don't. There is a whole section highlighted in blue saying "spuninst", what is that? Your page saved in my favorites came up also. Norton has dragged my PC down to a crawl, so I'd be fine deleting all 480 if that's what you advise. I just don't want to delete something, in my ignorance, that I'm not supposed too.
Thank you,

Hey Dave,
so i started without reading your explanation steps by uninstalling NAV 2010 from Start->all programs->norton. i uninstalled it there. then on step 4 i couldnt find any norton/symatec items in my program files. then on step 6 i couldnt find all those search options bc i have Vista home premium so when i clikc on start i jsut get a normal search at the bottom. the rest went well until the htkey_machine where i couldnt find anything either not even in htkey_root. when i try and instal AVG 9.0 it STILL tells me that it would b recommended to uninstall the following programs and it shows Norton Anti Virus.
please please help me bc the reaosn i want to delete norton and install avg is because i read that i allways had CPU 100 on task manager because of Norton and it was recommended to use AVG. after all my steps i restarted btw. thank you again

Hey guys, I haven't read all of the comments, but why not just use the Norton Removal Tool?.. service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

Wow! After 3-4 hours of painstakingly trying to uninstall Norton from my son's new HP laptop without getting the BSOD I found DAVE! Your instructions were spot on. Thank you so much. As a result of this trouble I am now in the process of removing Norton 360 from our primary desk-top and moving to another more friendly Anti-Virus program. Never again will I buy another Symantec product.
Thanks again Dave.

Dear David,

Thank you so much for the instructions!! After 4-5 hours of removing Norton Internet Security, Norton SystemWorks & LiveUpdate I think I am finally free!! (Your instructions cover all of them right?)

Thank you so very much!! I had started to panic!!

One question though: Is there a difference if you unistall all Norton $ Symantec components manually (following your instructions) with downloading the Norton removal tool from the Symantec website? Is one way better than the other?

I too tried to download AVG as I was told it was a good anti-virus program and, my McAfee had an error and went haywire, so,I deleted it. But, the AVG would not install until I removed my Norton. Er, I do not have Norton. I have Windows Defender. Are Windows and Norton together on this (I didn't think they were)? So, I have no idea what to do. Does Norton go by any other name. I read the other posts, but, I am sort of an idiot wwhen it comes to understanding alot of "technological" jargon. Help!!!!!!!!!! Please :)

Thanks.

Just removed Symantec's Norton Internet Security from our pc, having become weary of it being such a mem-syst-pig.

cd

Once Norton is removed, what anti-virus software would you suggest installing?

AD, a great question! I suggest that you check out AVG antivirus. I've had good luck with it...

THANK YOU BROTHER!!!! Went through process step by step had some patience and it paid off. I would not recommend this process for the anyone who is a beginner with xp etc. CLICK CAREFULLY IN THE REGISTRY FOLKS. Thanks again for the update, I found an extra 12-13 files still remaining heh go figure, Norton is complete crap!

PC1Stop is down but you can find this remove Norton page here:

http://removenorton.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-mean-to-knock-symantec-here-but.html

i have done all u have said.. still , while installing kaspersky 2010 , it says first remove norton/symantec from the system... i have also used the Norton removal tool.. Pls help.. what next to do?

I have successfully unistalled norton but after i restarted my computer i am unable to connect to internet explorer. I am successfully connected to my wireless connection. Even when i click diagnose connection problems it says windows did not find any problems with this computer's network. I am able to connect to this wireless network via my laptop. Yet, when i open internet explorer or mozilla, it says internet explorer cannot display the webpage. It wont even connect to a feed. I did not change anything else on my computer or internet. After i restarted it, I had this problem immediately. help????

Hi Dave & Crew
Please forgive the addition to this tremendous thread! But i'm working as a favour on my friends XP french edition, which has turned into huge headache.

(norton came with computer 2006, had already for a long time been partially uninstalled)

After following all your steps to the letters, I have been able to install AVG, and also Kaversky. However they have both ground the computer to a near halt. I had thought it was because they both (eventually) quarantined trojan svchost, temp1/2.exe, copy.exe files.

However restoring the files had not helped...

So trying install ESET NOD32 and it has detected Symantec is still inside the system (where the other programs didn't detect this).

So i've gone back to the registry and destroyed symbinder in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. Using RegCleaner also to search the registry and Explorer Search Tool I have exhausted my ability to discovery the symantec bug.

(using MBantiMalware i've been able to quarantine the trojans without any issue, and CCleaner and TuneUp utilities has cleaned up all the mess left behind)

I'm one step away from formatting the disk (not with a baseball bat) but before i spend a whole week with a trickling internet cafe connection in remote Indonesia infecting all of every removable device, would you have any other ideas please?

Well, I tried installing 2010 nortonAV and then uninstalling again. after following these steps again and deleting everything else i could find, still alot left behind in program files and registry.

so i just installed ESET NOD32 with the reported conflict , and lo! it turns out the computer runs fine despite this conflict, and ESET seems to be powerful and light as reported. :),

i'd still like to know how to kill norton once and for all though

Hi Dave,

I have Vista and after Norton running out, i haveuninstalled it,however when trying to connect to the net (cable frombroadband) it comes as a message :

"Could not bound to localhost.plesae check you firewall setting"

any advice pls?????

Hi Dave, Thanks for your informative article. Unfortunately, it hasn't completely worked for me, as I'm unable to delete a number of Symantec files on my PC - specifically, 2010-05-06_Log.ALUSchedulerSvc, AluSchedulerSvc, AluSchedulerSvcRes.dll, MSVCP71.DLL, MSVCR71.DLL, AlertEng.dll, PifEng.dll, and PIFSvc. I keep getting the error message: "Cannot delete (file name): Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use." Any suggestions? FYI, I haven't installed any other AV software yet because I wanted to completely remove this one first.

Hello,

Thanks for the help sofar, but I'm not able to remove de LiveUpdate files (in step 2). I've tried all sollutions mentioned above, but nothing seems to help.

Please help. Thanks

I'm trying to install a new version of Norton 360 on my PC with a new product key. I can enter the new product key in, but Norton keeps referring to the old product key. I searched for the old product key in the registry and deleted it. But for some reason keeps telling me that my subscription has expired and refers to the old product key.

Today (12/18/2010), I am considering purchasing a new laptop computer that comes with a 30-day free trial of Norton Internet Security (NIS) installed. In the past, the only way I've ever been able to entirely rid my PC of Symantec/Norton products was to reformat my hard drive and do a clean reinstall (because even the "complete uninstall" procedure on their web site left things not only still installed but still running). Unfortunately, the laptop PC I'm considering purchasing doesn't come with the OS install disks, it just has a recovery disk that restores the computer to factory defaults (including re-installation of NIS). The laptop sales person I chatted with says that the latest version of Norton products fixes the uninstall problem (that NIS will uninstall cleanly) but, having spent hours of my life on the phone with Norton/Symantec support people (who seemed to have a "Why would you ever want to uninstall our wonderful software?" attitude), I'm not willing to believe that without confirmation by someone other than Symantec. Does the latest version of Norton Internet Security really do a complete and clean uninstall? Until I can confirm that, I don't plan to purchase this new laptop.

Hi Dave, we spent 8!! hours last nite, running Microsoft Security Essentials..3,647,000 items were scanned and after 8 hours it said NOTHING DETECTED..we watched the computer screen for a long time and saw errors in script!! in tiny blue square. This all came about because we are trying to remove pre-installed Norton from our new computer! HP Pavilion DV 74270us Entertainment. Dave, we have tried everything!! All your suggestions.. to eliminate Norton, short of using the f10 or f11 key!!! We are at our wit's end..Any suggestions..Thank you, Wil

In win 7 64bit, home premium:
I cannot delete 3 or 4 entries in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\Root\LEGACY_SYMDS\0000

any ideas why?

Had a problem deleting files & found 2 were part of some Toshiba application setup thing and uninstalled it and got rid of them.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS. NEED SOME JACK DANIELS!
Norton has made it so my Sunbelt Vipre does not work correctly. AArrgh.
Thanks again Dave,
Sue

hey dave,
thank you for your help, but in my case it's very complicated! indeed my neighbour's laptop is very messed up, her only browser "internet explorer" is broken because of norton is broken, and i couldn't remove/delete it using the contorl panal and add/remove programs. so what can i do? i can't even download norton removal tools "since internet explorer is broken" and i can't go to account on norton's menu, it's also broken, any help please? thank you.

I have some what of a unique problem, i need norton gone so that i can system restore to a date before my internet options where hijacked by a trojan virus. so with that said does anyone know how to remove it without the use of the internet. thanks for the page its very usefull.

sorry i neglected to mention i have tried to delete the symantec and it keeps giving me the error directory not empty $¿¡+. thank you.

Hi Justin: I had the System Restore Issue also.

Check out the Post by DavidCG and then my post( JayD_2011) at
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/84122-45-restoration-incomplete-computer-restored#t881337

I followed Dave Taylor's steps (Thanks Dave!!!) from this article but had none of the Reg Keys he mentioned , only a different Key - which I deleted - and this allowed System Restore to work properly. However,
the system restore thing is also a bit of a "Catch 22" as I highlighted in my post!!

Hope it helps!
JayD

Thanks Dave. I followed all your directions as per the first description...and it worked...thanks a lot

Hey Dave. When i purchased my Vista computer a couple of years ago it already had Norton on it. I uninstalled it and put Kaspersky software on it. It was time to renew a couple of days ago so when I did it told me that it could not continue due to being incompatible with Symantec LiveUpdate. I went to uninstall it but there is nothing to uninstall. It is just a file sitting in my Control Panel folder. I cant even simply delete it. I have tried everything explained in ALL of the messages above and nothing seems to be working. How in the world can I get this off of my computer so i can download the new Kaspersky software? So frustrating! Thanks!

Thank you. My son installed by accident because it popped up on his game. I have spent ages trying to delete until I did a search on google and found your article. So easy to follow for a noncomputer savvy person like myself. I think I have done it - here's hoping!! Thank you. There should be more people like you in the world. THANK YOU!!

I would like to say thank you for your information on removing the Norton 360 off of my sons computer. It was very informative to get into the details of this program off of the computer. Excellent Work. There was one thing you left out. The Norton 360 back-up files. It was very easy to delete though. I just went into My Computer, then to Local Disc, then to Norton 360 Backup folder, then I DELETED the Norton Backup folder. Not going to need that anymore. And in the process I got back over 22 gigabites back on my hard drive. Thank You.

My first time was today on your site and Dave....YOU'RE A ROCK STAR!!! And I just became your groupie!!!! ha Seriously, I just had one of those sessions with my PC and you guys....you know, when it feels like a brainfeast and your body's doing that happy dance inside?, I couldn't (didn't want ) to stop reading...people asking "my" questions and then you with your answers ... like "holy crap! This guy really wants us to solve our issues. HOW COOL IS THAT?!"...just so much good stuff to learn..I'm excited! So thank you Dave...I haven't really explored your website yet but you're a blessing--like one of those supernova, can't -be- topped gifts from God Himself! ha (I'm really on a Dave-high now, right?) But reading the replies to you last night, I see I'm not the only one doing a happy dance.
Way to go, rock star.
I have a MSI Home Premium A500/ Windows 7 / Internet Exp 10. In 2010 Norton antivirus came with the package...free 30 days..then i did McAfee ,Avast, AVG and settled with Iola System Mechanic... just uninstalled them all with Control panel, uninstall program. Took my laptop back to factory settings recently.because of freezes and just it was acting all confused and slow.. then I installed AVG 2013 I'm concerned thats what is happpening with my pc it has too much stuff like "UNinstalled" programs still there. Shouldn't returning it to factory wipe all that out? My laptop is acting worse than ever...like its all clogged.. I keep the fans clean.
Iola came back as a reallly light icon in my program files but not in control panel
AVG 2013 is in both places . i tried to uninstall it after the trial period was over...it won't go but it won't turn on either. i deleted a couple avg folders from c drive/ progr. files.
should i be taking avg and iolas things off my registry also? or one thing at a time? In fact avg won't uninstall like the others. you were saying something last night about i might have to reinstall it again to get it uninstalled? Does this have to be done before I kick Norton out? ---or can i go ahead-- i backed up registry already and I had a peek in registry...there is alot of norton Help! Am i making sense?
Sorry for such a long letter
Step 4 and 5 My program files only lists folder name, date modified and size of the folder. Will it say something like sym or nav or do i open up each folder also?
Step 6 I have no case sensitive option.. Also have been trying to get my search folders to work...i just upgraded to explorer 10

Next time i'll be shorter and sweeter....kay? Thanks Dave