I’ve read and followed your instructions about how to remove the dreaded Norton Anti-Virus from my Microsoft Windows XP computer, but somehow the $#$@ thing isn’t fully removed yet. Dave, this is driving me batty! Is there some additional or updated instruction you can share with us? I hate Symantec!!
First off, you’re right, the older article Removing Norton Antivirus from your System is a bit, um, long in the tooth. The problem is that companies keep releasing new versions of software, new solutions to prevent exploits, and everything is basically unendingly complicated!
Norton does have some tools on its site to help with uninstalling the application fully (see Commonly Used Symantec Tools but if you’re like me, you’d rather do it yourself.
Well, I like to know how to do it myself, but we’re all quite fortunate that PC fixit guy David Rice has made his very detailed Norton removal instructions available, and that’s what I’m including here…
- Go to Start –> Control Panel –> Add/Remove Programs.
- Scroll down to your Norton/Symantec program
- Click Change –> Remove All.
Upon completion of the Remove All process, you will be asked to restart your PC. Do so. - Now go to Start –> My Computer –> Program Files. Right click on each Symantec (or Norton) folder and select Delete.
Restart your PC. - Go back in to Program Files. Except now go to the Common Files folder at or near the top of the Program Files window. Delete every Symantec (or Norton) folder there.
Restart your PC. - Go to Start –> Search –> All Files and Folders –> More advanced options. Check each option except for Case sensitive
Now type Norton in the search box.
Delete each Norton folder from the search results (Again, right click, choose Delete)
Restart your PC. - Repeat step 6 except type Symantec in the search box.
- Now let’s go into the Registry. Be Careful here. First thing to do is Back up the Registry. I’ll be saying more about the Registry later, but suffice to say the presence of uninstalled security software in the Registry can conflict with newly installed security software and cause system freezes. For that matter, so can folders of “uninstalled” programs. Once again, go to the Start menu, but this time, you want to click on Run then type in regedit.
- Go to the top of the Regedit window. Click the + next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER to open the section (Hive). Go down the thread until you see Software. Click on Software and scroll down until you see Symantec. Right click on Symantec and choose Delete.
- From there go down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and repeat step 9.
Restart your PC. - Again, go to Start, click on Run. Type in regedit
Click (+) next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
Click (+) next to Software.
Click (+) next to Microsoft.
Click (+) next to Windows.
Click (+) next to CurrentVersion.
Select the Run folder.
Right-click and delete each Symantec and NAV (Norton Antivirus) entry you see (if present).
Go To HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and do the same thing.
Restart your PC.
There is more we could do in the Registry but for now these steps are sufficient.
[Not quite done. David includes the following important update that explains some additional litter that Norton drops into the registry and nees to be deleted –DT]
I was a little hesitant about adding additional steps in the registry when I first put this procedure up on the net. I didn’t want users to spend too much time in the Registry given how dangerous it can be to make even a tiny mistake therein.
Upon further reflection, though, I think adding one more step to this procedure does not really constitute any more of a risk for users than following (carefully!!) the steps I outlined above. The benefit of taking another step to remove Norton from your Registry outweighs any possible risk to your system. It’s critical that you follow my instructions to the letter to avoid risk!
The additional step I want you to take is to go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT is the top section (Hive) of the five sections in the Registry. It’s on top of HKEY_CURRENT_USER which is on top of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Click on the little + to open the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT hive. Scroll way down until you get to the Symantec entries. Now just right click on each Symantec entry and hit Delete (making sure not to delete anything that isn’t explicitly listed as Symantec!!)
Restart your PC.
Last Step: If you don’t already have it on your PC, I encourage you to download a copy of CCleaner. It’s a good disk cleaner that gets rid of leftover program files. Upon completion of installation, open CCleaner and hit the Run Cleaner button in the lower right of the CCLeaner window. After CCleaner has finished, keep CCleaner open and click on the blue square icon on the left panel with the word Issues under it. Hit Scan for Issues. When it’s doneyou should click on Fix Selected Issues in the lower right hand corner of the program window. Follow each prompt, clicking on “yes” for “Do you want to backup changes to the registry?” Then click Save to save the backup to disk, and click on the Fix All Selected Issues button. Click on OK when asked “Are you sure you want to Fix all selected Issues?”. Click Close and…
Restart your PC.
Done.
From everyone who reads this entry, a hearty thanks for your help with this thorny problem, David!!
Hi Steve,
You mean you can’t reinstall systemworks from CD or via download?
I’m not sure I understand what you mean. SystemWorks is gone from Add/Remove when you restart your PC after running the Symantec uninstaller?
Why do you run the uninstaller after you have removed SystemWorks?
What you should do is start at step 4 of the removal process after you have run the uninstaller
looking to delete each Norton and Symantec SystemWorks file/key you find.
If SystemWorks is the only Symantec program you had on your PC, delete every Norton and Symantec file/key you find.
As for Norton Ghost 9, start with step 4 of the removal process. Stop at step 9 and tell me what you found.
Hi Dave,
Right i reinstalled systemworks by using a system restore point which worked fine then i tried to uninstall it agian in add/remove programs as instructed on the symantec unistaller download while uninstalling i got the message (error could not open key)HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\explorer\browserhelperobjects.
but unistall completes an i restart my pc.
When i then look add/remove programes norton system works is still there but i click remove restart again an then its gone.
Then when i try to run the uninstaller download from symantec i get the message norton ghosts 9 or ealer ditected plz remove in add/remove programes (but its not there!!)so yet again im back at the start with a shiny new copy of norton antivirus 2008 with no way to install it.
any more suggestions you have would be most welcome thx again steve.
Hi Steve,
OK let’s take it from the top but try a shortcut.
Reinstall SystemWorks and then download the Symantec uninstaller utility.
I understand this one is better than previous uninstallers.
You’ll have to know which year your SytemWorks is.
http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039?Open&docid=2006032009205413&nsf=sharedtech.nsf&view=docid&pid=2006032009205413&pkb=sharedtech
Run the uninstaller utility and get back to me.
hi dave,
no mate they r no longer in add/remove programs but they r still in my programes folder on my hard drive
Hi Steve,
When you say they still appear in programs, are you referring to Add/Remove Programs?
If they’re still in Add/Remove, re-install them and try the process from the top again.
hi dave,
yep i tried restarting with no effect still have the same problem i removed norton ghost and system works in the add/remove program but they still apear in programs.
the only thing left in add remove programs is norton wmi update which when i try to remove it, it says a product that uses it still exits and wont let me remove it?? I tried the synmatic uninstal download but this wont run untill i remove norton ghost which i cant do !! and so brings me full circle to where the problem started any suggestions would be great on this matter thx.
cheers dave.
steve
(before you see a grone man cry)
Hi steve,
That error message means you might have to restart your PC again or it means you are trying to delete a Norton/Symantec program file that you have not removed through Add/Remove Programs.
I recommend restarting your PC and trying to delete the System Works file again.
hi i got as far as step 4 an when i try to delete the norton system works file i get the message error cannot delete n32exclu.dll acess denied heeelp plz
thx steve
Hi Dave,
i cant complete step 3 i.e add/remove programs, once it statrts gathering information it goes of and an error message pops up saying “fatal error occured duirng installation. any suggestions please?
thanks for all the info dave, i was just wondering whether i should back up the registry before uninstalling norton and whether i should install a new antivirus after step 7?
thanks
Gareth
i had NAV 2006 and it was expired. I now have norton 360 installed and experience a lot of freezing and cold restarts.
Can i follow these same instructions to remove both?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks, this worked perfectly!
I had to uninstall NAV corporate edition to install a different program. I was banging my head against the wall after trying to uninstall it the conventional way and still getting the message “Norton AntiVirus Corporate Edition has been detected. Please uninstall this program.”
This did the trick, thanks so much!
Lots of good work here by Dave to uninstall norton. But….and here comes my commercial drum roll…..
We got a site, http://uninstallnorton.com where we offer to sell a software utility that will uninstall norton for you or we will do it for a fee.
So, if you are a do it yourselfer and don’t want to have to dig through all the laborous steps that Dave so painstakenly laid our or if you simply want somebody do to it for you, please consider us. We try to treat people fairly.
And sometimes there are complications where the instructions Dave laid our, or yes, even our software utility, just don’t do the trick. We can help.
Thank you Dave for the courtesy of letting me post to your site.
Reid
Dave, For the longest time I could not remove NAV from my ADD/REMOVE Programs screen. I Googled for help and found you. Thanks so much for your information. I followed each step and successfully removed NAV. I should have Googled you a year ago! Thank you again, you’ve been a great help.
Donald
Hi Jerome,
There is no straight forward way to put programs back in Add/Remove.
One way is to edit the registry which is a bit much for some.
The other way, the one I recommend right now, is to reinstall the Symantec programs missing from Add/Remove. Don’t uninstall them. Just download them again over your Symantec programs already present on your machine.
If that doesn’t work, uninstall your Symantec programs completely and reinstall them.
Between your uninstalls and reinstalls, make sure to run CCLeaner’s registry utility, making sure to back up the registry as it prompts you to do so.
And restart your computer at the end of each reinstall and uninstall.
Woops,
Just to Clarify, Brian, to get to Program Files, click on Local Disk (C:) after Start Menu–>My Computer.
From the beginning then: Start Menu–> My Computer–> Local Disk (C:) –> Program Files.
I hope that clears it up for you.
Hi Brian,
That’s a good point. Thanks for pointing that out.
To get to Program Files, click on Local Disk (C:) after Start Menu.
Please pardon my disappointment.
Noting Dave Rice’s admonition, “It’s critical that you follow my instructions to the letter to avoid risk!”, I was very careful.
I have Windows XP (home). Following his instructions to the letter only got me to Step 4 and then left me hanging in left field.
Step 4 says: “Now go to Start –> My Computer –> Program Files. Right click on each Symantec (or Norton) folder and select Delete.”
Roger dodger. I clicked on Start–> My Computer –> … HELLO?? There is no selection for Program Files!! The headers are System Tasks, Other Places, Details, Files Stored on This Computer, Hard Disk Drives and Devices With Removable Storage. None of the selections beneath these headers is labeled “Program Files.” Nor is there any “Program Files” under any of the drop down menus at the top either. All stop.
I continue to be vexed by following an expert’s advice “to the letter” and discovering that either a step is missing or the description does not match what appears on the machine.
Last week I followed another expert’s advice on disabling the touch button on my Dell Inspiron. It was continually driving the cursor off the screen and apparently is a well-known failure in Dell machines. Ah, but this expert left out one interim step (obvious to him, not to me); as a result, I disabled all of the input devices (touch button, touch pad, and mouse). The machine is now at the repair shop to fix the so-called fix. With only 1/3 of this procedure complete, it looks like this machine is also destined to go into the shop for a professional repair.
The “experts” have caused more headaches than they are worth.
Thanks anyway!
Brian
In the Resgistry edictor part of the step.
where you have to delete all entries that are anmed “Symantec”, do we also have to delete the filename with the prefix “Sym-” too. Im suspecting that it is part of Symantecs but I need an assurance if its eligible.
Help! I have a big problem. Norton and symantec programs are not in the Add/Remove Programs list. What should I do?!
Jerome
I was about to take a baseball bat to my computer! I think I love you.
Steve
Is this removal procedure for XP only? Or will it work for Vista as well?
Dave, I just wanted to say that I followed your instructions, and it worked perfectly. I had tried using the norton removal tool, but it never quite got everything, but your way worked great!
John
Thanks so much for this guide Dave. You are a King amoung men!
hi david,
i have followed all you steps right to the end but i am stuck on the very last bit i cant seem to find the blue icon on the left of the panel on PCclear plus. Can you help me please.
Ryan
anne,
I had the same problem what I do is restat my pc but when it is restarting repetedly press F8 then a black screen will appear. go up to safe mode with networking, and then select your pc. and your computer will go on the screen where you log on your computer, but select administrator and then do those steps.
Hi Dave,
I just found your site and it is great.
My question – I have Norton Protection Centre, AV and System works.
I am annoyed with Norton as the deducted the programs off my credit card several times and I spent days trying to get this mess straitened out.
I still have 9 months remaining on my Norton paid programs but someone told me Free AVG is as good or better than Norton. Can I run AVG in conjunction with Norton? should I delete Norton and run AVG or simply leave the huge Norton programs as they are without AVG?
Thanks in advance,
John Guild
Dave-
thanks for the help and i followed all of the steps.
problem is that in security center it still says I have norton installed under the firewall setting and the virus protection setting.
how do i disable these without stopping the service?
even when i do stop the service i think they are still running because some programs cant access the internet all the sudden even when allowed under exceptions.
the windows firewall is off but it says norton has it on.
i dont have any norton on here, any help is appreciated.
Hi Dave, I cannot thank you enough for all your tips. I have been struggling to get rid of the Norton programs for more than a year. I’ll save you the trouble of telling you the long and complicated tale of my troubles with Norton but suffice to say it was really bad. I have even sent the computer to tech individuals but nothing and no one has helped. I stayed up the whole night following all your instructions and finally after 7 hours, I have finally removed the whole thing. Thank you so much. If it wasn’t for you, I would still be stuck clueless what to do.
Hi Dave and thanks for the excellent info. Above, in the final step of your instructions, you state the following:
“Click on the little + to open the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT hive. Scroll way down until you get to the Symantec entries. Now just right click on each Symantec entry and hit Delete (making sure not to delete anything that isn’t explicitly listed as Symantec!!)”
Ok, that sounds a little scary, but I had a look. There are no files “explicitly” labeled “Symantec”, but there are a couple SymAData and SYMC files. Are those Symantec entries?
Hi Dave,
I would like to uninstall Norton SystemWorks 2005 from my home computer (XP Pro) this evening and install BitDefender 10 instead. I’ve looked at many different forums and it seems that everyone recommends a *slightly* different approach to doing this.
I consider myself “a step above a newbie”, but am not confident enough in my skills to follow your instructions (above) to the letter.
A number of forums suggest using the Add/Remove Programs feature in the Control Panel and then downloading and running “SymNRT.exe” IF Norton Systemworks 2005 isn’t completely removed. However, some folks have stated that running “SymNRT.exe” might corrupt Windows BITS, which is necessary for Windows Update to work.
I understand that you *personally* would prefer to manually delete all traces of Norton/Symantec from your computer, but since I am wary of doing it manually, can you recommend any other way of completely removing it, without corrupting the Windows BITS?
Additionally, how can I tell whether or not the “Add/Remove Programs” feature of WindowsXP was able to completely remove the software? While others have suggested using “SymNRT.exe” ONLY if Add/Remove Programs doesn’t work, none of them tell you how to check and see if Add/Remove Programs did the trick.
Thanks,
Brad
Dave,
Thanks so much for your instructions, I was amazed with the problems I had a couple of days ago uninstalling NIS. For such a highly used piece of software, Symantec really need to sharpen up their applications to allow them to be uninstalled as easily as other applications.
I downloaded the Removal tool from the Symantec site and it worked perfectly.
Cheers
Tim
To remove anythink use this solution it works for every version and forever this is the best way to delete any programs listen up:
First of all RESTART YOUR PC and go to SAFE MODE(press F8 conintuesly when ur on the first opening scrn with detail).
After your on SAFE MODE go to MY COMPUTERS then drive C:(your hard drive) listen up and dont delete anythink just listen to wat u should delete only.
when ur in DRIVE C:(local disk)when u try going on drive c FOR SOME PEOPLE it would be HIDDEN so click SHOW THE CONTECT OF THIS DRIVE!!! go to PROGRAM FILES when you go in that folder look for the folders with the name of the program your trying to delete just delete the programs you now dont delete anythink you dont now due to corrupting the PC and never opening till you fix it which is easy again once you learn. Job Done.:D
Hi David,
Did you have more than one Symantec product on your PC? One thing I should have emphasized was the necessity of only deleting files and folders of the specific Symantec product you want to remove. So if you’re removing Norton AV, then delete only files and folders of Norton AV that you see in the search results, Program Files and in the registry. After you remove Norton AV you would then remove Live Update using this procedure. Otherwise you’re only partly and improperly deleting other Norton programs which may well cause the problem you are having now.
I have added emphasis to this important detail on my site:
http://pc1stop.com/PCHealth.html#norton
If you have in fact deleted other Norton program files then reinstalling the Norton program(s) you have damaged will solve this problem.
Otherwise, next time you get that message, restart your PC go to Start>>Run>>type msconfig go to the Servies tab, check “Hide All Microsoft Services” at the bottom. Uncheck every remaining box. Leave msconfig. Reboot your PC as prompted. Upon reboot try again to delete the folders (provided they are folders of the Symantec product you want to remove).
If you still can’t delete them, open each folder and as delete as many individual files as you can and reboot your PC. Upon reboot, go back to the docs and settings folders and try to delete each folder. If you can’t delete each folder then delete as many individual files as as you can in each folder and reboot your PC. If you’re having success with this (tiresome) method, then keep going until you have eliminated the files/folders entirely.
If that still doesn’t work try this procedure in Safe Mode. Again, go to Start>>Run>>type msconfig but this time click on the Boot.INI tab and check /SAFEBOOT. Reboot as prompted. As it boots make sure you select the “Safe Boot” option and press Enter. Log on as Adminstrator. Go through this procedure again.
When you’re done go back into msconfig>>Boot.INI and uncheck /SAFEBOOT.
If that doesn’t work, delete the files using SpyBot. Go to Mode at the top, select Advanced. Go to the bottom, select Tools. From the list on the left select Secure Shredder. Right click in the white interface that appears and click on Add file(s) to the list… Go to My Computer (on the right), click o Local Disk (C:), then Documents and Settings and then the folder in which the files are located. Keep clicking on the file(s) until it appears in the white interface. Select Chop it away! at the bottom right.
Hi David,
I went through every step of your uninstall Norton instructions and I came up with some symantec folders in my doc and setting folder that it won’t let me delete and gives me the message: “Cannot read from source file or disk.”
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
David
Hi nst,
First, go through the procedure posted here on Dave Taylor. I know its long but Symantec is difficult to remove properly from your PC unless you go after it in detail.
Are you running Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition?
The default password is Symantec. Sometimes it’s simply password
If that doesn’t work.
1) Go to Start>>Run>>type regedit
2) Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder in the middle of the five folders (third one down) at the top.
Click on the +
Go down to: (click on the + beside each one) SOFTWARE >> INTEL >> LANDesk >> VirusProtect6 >> CurrentVersion >> Administrator Only >> Security
3) Double click on the value name “UseVPUninstallPassword” and change the value from 1 to 0
4) Close regedit. (Don’t restart your PC.) Try to uninstall Symantec again.
Also try the manual method posted here at Symantec:
http://entkb.symantec.com/security/output/n2002031914291648.html
i tried to remove syntmec..but ask for password…what to do
thankyou thankyou your advice on norton the best cheers again pete
Hi Carrie,
Yes, you can remove all those entries. They’re all Norton.
I realize you have removed Norton through Add/Remove and the registry but have you done steps 6 and 7? If not please do so. Then download and run CCleaner as per my instructions.
Please do this as well:
1) Download and run Perfectdisk. Get a trial of it here:
http://www.snapfiles.com/download/dlperfectdisk.html
Do every operation it recommends to you including offline defrag.
2) Take your PC to Windows Live OneCare Safety Center:
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm
Hit “Full Service Scan”, Accept the Agreement. Install the scanner (Active X). Select “Customize” . Uncheck “Comprehensive Scan”, “Disk Fragmentation Scan” (You just ran PerfectDisk) and
uncheck “Open Port Scan” and hit “Next”. That should clear up your disk and registry even more.
Next, go to Start>Run>Type in “services.msc”. Scroll down the list of services until you see Norton or Symantec and stop, then disable the Norton/Symantec services if any are there.
When do you get this “NAV 2005 does not support the Repair feature” message? Randomly, as you use your PC, or when you perform a certain task?
Do you have the Norton 2005 disk? If so try reinstalling it and then uninstalling it using the Norton removal procedure.
If you don’t have the disk then download a trial of Norton 2007
http://nct.symantecstore.com/fulfill/0184.029/thankyou
and then uninstall it.
The Norton 2007 antivirus uninstaller is much better.
I really apreciate the procudre to remove NAV from computer by Dave. Its really a hardworking task to give free solutions to the people.
Wow, unreal. I removed all of the entries in the registry I could find starting with Nav, Nis, and Sym. and i’m still getting the error. Where the heck else could it be hiding?
Hi Dave,
Norton has been removed from my Add/Remove programs since ’05. I had also removed it from my Program Files and Common Files. I loved Norton until that year. I removed it almost immediately after I installed it…too many issues that Symantec hadn’t a clue about at that time.
I’m a tad bit uncomfortable removing some things from my registry because I don’t have a Windows disk to reinstall if I need to format.
There seems to be a whole crap load of Norton stuff in the registry. Here are a few that I think i’m ok to remove, but unsure:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\NAVAPSCR.ScriptableAutoProtect
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Nav2kAbout.Nav2kAboutExtension
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Navbho.CNavExtBho
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\NAVComUI.AxListViewCtrl
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\NAVComUI.ScriptCommonUI
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\NisLUCbk.LUCallback.1
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\NiSPlug.NIS_NSW_IntegrationProduct
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\NISPlug.NISOutbreak
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SymBinder
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SymLTCHK.SymLTProduct
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SymProtectEvents.SymProtectEventProvider
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SYMUIAX2.SymUIAxCtrl.1
I could go on and on and on…
y0h dave!
just wanna say thanks!
it works!!
i’ve been suffering 5 months to get rid of this nav06, well, just got here and tried this article you’ve got..
i give you all the STARs dave!!!!
thanks!!
cheers dave!!!
Hi Dave
I have just followed through on your remaval of Norton and will see if it makes a difference.
Thank you very much
Thomas
Hi Carrie,
You should not have gotten the “NAV 2005 does not support the Repair feature” message. Did you select Remove when you went to Add/Remove Programs?
Yes, you can delete the NIS and NAV entries in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT so long as you had Norton Internet Security or Norton Antivirus on your machine.
Best,
David
Ok, so that was a bit premature. Still getting the NAV 2005 does not support the Repair
feature, blah, blah, blah.
I still like you though. 🙂
Under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT in the registry there are many NAV and NIS entries. Am I fairly safe removing those also?
Thanks
Dave Taylor, I love you!
You have no idea how many “tech support” sites I have read and tried before yours to get rid of this darn NAV 05.
Thank you!
Hi Anne,
Make sure you went through the process in exactly the order posted.
If you have then do this:
Restart your PC. Can you delete the files now? If not go to msconfig (Start>Run>Type “msconfig”)>Go to Startup Tab>Uncheck every box>Restart your PC as prompted.
Can you delete the files now?
If not go to msconfig again but this time go to the Services Tab. Check the box at the bottom that says “Hide All Microsoft Services”. Uncheck every box and restart your PC.
Best,
David
Thanks for the tips on this but I’m still having problems. When I try to delete the symantec or norton files I get a message saying it cant delete because some files are in use. I have nothing else open on the pc. Any ideas ??
Thanks
I just experienced this recently. It took me a while, but I was able to fully remove Norton. It’s a weird program to remove.