Getting rid of Norton. Byebye resource hog.

I'm so tired of Norton. Looked at the memory usage for Norton (and its 2 thousand processes) and its always between 78-85mb. The CPU usage will vary ~1-2% depending on whats going on. I also get its annoying popups when new software is downloaded, devices plugged in, etc.

In short, I need to get rid of it. But I've had some serious problems removing Norton from my Dell desktop 6 months ago. After removing parts (some parts simply would not uninstall...and the processes would still load up in the memory) my Dell had serious issues. In the end I had to reformat the computer. I want to avoid doing that on my Vaio if at all possible.

Any advice?

 

One of the first things I did with my new VAIO was uninstall Norton. I did it through the Add/Remove Programs application, and didn't get any subsequent pop-ups or notifications.

On my desktop computer, however, I've run into the same problems you're having (although maybe it's with McAfee?) ---- I uninstalled the program, but my machine still runs occasional virus scans. A definitive answer on this would be most helpful.

 

I suppose add/remove programs to uninstall and then delete all search results in the registry (start menu > run > regedit) under 'symantec' and 'norton'

Symantec actually released a tool to remove their products, but as I understand it it doesn't work for post 2005

Norton is ridiculous though. After using AVG free, I liked it so much I paid for 2 yr AVG + firewall. 33mb total. imo that's impressive as ZL Pro alone can take up 30mb itself so for Grisoft to pull off both a/v and firewall for the same amount of mem is great

 

I found a removal link from Norton themselves. I will have to try it later though: http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

 

I gave it a go on getting rid of norton a couple days ago and failed.My bro recomened zonealarm but it seemed to clash with nivida driver on top of me not being able to open My Safe it was a failure.So norton is taking up space on my drive once more.
I use trend micro anti spyware suit,adaware.Anyone with some good advice for a sucurity suit that will increase my speed giving me firewall, e-mail protecton with no heavy weight like norton would be greatly apreciated
thanks

 

The best way to go about getting rid of Norton is by doing a clean install or semi-restore. Otherwise, you're going to have residual traces of the program that may come back to haunt you when you least expect it (kinda like PCP).

 

i got rid of norton on my sz only to (stupidly) install McAfee. I prefer McAfee to avg tho, seems easier to use.

I wish i knew what i could stop from auto-loading with 'start-up manager'. any ideas?

 

There are different Norton icons in the ADD-Remove program. Be careful to select the right one first and the others wll dissapear upon reboot. I use AVG and it seems to take care of itself as far as updating itself, etc. Practically maintenance free. But I have a Sony Vaio T250, so things with Norton may be different now.

 

The only useful, great Symantec product was their Corporate Edition v8 or 9 Client in unmanaged mode (certainly not the latest v10, that comes the same stupid 4-5 services like the Desktop NAV and you have to disable them manually) - everything else is a truckload of ***.

Isn't ridiculous that all the old big AV names became #1 crapware suppliers for your machine? McAfee, Symantec/Norton, perhaps F-prot as well...

 

Thru Add/Remove programs I uninstalled Norton ISS, but when I tried to remove LiveUpdate it said that there was still Symantec products registered with it. Finally I found a Symantec KB in the list. Once I uninstalled that, LiveUpdate uninstalled without a complaint. Now just have to hunt out the folders...

 

When this laptop first seen power, I uninstalled Norton before it could initialize!
Immediately installed avast(copied from other laptop) until I could get Kaspersky downloaded and installed.
Never looked back!

 

I did a full uninstall of norton once more.I then downloaded kaspersky with a very easy install.As you said dadkins....never looked back.
outstanding security with no clutter giving outstanding protection.Thanks for throwing that software into the thread.