How to fix a botched uninstall?

[orange12]

Hey everyone, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do and could use some help. I was uninstalling Norton Antivirus from my computer today (its been giving me trouble, crashing a lot) but I think the software is so badly corrupted that the uninstall froze barely 1/4 of they way in. I had to shut it down through the old Ctr+Alt+Del but after rebooting my computer, I noticed that the program no longer shows up in Windows XP's Add or Remove Programs list. That would have be a good thing except Norton is still on my computer and restarted with my computer as usual.

I guess my question is now what? I can't find an uninstall program within the Norton folder itself either. Is it safe to boot into safe mode, and drag and drop the entire folder into the trash? Any kind of advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[John]

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

 

[orange12]

Many thanks for the link. But get this: I ran the Norton removal program and according to it:

"The following programs were found on this computer. They must be removed through "Add/Remove Programs before Norton Removal Tool can proceed."

Uggh. It looks like I'm in a catch-22 here. So Windows doesn't recognize Norton as being installed yet Norton thinks Windows should know its installed. I think I try just straight up reinstalling Norton.

 

[John]

I only see that message when a system has PC Anywhere, WinFax, or other Symantec product installed.

 

[daniel49]

install it (norton) again. reboot into safemode and uninstall it.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: daniel49
install it (norton) again. reboot into safemode and uninstall it.

IIRC you need to be in normal mode to run the removal tool or to uninstall Symantec products due to the windows installer.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Originally posted by: orange12
Many thanks for the link. But get this: I ran the Norton removal program and according to it:

"The following programs were found on this computer. They must be removed through "Add/Remove Programs before Norton Removal Tool can proceed."

Uggh. It looks like I'm in a catch-22 here. So Windows doesn't recognize Norton as being installed yet Norton thinks Windows should know its installed. I think I try just straight up reinstalling Norton.

What is usually included in that message is a specific reference to a Norton product from 2002 or earlier. I ran into a similar problem with SystemWorks 2002 and I did not have the uninstall. (I do really wish the uninstall would at least be loaded to the disk during install so that keeping track of the disks isn't so critical.) I deleted all the files I could find and then ran a registry cleaner to remove all Norton entries. I was then able to run the removal tool.