Norton AV Problems

[morningtrader]

I'm having major problems with the latest NAV 2003 live update on my 7 machines (3 XP, 2 win2000, 1 win98, 1 win ME).

Its stopped MS Word dead in its tracks when the Office plug in is turned on. EWven with the plug in off, right click in Explorer takes 30-60 seconds for menu to pop up, if it comes up at all. On slower machines regular programs are not loading. Even pulling up the NAV screen off the taskbar is taking 30-45 seconds on my 800fsb machine.

Are others having this problem with the latest patches? Does Norton know what a nationwide mess they have on their hands yet?

 

[starwarsdad]

I am having the same problem on my office network. I have even tried disabling NAV to no avail.

It seems to be affecting Word, Outlook, and Excel for us. The programs will eventually launch and run, but it is taking 5 minutes or more on hardware that is less than 2 years old. I am Googleing and searching the Symantec KB with no results so far

I cannot even get the Norton "Control Panel" to come up. I see NMain.exe launch in the Task Manager but no panel.

I have users on McAfee that are not experiencing this problem.

 

[mrbass]

Yes about 100 users at our work who are affected by this. Looks like a freaking long day. Will reply if I find something. Can't believe there isn't a annoucement of some kind by Norton on their website.

 

[mrbass]

ok this is what I sent out to our users which fixes the problem.

Subject: Norton 2003 problems opening office problems.

Experiencing slow load times for word, excel or outlook files?

Fix this by going to
Start | Program Files | Norton AntiVirus | LiveUpdate

Click NEXT (may take some time) and let it download a list of files.
If this fails press OK and try again until it succeeds.

Then click FINISH once it downloads the program updates and it'll automatically
reboot. Your done.

edit: oops..I had to send another message telling them how to disable Office Plug-in too.

This step is also required evidently.

Start | Program Files | Norton AntiVirus | Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional
Wait around a minute for it to open.

-Select Options
Wait around a minute for it to open.

-Select Misc
uncheck 'Enable Office Plug-in'

Click OK and minimize Norton AntiVirus.

 

[starwarsdad]

mrbass - thanks for the tips!

That solution/work-around does not correct the problem, but it does make the affected programs more usable.

I really hope Norton gets it together quickly! I have too much other work on my plate to run out and buy more licenses for McAfee

 

[mrbass]

Correct that doesn't solve the main problem but at least users can open word, excel from the network. If one tries opening Norton and right clicking on shortcuts it still slow as a dog though so hopefully an 'official' fix will be made available sometime today.

 

[starwarsdad]

I was not knocking you

I do appreciate the help!

 

[PsychoCrazy]

Dang! I'm having the same problems with the PCs at my office. Thanks for the tip on disabling the Office plugin. I sure hope they get it fixed soon.

 

[noxxic]

I'm having the same problem with the slow down. I thought it was some kind of a spyware or something... I saw this temporary fix over at BBR:

"Tools->InternetOptions->Advanced->Security->CheckForPublishersCertificateRevocation needs to be UNCHECKED."
(in Internet Explorer)

It's probably best to turn this back on though after this is all sorted out by Symantec.

 

[mrbass]

www.tinyurl.com/2ztdz
This is the link I got from Norton support after waiting 45 mins on hold. Haven't tried it yet but he said they're aware of the problem and an official fix isn't out yet but this will solve the problem.

basically it's what noxxic said about Internet Explorer Publisher certificate revocation.

 

[ldspears]

Yesterday, 01/07/04 I used Norton Live Update to update Norton Antivirus 2003 and today it takes three minutes for Norton Antivirus to load when Windows XP Pro starts up. Also it takes one or two minutes to run any Norton System Works 2003 program. And the I clicked on Microsoft Word and it won't load at all. I sent an email to Symantec and no response. I removed Norton Antivirus 2003 and system back to normal.

Please contact Symantec if you have this problem.

Thanks
Dan Spears
Atlanta, Ga.

 

[Caminetto]

I too have not been able to get any norton utilities to run (since last evening) or run without waiting for long periods. It looks like the utilities want to check with the symantec web site to get permission to execute and all I want to do is to defrag etc. I believe this is probably related to the new product activation policy and the same old story of attempting to stop pirates by punishing the paying customer. What a piss poor operation symantec has become!

 

[Sgt. Rock]

I've got the same problems at our office on all WinXP SP1 PCs with OfficeXP. I experimented with one of the PCs and dumped Norton 2003 Antivirus. Everything was back to normal. I then installed a copy of Norton Internet Security 2004 (with N. Antivirus 2004) on the PC and updated it and the Office programs run normally with the 2004 N. Antivirus. Obviously, this is not the desired solution... I will wait for a patch or update from Symantec for the other PCs. I hate being Symantec's guinea pig!

Sounds like this is a compound problem with Verisign and Symantec...
I followed the instructions on the site that mrbass refferenced above to clear the IE "Check for...Certificate revocation...
We only showed the first box checked under Security which I unchecked on all the PCs. This caused all the PCs to act normally.
A further note... I uninstalled the Norton 2004 Antivirus on the test PC (I did not register or activate because it was a test) and reinstalled Norton Antivirus 2003 (because it was licensed until 10...2004) and it reset the license year to Jan 8, 2005! Bonus! That may be cheating a little but they owe me for about 4 hours today...

 

[noxxic]

It looks like this is caused by expired Verisign certificates: BBR News
SlashDot

 

[Harvey]

I have similar problems with my System Works 2002 (still current subscription). The problem is the latest update. Symantec has done something I never would have expected in a gigayear -- they fscked the living piss out of Live Update. :disgust:

I phoned their customer service number, (800) 441-7234. When I first called, I got an outgoing message directing those having these problems to http://service.symantec.com/fixit.. The page starts

Slow down after updating to the January 7th or 8th virus definitions.

If you are having this problem, please read the document After updating to the January 7th or 8th virus definitions, your computer slows down and Microsoft Word and Excel will not start.

I tried everything I found, there, and on all links, and it isn't any better. I then called back and spent around 20 minutes on the phone with a customer service guy.

My system is fine until I try to use Live Update or click the green diamond and blue "N" icon in my system tray. Then, all bets are off, and I'm in for lockups, blue screens, and other crap. My Office progs work when I boot, and I haven't tested to see if that applies after I try Live Update. I'll test that, later.

The guy said if I update to 2003 or 2004, they'll tack on the remainder of my AV subscription, but that sucks. I may try re-installing it and avoiding updates for Live Update. I already have an OEM copy of System Works 2003 so I may have to go that way, but I've seen it, and for my Win 98 SE installation, I'd rather stay with what I have, for now. I've also heard way too many negatives about 2004 so I don't want to go that way.

I usually don't mind the fact that they charge for tech support. It says so in the agreement, and I accepted that. In this case, they broke this so I think they owe everyone free tech support to fix it. Call their toll free number and keep calling until they understand this.

 

[mcveigh]

well the problem is the verisign cert expiring... anyone know how to replace it?

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: mrbass
www.tinyurl.com/2ztdz
This is the link I got from Norton support after waiting 45 mins on hold. Haven't tried it yet but he said they're aware of the problem and an official fix isn't out yet but this will solve the problem.

basically it's what noxxic said about Internet Explorer Publisher certificate revocation.

Thanks for the tip. Problem solved (at least for now).

 

[Harvey]

jadinolf -- That is not the fix for my problems. I'm on DSL and using NS 7.1. I think they have a nasty screwup on their hands, and they're just getting around to figuring out how bad it is. Meanwhile, if you haven't already updated, you can probably use the Intelligene Updater to download the latest virus profiles manually.

I sent out a mass blast e-mail to all my friends to warn them NOT to use Live Update until this is resolved. Fortunately, everything on my system works fine until I try to run Live Update.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: Harvey
jadinolf -- That is not the fix for my problems. I'm on DSL and using NS 7.1. I think they have a nasty screwup on their hands, and they're just getting around to figuring out how bad it is. Meanwhile, if you haven't already updated, you can probably use the Intelligene Updater to download the latest virus profiles manually.

I sent out a mass blast e-mail to all my friends to warn them NOT to use Live Update until this is resolved. Fortunately, everything on my system works fine until I try to run Live Update.

Hi Harvey

Worked for me. I got very suspicious when I had problems on all three computers.

I'll wait for the real update as well.

I do have all of the latest update, I think (1/7/04)

 

[GrumpyMan]

Stupid Symantec I'm getting real tired of them and will drop all of their products with the exception of the Anti-Virus until I find a suitable replacement.

 

[TechnoKid]

Hrmmm I guess this is whats causing my slowdowns as well. Except that it slows down when windows tries to generate a preview for a highlighted image in MyPictures.

Noticed it when I updated norton.

 

[Amused]

 

[imported_Phil]

I used to have lots of problems with NAV2003, and we have a ton of people coming into our store complaining about NAV2004. Fortunately for me, I stopped using NAV since this kind of thing kicked off, and am now using Avast! Home Edition (which, btw, is totally free and great). Recommended

 

[Jayczar]

my office documents were opening up rather slowly and this is what I did.
Search for officeav.dll and then delete it. my documents open up
instantly with av still running, just be careful what you open

 

[jeanlo]

Originally posted by: Jayczar
my office documents were opening up rather slowly and this is what I did.
Search for officeav.dll and then delete it. my documents open up
instantly with av still running, just be careful what you open

Just wondering, do you know what the purpose of that file actually is?

Also, has Norton addressed this yet? I used the fix that was posted, but I worry that it's not the ultimate solution...

Jean