Norton Antivirus and XP Problems

[Airpan]

This is going to be a little long. Last nite I went to a friend's house to look at her computer (Dell she purchased about a year ago - I don't have it in front of me or I would list the specs) but apparently after she uninstalled Norton Antivirus, there were some weird things that started happening. First, she went to use her email (web based) and when she tried to use the buttons to compose, delete, or reply to an email, the buttons wouldn't work. To be clearer, she could press them, but they didn't take her to the approriate screen to reply, compose, or delete the email. As the nite went on, the issues appeared to have gotten even more bizarre.
The next thing we noticed was that apparently there was some sort of issue going on with the script engine which we went to microsoft and downloaded the package for. It still didn't seem to solve the problem. After that, I went to search her machine for some files, and the search screen opened but didn't have the text boxes to allow you to type in the search criteria - the little dog (search companion) was at the bottom but nothing else.
We found something online that indicated that this had happened to someone else when they uninstalled Norton. We followed their instructions to get into the registry and found the particular entries they referenced and did what it said to do - NO DICE. It didn't change anything. Does anyone have some kernels of wisdom because at this point I am opting for reinstalling her OS. Thanks.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
If it was connected to the internet after removing the Anti-Virus, it may have been hit..It can take as little as 30 seconds for a virus attack on an unprotected computer..
Is the firewall, at least, enabled ( please say yes)?
Download, if possible, a good anti-virus program and run a scan to see what may have happened..

Could be just coincidence, but, better safe than sorry..








To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[Airpan]

Hello Turkbear...
Actually I can't attest to anything regarding if it was connected when she uninstalled b/c I was called in after the problems had all ready started. She had tried to install another antivirus program and was successful in doing so, but when she called Tech Support at her ISP they seemed to think it was active x controls. Either way, they had her uninstall the new virus software that she had put on her machine to replace Norton, to eliminate it as possibly part of the problem, but as it turns out that apparently wasn't the problem. Just to eliminate further speculation with regard to viruses and the like... I did a full system scan with antivirus, spyware sofware, and adware software. No viruses were found and all critical objects for spyware and adware were removed. Still not working properly.

 

[linney]

Norton removal clean up tool.

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/docid/2001092114452606

System Restore could be used to go back in time before all the trouble started.

Do you have another user profile you can try?

811151 - How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811151

Is the problem occurring in Safe Mode?

Try this link with a view to fixing your search engine.

http://www.dougknox.com/

Click on WIN XP FIXES on the left of the page and look for "Win XP Search Problems".

See if fixing the Winsock settings helps?
WinXP Connectivity Issues
faq779-4625

What E-mail program is it, are there any repair options with it?

Removing adware & spyware
faq608-4650

Microsoft (GIANT Antispyware) Beta available
Thread779-979113

Try the free version of "Ewido"

http://www.ewido.net/

Are there any clues in the Event Viewer?

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

If they don't work you could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

 

[Airpan]

thanks for your help linney will give it a try and post back soon!

 

[Airpan]

OK, here is the skinny on this. I am really starting to lean toward a re-install, BUT I haven't tried the Norton Cleam up tool yet... regardless the issues have now spread to other program's buttons not working and after I performed the repair feature, it still wasn't remedied.

I went to Microsoft's site and got information on how to do an in-place re-install. Before I just follow the instructions is there any advice to give me before I do an in place install? To be clearer, is there anything I need to be careful of, issues I am not aware of, etc? Thanks again for your assistance.

 

[linney]

You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

The article you refer to, and linked to earlier, has this paragraph, "After you perform an in-place upgrade" in which there are some cautions mentioned.

 

[Airpan]

Thanks again, and hopefully all will go well. If not, I will post soon.

 

[Airpan]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I used the norton clean up tool and it still didn't remedy the problem, but the inplace install did. I spent a couple hours on Sunday re-installing and updating the machine. It works great now, so thanks everyone for the help!