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AVG 9 & old Norton that won't uninstall.
By: rekha singh | 09 Jun 2010 12:09 pm
I have a laptop with Vista purchased 2/07. Norton was installed on trial when I got the computer 2/07. Norton creates more problems than it's worth! Never used Norton again.
I downloaded AVG 9 last evening, I thought! I spent about 4 hours downloading AVG 9 to find out at the end, that Norton Internet Security needed to be uninstalled since there was a conflict with AVG. The message after trying to uninstall was "Specified module could not be found." Well, it can't be uninstalled! Basically the hours spent (on dial up) downloading AVG 9 was lost.
How do I get any reminence of Norton off my computer? Under msconfig it was disabled a while back, but I could not uninstall it. It did not seem to be a problem in the past with running various versions of AVG.
I looked under Symantec removal tools but was not sure what to do.
Looking for you tech savvy people to help me out.
Thanks
CommentsFirst you need to go to www.symantec. com and get the Norton remover. I would not bother with AVG but go to www.avast.com and get the home version Its free and much better than AVG.
By: rekha singh | 09 Jun 2010
Norton (and McAfee) can be hard to remove. It's also true that you can't install AVG or any other antivirus program on a computer that still has traces of Norton or McAfee. Your system has to be clean in that respect. just sent the link to the Norton removal tool, so that's covered. A couple of tips:
Hours lost... - if you already downloaded AVG, hopefully you saved it to your computer rather than just downloading and running it. If you saved it, you should still have the install file on there somewhere in a download folder. Did you save it to a folder or your desktop? Then you can just run AVG again after you've run the Norton removal tool (and restarted the computer).
If you clicked on Run instead of Save when downloading AVG, my advice would be to download AVG on a computer with a faster Internet connection (if this is possible - friend, library etc.) and just copy the .exe file to a USB memory stick. Then you can install it directly onto your own computer and just update it which shouldn't take long. This will save you hours since you're using dial-up.
If you're on dial-up, I would recommend always saving the download to your computer rather than clicking on Run. If a program becomes corrupted in some way and you need to re-install it, then at least you have the original install file on your computer, which will save you having to download it again.
Disabling Norton in msconfig won't help I'm afraid since Norton is all over the place in the register and AVG picks up on this immediately. The removal tool should hopefully remove all traces.
I've been a big AVG fan for years. They're both good programs. It's really just personal preference.
By: rekha singh | 09 Jun 2010
I just thought of something if you are faced with downloading AVG again. Four hours is pretty deadly. An ideal antivirus/antispywa re program for somebody on a dial-up connection would be Microsoft Security Essentials: I've tried it out for a week on a computer and I was impressed with the simplicity of the interface and the unobtrusive way it worked in the background. You don't even notice it's there. I've also read positive
reviews in computer forums and magazines. But the main reason I'm suggesting it is because it's a relatively tiny download - only 4.28 MB as opposed to AVG's massive 74 MB. It's completely free and it's also a simple and quick installation - very user-friendly.
You'll still have to remove Norton first since this program won't tolerate similar programs either. If you're running Vista, it'll switch Windows Defender off automatically to avoid potential conflicts.
Just a thought.
By: rekha singh | 09 Jun 2010
Avast Home is only 94.4kb to download and gives more protection. It also runs in the background.
By: rekha singh | 09 Jun 2010
I'm tempted to ignore this and I know I should but okay, here we go. Avast is not a 94.4 kb download. Not now and never will be. If it was, you'd have the whole of Avast downloaded to your machine in about roughly 1.5 seconds. That is not the case. KB is a far cry from MB. If you go to the AVG website to download AVG 9.0, you'll see that the download for that is only 870 kb. But these figures are only tiny download managers. The real download comes afterwards. If you go to Filehippo.com you'll see the size of the actual downloads:
AVG is a 74 MB download - http://filehippo. com/download_ avg_antivirus/
Avast is 39 MB - http://filehippo. com/download_ avast_antivirus/
Microsoft Security Essentials - 8.62 MB(for XP)
Microsoft Security Essentials - 4.29 MB(for Vista)
If it takes 4 hours to download AVG on dial-up, it'll take her about 2 hours to download Avast and only about 27 minutes (or 14 minutes if she uses Vista) to download Microsoft Security Essentials. That seems to me like the best bet at the moment for somebody in her situation. MSE is light, quick and easy to install and very user-friendly. There's also no messing about with registration.
Why do you keep on insisting that Avast is 'so' much better than AVG and offers more protection? You can't base this on anything. This is purely a personal opinion. MSE also runs constantly in the background and gives excellent, real-time protection - as does AVG Free...... AVG does a great job at protecting computers - like Avast, AntiVir, Kaspersky, Panda, Norton, McAfee and NOD32 to name but a few. We can recommend programs based on our own personal preference but not state categorically that one is better than the other.
By: rekha singh | 09 Jun 2010
I usually google free AVG and I get good links.
By: rekha singh | 09 Jun 2010
I recently used the NORTON removal tool and then successfully installed AVG, which works fine! However, despite total removal, I occasionally get a "pop=up" asking if I want Norton to check my computer, LOL....I always say "later", the only choice besides "yes". I assume if I would say yes, it would ask me to buy.
AND IMPORTANTLY: the free AVG doesn't seem to check for certain root malicious thingies, so I supplement with WINDOWS DEFENDER, which came free in my VISTA. Only that it does not turn on by itself with AVG, so every time I turn on the laptop, I go and turn on DEFENDER manually, and That WORKS GREAT.....so far.
best
By: rekha singh | 21 Jun 2010
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