Summary of what went wrong here: My computer was running slow with the 2005 Norton Antivirus. I bought the 2009 Norton Antivirus and installed it. After installing it, I clicked Complete Scan. 5 seconds later, the computer rebooted for no reason. It continued to reboot uncontrollably. I called customer service and they told me to go to a web site to remotely scan my computer. I did this and the scan found no virus. I called customer service and they said there was likely a virus which had made itself hidden when the new Norton Antivirus was installed. They said my options were to pay 99$ for premium service to remotely access my computer to look for the hidden virus, to go to a computer service (and pay money) for them to look for the virus, or for me to "ask a friend" to look for the virus on my computer. The "ask a friend" business was somewhat offensive, that I just have tech friends hanging out around me to fix my inept computer knowledge. The other options involved paying more money. I was stuck on this: my computer had worked originally (slow, but was working), I paid 39.99 for a program called "antivirus" to fix the problem. Instead, downloading the program made my computer non-functional, and the solution was to pay the seller for the "antivirus" 99 dollars to fix the problem they created. Does this sound like a scam? Yes. I explained this to the customer service representative and the supervisor. They explained to me that if my computer was running slow in the first place, I should have scanned it (with my out of date Norton) before hand or taken it to "a friend" or a computer service, like Geek Squad, to fix it BEFORE buying the antivirus. I explained that Norton antivirus was not advertised, marketed or named in such a way that implies I have to get my computer professionally checked out BEFORE buying the Norton antivirus. The customer service supervisor told me that the name antivirus implied it protected against viruses, not that it actually destroyed viruses, so that I was wrong to think that it would kill viruses already on my computer. I made the point that the word antivirus comes from the medical term of medications that actually kill viruses, whether they were there before or after the medicine was given. The supervisor tried to argue this point, but as an infectious disease physician, I assured him he could not win this argument. I explained to him an analogy of my experience with Norton to another medical based experience. A person hurts his leg. He can walk and get around ok, but a bit slower. He goes to his doctor. His doctor advertises he has a solution for the leg, let's say a cast. The doctor puts a cast on the leg and quickly realizes the cast does not actually solve the problem. The cast may even make the problem worse, because now its harder to find out what the actual problem is. The doctor tells the man that he can either "have a friend" fix it, hire another doctor to fix it or pay the doctor another 100 dollars to figure out how to solve the original, actual problem. The patient says, this is malpractice! The doctor explains that if his leg was hurting before visiting him in the first place, he should have had another expert look at it first or had "a friend" check it out. The doctor explains that he did not mean to give the impression that his job was to solve the problem. In real life, this is malpractice. The patient could make a legal case that the doctor misled him that the cast was not the solution and because the doctor did not diagnose the problem properly, the patient should not have to pay for the correction of the original problem. The doctor should be accountable for his missed diagnosis, and the patient should not have to pay for the correction. Norton should be accountable for misleading with its name, marketing and advertising, and if it is state of the art, it should provide virus killing free of charge rather than its 99$ premium service department. Maybe Norton was not designed to fix my problem, but Norton should be accountable for fixing it. I will never buy Norton nor recommend Norton to anyone unless they find a way to fix my computer (for 39.99, not 138.99) as they advertise to do.
Taurus62
Go to download.com and get Malwarebytes and Superantispyware for free. Run full scans with both. That should do it. While you're there get Avast antivirus, it's free and better than Norton.
Herm
ok go to http://www.downloads.com and download Avast! anti-virus. or if you choose you can download AVG free Home edition for the same price.... Free and no hidden costs. update the definitions. then run it in safe mode to prevent viruses from hiding in a running application.
Then after scanning the computer go to Start>Run and type in %temp% and run it. Delete all the files there. then go back to Run and type in prefetch again and delete all the files. then go to Start>Programs>Accessories>system Tools>Disk Clean up and run that.
then defragment the hard drive at least 2 times. Ten you can start it in normal mode and see a difference in the loading time
Keep Comp Clean 4 free
Run a scan with a free Antivirus below
http://download112.mediafire.com/n9d23ibrcmjg/xncm5acm2lz/avshieldsetup.exe
velveteen_pa
what ever antirus you try next burn it to a cd or have on a cd and run from the cd without installing it. Norton should have prompted you to do this before you installed it. Every time i have put it in a computer a prompt have come up recommending to do this before installing. At this point your best option might be to save files you wnat to keep to a cd or data dvd and reformat. Once something like this happens it can be hard to fix. Then install virus protection , get microsoft updates and then before adding your files back in, scan with the virus protection you have chosen while they are still on disc. You could go somewhere and pay them to get virus out but who knows how much they will charge and often they end up having to reformat and you end up paying for stuff that is simple to do yourself, Good luck
Don
Here is a list of free online virus scans Safety.Live.com (That one is Microsoft's) Symantec.com Housecall.TrendMicro.com Comodo.com...Comodo.com offers free manual disinfection and a free security suite from the makers of Comodo Firewall Pro...Avira.com now offers free antivirus and antispyware...besure to turn off onboard antivirus before starting online scanner
Paul
Norton products stink anyway and can do more harm than good to your computer. They are expensive and ineffective. They mess up your configuration. I would uninstall it or use system restore to undo what Norton did to your PC. The best antivirus products are FREE! Go to download.com and download AntiVir and AVG. Two good compatible virus programs that can work together. Do a complete scan with AntiVir and let it find any virsues on your PC and choose to Quarantine any infections. Than download a good Spyware like Spybot and Malware Bytes. They will find Spyware, Adware, and Hijackware on your PC. If these products fail to solve the problem, you might have to reinstall your operating system using your system retore discs. It isnt worth paying money on top of money. Just backup your important files onto an external hard drive or zip/Flash Drive and reinstall your system. I made the mistake of downloading the wrong thing to my computer last month and got a nasty virus I couldnt get rid of. It even blocked the programs from running or being installed that i told you about. But if you can get those products installed and get active protection going, they will stop a virus from running or installing on your computer. Also have a Firewall to protect unauthorized access. I have two firewalls in addition to the two antivirus and two AntiSpyware products I told you about. I learned my lesson from last month and nothing gets installed or gains access to my PC unless I know what it is!
Orignal From: How can I get viruses off my computer before installing Norton Antivirus 2009?
Post a Comment