Re: NAV, SymNRT.exe, McAfee, and Windows Updates -- HELP!!

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"NoNoBadDog!" <no_@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uR2pGe9cFHA.2212@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "slightly_geeky" <slightly_geeky.1qt7d0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote in message
> news:slightly_geeky.1qt7d0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> PA Bear Wrote:
>>> Manually uninstalling Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 9.x client
>>> from
>>> Windows NT/2000/XP/2003:
>>> http://tinyurl.com/2v42c
>>>
>>> 1. Uninstall McAfee, reinstall Norton (Symantec) AV Corporate 9.x,
>>> manually
>>> uninstall per the above, install McAfee again?
>>>
>>> 2. System Restore?
>>>
>>> Symantec Service & Support
>>> http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/
>>> --
>>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
>>> MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security
>>>
>>> slightly_geeky wrote:
>>> > Big problem. Upgraded a bunch of XP Pro/SP2 machines from
>>> > Norton AntiVirus (Corporate Edition 9.x) to McAfee AntiVirus
>>> > (Corporate Edition 8.0i).
>>> >
>>> > Simple, right?
>>> >
>>> > Nope. Also included in this tale of woe is a little something
>>> > called the SymNRT.exe -- which is a removal tool supplied by
>>> > Symantec for instances where Windows Add/Remove Programs
>>> >
>>> > cannot remove NAV, and it's ONLY for a specific list of programs:
>>> >
>>> > Norton AntiVirus 2004, 2004 Professional, 2005, 2005 3 user
>>> > Norton Internet Security 2004, 2004 Professional, and 2005
>>> > Norton Internet Security Anti-Spyware Edition 2005
>>> > Norton SystemWorks 2004 and 2005
>>> > Norton AntiSpam 2004 and 2005
>>> > Norton Personal Firewall 2004 and 2005
>>> > Norton Ghost 2003 and 9.0
>>> > Norton Password Manager 2004
>>> >
>>> > Yes, the version of NAV we were using was NOT on this list, but a
>>> > decision was made to use the SymNRT.exe as it was thought it
>>> > would clean out any residual registry entries left behind after
>>> > removing NAV via Add/Remove Programs.
>>> >
>>> > Big mistake. Everything seemed fine, until we realized last
>>> > Tuesday that Windows Updates weren't happening. This is only
>>> > occurring on machines where the SymNRT.exe utility was used.
>>> >
>>> > So now the question is: what does SymNRT.exe actually do???
>>> >
>>> > It might be a shot in the dark, but I'm hoping there's a way
>>> > to fix this without having to do a complete re-installation of
>>> > XP on many, many machines. The closest we can come to any
>>> > sort of understanding of this problem is that BITS isn't
>>> > starting and cannot be manually started.
>>> >
>>> > Forgive me for cross-posting this, but I think my summer
>>> > vacation is at stake here!!!
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > PC
>> Yes, we did try un/re/un/re-installing with/out restore points, but
>> to no avail. Your suggestion as to the manual removal procedure is
>> very good and I'll work through it on another affected system as a
>> comparison.
>>
>> What has me worried is the what exactly the removal tool did with
>> the wrong version of NAV.. Anyway, I appreciate that you wrote;
>> I'll make an update post if I can find a way through. Thanks again.
>>
>>
>> PC
>>
>> AMP ACT I/II??
>> OMG!!
>>
>>
>> --
>> slightly_geeky
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> slightly_geeky's Profile:
>> http://www.iamnotageek.com/member.php?userid=13851
>> View this thread: http://www.iamnotageek.com/showthread.php?t=1819082371
>>
>
> FWIW, going from Norton to McAfee is a *Downgrade*, not an upgrade.
>
> Bobby
>
>

It's currently a sidewaysgrade with a slight upward slope, if you ask me.
Yes, I've been impartial to Norton ever since Symantec took over and ruined
all their products, but that doesn't get in the way of my being an effective
tech; I use every tool of value to do my job. I work with both products
(and others) and every once in a while I'll pick a machine or two and take
the time to scan in report only mode on them - McAfee always wins the prize
over SAV these days, since around November of last year when Symantec was
better and lost it's edge somehow... Normally I'll scan McAfee first, then
SAV which finds either nothing or a few minor things, then F-Prot, which
thanks to it's vastly superior heuristics is the best program of the three
IMHO, not to mention it can scan a system in a fraction of the time the
others will. Pricing scheme is better too, as it's a "one time" buy even at
the consumer level, no subscription for definition updates to anyone, and
the DOS scanner is free for personal use, though that's not saying much
these days since hardly anyone really uses FAT32 file system anymore except
those still stuck in Win9x world - only problem with F-Prot is it detects
most items as "suspicious" and "may be an unknown virus" due to the superior
heuristics (and *seeming inferior* definitions, though they are updated
almost daily and sometimes more frequently than that!) It also has trouble
deleting files for some reason in both the DOS and Windows versions, and it
refuses to delete a compressed file (archive or exe) when it can't delete a
file inside it.

Since F-Prot always picks up what SAV finds as well (assuming SAV will find
anything after a McAfee scan as it usually doesn't,) honestly the only
reason I still use SAV anymore is I'm waiting for the day when McAfee falls
behind in definitions and Symantec would pick up the slack. I know
eventually something will change in the definitions/updates department, or
someone will get hired/fired, or some internal policy implementation within
one of those companies will occur and quality will suffer, shifting power to
the other... (but it's starting to look bad for Symantec since they've been
behind far too long.) Well, I also still use it because it's a company
policy, one that has been just a waste of time for 6+ months now. :\
Company policy is usually subject to my will but I'm really too lazy to do
anything about it. Point being, I can easily see how he considers McAfee an
upgrade, because for a while it has been the better product in raw
detection, and I've noticed they are faster at releasing definitions when
threats break though that can be observer error... and the updater sucks I
always end up downloading from the FTP site myself.... So really I wouldn't
call it an upgrade either.

Not that it's relative in a corporate environment, but running NAV on a
system after scanning with SAV will detect extra stuff, though it's all
ad/spyware and doesn't always give you a chance to delete it either, just to
ignore it or not. McAfee corporate will find ad/spyware though, though not
as much as F-Prot, but SAV seems to not find any...

As to what a NAV removal tool did to a SAV system, I cannot guess. I know
they share common files but are very distinct beyond those few files, and
NAV relies on ActiveX whereas SAV does not (as I see it) and that's an
important part of IE and Windows Update..

cheers


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