55 Minute Uninstall

Wow, it would have almost been faster to backup the data, reformat the hard drive, and reinstall everything from scratch. The long install was of the grossly over programmed Norton Internet Security Suite. Here's the breakdown of my appointment:

8:26am	Arrive at customer's house. He tells me that his computer is running extremely slow.
8:32am	I sit down and hit the power button on the computer.
8:36am	Still staring at the Windows XP startup logo, I ask the customer to bring in the laptop since he wants me to look at it also.
8:40am	The laptop is booted up and I'm already looking it over.
8:41am	Desktop is finally up…9 minutes!! Yikes!
8:46am	Add/Remove programs is finally up and the list populated. I find Norton Internet Security and click the Remove button.
9:41am	55 minutes later, I can finally work on the computer. The actual uninstall procedure took about 50 minutes and then another five for it to reboot after removal of Norton.
10:07am	I installed and updated both AVG Anti-virus and anti-spyware, tested the Internet connect, tested MS Word (which wasn't working at all an hour earlier) and started the AVG scans all in this past half hour.

The moral of the story is that Norton products slow down even the fastest computers significantly more than any other security product. The installs are long, the updates are long, the uninstalls are long, and the protection is mediocre. Please, save yourself money, time and grief and don't buy or install Norton products on yours or other people's computers.

Related articles:

1. Worst excuse for keeping Norton: I have already paid for it
2. Slow computer? Viruses? Malware? I can help!
3. Don’t run more than one antivirus program
4. I’ve heard you say that before
5. Things we say for our health

3 Responses to “55 Minute Uninstall”

1. Anonymous says:

   November 18, 2006 at 5:12 pm

   I had a computer crash and I ask the computer people that fixed it to please not put Norton Antivirus back on there. I have been using AVG. Lo and behold they put it on anyhow.
   I uninstalled it, but I still have two windows that keep coming up when I boot my computer everyday. Plus the
   Norton Trash can is still on the desktop. Is there anyway to get rid of all of NOrton Antivirus? Uninstalling it didn’t do it.

   Reply
2. erik says:

   May 29, 2010 at 6:58 pm

   I don’t know any links but there are several websites that can tell you how to completely remove norton

   Reply
3. Rick says:

   May 31, 2010 at 2:19 pm

   Yep, including my “Links” page at the top of the page.

   Reply