HELP norton won uninstall I HaTE IT plz help

d3ctd3ct
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
ok this is exactly how things went:



i got norton and installed thinking there might be a need for it



now i went to try and uninstall it and it wont leave..



first i threw all the "packages" (or icons, a total of 2 (one icon and one folder)) from the application folder to the trash, then i noticed the norton icon was still at the top right next to my airport signal and battery life bar



then i went into system preferences, control clicked on both of the norton icons in there, and it told me to simply delete it (not uninstall; i guess because i threw away all the package contents first)



now i thought i had done the job correctly but... when i download or open something it scans everything automatically! norton is stil obviously on my computer but when i search for anything with the word norton or anti virus in my finder Nothing comes up... i am so stumped i have no idea where to go or what to do to get this burdon off of my computer



norton is more annoying than helping me on this computer and i need it off... someone please help

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    One of the golden rules of owning a Mac is never instlaling Norton products. You could do a clean install I suppose, but that sucks.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    A couple of things to try:



    1) In the Finder, do a search for 'Norton'. Delete everything that comes up that looks appropriate. (ie, don't delete "Invitation to Norton/Dennis Wedding" )



    2) Go grab a copy of Pacifist off of versiontracker.com, then use that to inspect the packages that installed Norton in the first place. This will give you a list of everything it installed. Go through and delete everything it lists. If anything was placed into /System/Library/... come back here, because it's going to be stickier than it should be. (Oh, and bitch at Norton - NO one is supposed to install anything in there other than Apple. For good reasons.)
  • Reply 3 of 9
    ishawnishawn Posts: 364member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ipodandimac

    One of the golden rules of owning a Mac is never instlaling Norton products. You could do a clean install I suppose, but that sucks.



    What's wrong with Mac and Norton? Is there an equal anti-virus/security availible?
  • Reply 4 of 9
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Norton Disk Doctor is known to destroy perfectly good drives. First rule of diagnostic and repair utilities: Do no harm. 'Nuff said.



    But if you want more...



    Norton apps are notoriously hard to uninstall. Their uninstallers seem to work about half the time. Second rule of any software: if the user wants to get rid of your crappy product, never stand in their way.



    Norton's anti-virus seems to lag competing products by a few weeks on getting definitions out there, at least on the Mac.



    If it has Norton on the box, avoid it, is simply a good rule of thumb.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    adamraoadamrao Posts: 175member
    I've never understood the obsession some people have with AntiVirus software. 99.9% of the time, if you're smart and you don't go skipping through strange websites, you won't contract a virus, worm, etc. I don't know why people continue to open e-mails with the subject heading of "Hi" from people they don't know. Even when I was a Windows user... I NEVER used AntiVirus software. It slows down the system and is very difficult to keep completely up-to-date (unless you like doing a clean install every time a new version of Norton AntiVirus comes out). On the Mac, I see no use for it and don't plan on using any kind of AntiVirus product whatsoever.



    For those new to the Mac... don't spend $70 on AntiVirus software unless you participate in any of the aforementioned "bad" activities. Use that $70 to save up for an iPod.



    My 10 cents...
  • Reply 6 of 9
    ishawnishawn Posts: 364member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by adamrao

    I've never understood the obsession some people have with AntiVirus software. 99.9% of the time, if you're smart and you don't go skipping through strange websites, you won't contract a virus, worm, etc. I don't know why people continue to open e-mails with the subject heading of "Hi" from people they don't know. Even when I was a Windows user... I NEVER used AntiVirus software. It slows down the system and is very difficult to keep completely up-to-date (unless you like doing a clean install every time a new version of Norton AntiVirus comes out). On the Mac, I see no use for it and don't plan on using any kind of AntiVirus product whatsoever.



    For those new to the Mac... don't spend $70 on AntiVirus software unless you participate in any of the aforementioned "bad" activities. Use that $70 to save up for an iPod.



    My 10 cents...



    If you say so....

    But then again...I've been getting emails that say they are from my teacher or dad and say somethign along the lines of opening the file...just beware...it's got a weird 'p' suffix fyi.

    Panther, I hear has a firewall...that's a little piece of mind. But your words are golden for me...and if it will bog it down and there's nothign out there...then so be it.

    I absolutely hate what Kazaa and everything does. It hurts people like me. I acutally witnessed someone stealing my own music from someone I know...because they didn't want to buy a CD. that's stupid.

    If common sense will keep my Mac clean...then...I trust you. lol. It's just...I've spent many a times reinstalling drives and stuff that have been deleted and messed with by Trojans on others people's computers.

    I am adament about the ease of a Mac.

    BTW: Is it Mac or Apple? Is Mac owned by apple? Apple by Mac? I don't know of anything that isn't Macintosh made by Apple...or am I thinking too much?
  • Reply 7 of 9
    crazychestercrazychester Posts: 1,339member
    Yes Norton does install stuff where it's not supposed to or at least it used too as I discovered when I made the stupid mistake of installing it a few years back. Seems it still does. And when you trash it, it leaves bits behind. You used to have to login as root to get rid of it all but, from a quick glance, it looks like you might be able to avoid that now.



    Go here and here and have fun. You might have to work your way through some of the other manual uninstall links from that first page too. (Assuming you've installed the full SystemWorks package and not just AV.)



    Bit like exorcising demons really - just when you think you've got them all, the possessed starts convulsing and projectile vomiting all over again.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by iShawn

    BTW: Is it Mac or Apple? Is Mac owned by apple? Apple by Mac? I don't know of anything that isn't Macintosh made by Apple...or am I thinking too much?



    Relax. I haven't had any anti virus SW since uninstalling Norton a few years back. It's Apple Mac. Apple is the company. Macs are a product made by Apple - specifically computers. As I remember it from way back when (and this could be wrong), Macs were the desktops and laptops were not Macs as such. But that's harking back to before the return of Steve or possibly even during his first incarnation. In any case, "Mac" is now used to describe any computer Apple makes. iPods are not Macs. An iSight isn't a Mac. Computers only. Macs are always Apple. But Apple isn't just Macs.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    kwikg5kwikg5 Posts: 3member
    Hi D3ct,



    better still - go to the place of purchase and demand your money back, with threats of lawsuits etc, (if you get no joy !)



    secondly, as has been said - NEVER USE NORTONS, years ago when Peter Norton had the company, it was a good product



    thirdly - do not erase your hard drive, instead you should zero the HD, this will erase and write zeros, thereby destroying all data (of nortons), and as a added bonus zeroing the HD will also protect your data better for the future because it will exclude all the factory defects on your drive from being used and corrupting your HD



    then you will probably never need a utility Application again
  • Reply 9 of 9
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by crazychester

    [ It's Apple Mac. Apple is the company. Macs are a product made by Apple - specifically computers. As I remember it from way back when (and this could be wrong), Macs were the desktops and laptops were not Macs as such. But that's harking back to before the return of Steve or possibly even during his first incarnation. In any case, "Mac" is now used to describe any computer Apple makes. iPods are not Macs. An iSight isn't a Mac. Computers only. Macs are always Apple. But Apple isn't just Macs.



    *blink*



    Maybe this is easier:



    Apple is a company. Apple makes computers, and a bunch of other things like displays, iPods and iSights. The current round of computers are called Macintoshes, or Macs for short. Apple originally sold a computer back in 1976 that you had to build yourself... the Apple I. Then they came out with the Apple ][, which had several models (the ][, ][+, ][e, //c). In 1982 they tried to sell a computer called the Lisa, which didn't succeed. In 1984 they introduced the Macintosh, which did. (About this same time they brought out the last of the ][ line, the //GS, which was arguably more advanced than the Mac, but the OS was the old Apple//e line, and people liked the GUI of the Mac more.)



    Apple is like Buick, a company. Macintosh is like Skylark, a product.



    KWIKG5: Zeroing out the data won't necessarily solve any bad blocks problems, and it won't prevent any future need for a repair utility. It is extreme overkill for something like this.
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