BleepingComputer.com: Norton 2009 installation screwup

There appears to be a bug in Norton's install of '09, and I'm not getting updates as a result. This will probably prove to be a temporary situation, but don't do as I did if you're in the same situation I am in.

Which is to say, I've got an admin privledged account on my wife's computer, but she gets her Norton updates from a woman friend logged in on her account.

Norton '07 was installed 10/07, maybe while logged in on my account.

Norton '08 was installed 10/08 by the friend, almost certainly on wife's account.

Feb 24 2009 I got a fadeup window in the low right corner of my screen, from Norton, looking like the ones offering new virus definitions but in this case offering a software update. It took me to http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/su...d.jsp?BDMType=3. I didn't notice the "2007" (and you can't see it either, because of the ellipses), not least because it was outside the displayed part of the address. Note that it says, "If you choose to download Norton AntiVirus 2009, you will have the right to use this product until the expiration of your current Norton AntiVirus subscription..."

So I let Norton uninstall '08 and install '09. Bad move. At the end of the process it displayed a product key and a bit later announced that my subscription had expired and asked for a product key. Supplying the product key it had supplied led to an insistance that I was in need of purchasing a resubscription. Not for another 7 months!

Norton chat led to nothing other than an insistance that I needed to resubscribe. The key supplied by the '09 install process turned out to date from 10/07. I asked if there was a log of virus definition updates, supposing that if it showed that I had been receiving updates after 10/08 (which I had) I could shake the tech's insistance that I had only a 10/07 key. But he couldn't find any logs other than for the 2/09 install.

Now, a bit of digging resulted in my finding out (http://service1.symantec.com/Support/sharedtech.nsf/docid/2007022800174213, expand "I have not...") that the current key is stored in Windows\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\Symantec as <product name>?key.txt . Noting "<username>" in the string, a light went on. MY copy contains the '07 product key and probably always did. I'm betting the '08 key is still in the equivalent file under the wife's username.

Now I could ask for her password, or crack it, but I'll just wait until she and her friend come back from their visit to Arizona (baseball spring training) in a few days. Can do without Norton updates, and endure the pestering windows, for a few days longer. Hopefully the ****key file under her acoount will still have the right key, or the friend will have saved the key in a Norton Account or written it down.

Is there a log of virus definition downloads, with dates, btw?

Are you asking about from your program or from the Norton list? Because, I know for certain that your program will keep a list, but not sure if Norton keeps along with their logging.

Swordie, on Mar 4 2009, 03:21 PM, said:

Dunno what you mean. Running Norton AntiVirus pulls up a "Subscribe Now" box with three function buttons, none of which show a log of previous virus def downloads.

I'm expecting a log file such as is generated during install. Say in C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\ (but I don't see it there). Patches and updates. It's got to keep track of where it is, and ought to record how it got there, for debug purposes if nothing else.

Quote

That was where my answer was directed to.
And you find the log files within the settings--> logs section. They never show you directly a log. I'm not sure what exactly Norton 2008 or 2009 will show you, but when I was using McAfee, they showed me everything, and I just had to filter it.

Swordie, on Mar 4 2009, 04:27 PM, said:

Is English your first language? ... Anyway, since Norton won't run without a working key I can't get access to anything called "settings", much less "logs". And it turned out that the only Norton *key.txt file under my wife's login (in C:\Documents and Settings\<account name>\My Documents\Symantec btw, nb: no \Windows this time) was Norton AntiVirus_2006_Key.txt, which is going in the wrong direction. So much for that idea. Next I'll check with the friend who installed '08 to see if she stored the '08 key. What a pain in the ass.

errata: The '07 key is stored in my account under a filepath that doesn't include "Windows" either. The Symantec article I pointed to is about finding the key after an upgrade to Vista, and I erred in just stripping ".old" from the indicated filepath, rather than the whole "Windows.old".

This post has been edited by gandydancer: 09 March 2009 - 01:59 PM

gandydancer, on Mar 4 2009, 03:05 PM, said:

Hi gandydancer,

This is Mike from the Norton Authorized Support Team responding.

Are you using Norton AntiVirus or Norton Internet Security? Please let me know.

It sounds like there is a problem with your subscription status that needs to be resolved before you can properly uninstall the older version and cleanly install the newer version.

As long as your subscription is indeed valid, then you would use your existing key for the 08 version to activate the 09 version. If you have not already done so, please contact the Norton Customer Service department for help with your subscription. Make sure that you write down your Activation key properly.

Contact Norton Customer Support

After they have verified your subscription information, they will then add the correct number of remaining days to your subscription.

Please follow the steps below to properly remove and cleanly install Norton.

1. Click on the following link to download the Norton Removal Tool:

Norton Removal Tool and Instructions

2. After you run the tool, please restart your computer. Then log in to Windows again and run the removal tool again. Restart your computer after it is finished running the second time as well.

3. Click on the link below to download the latest installer for the Norton product that you are upgrading, by selecting the "Download" button next to the product.

Norton Download Center

4. After you have downloaded the latest installer, double-click on it to install the 2009 version.

5. When the installation is complete, launch Norton and manually run LiveUpdate.

6. Finally, perform a "Full System Scan" with Norton to check for infections.

Let me know if everything works out or if you run in to any other issues.

Thanks,
Mike

The problem was resolved by obtaining the '08 key from the individual who installed it. Here is what I wrote Symantec on their follow-up form: "The problem was that Norton'08 invited me to upgrade to Norton'09 via one of your fade-up windows and when I accepted proceeded to lose the product code for '08 (which was still good for another 225 days or so) instead dredging up my '07 code, which had expired 10/08. I pointed out that there must be a log on this computer that would show my upgrade to Norton '08 and subsequent virus definition downloads, etc., so that it could be determined that my subscription COULD NOT have expired 10/08. But your support personnel was unable to locate that log and though they did repeatedly contact me offered no effective assistance. Hence your low technical competence score. After I solved the problem myself by locating the individual who had installed Norton '08 and obtaining the lost product key I was able to confirm that this computer has a "Security History" demonstrating exactly what I had proposed to demonstrate. Your personnel should have (a)provided a one-use key or otherwise gotten access to my Security History to confirm that my subscription ought not have expired until 10/09; (2) since YOU were the cause of the problem, given me another key good until 10/09; (3) handed me over to whoever is responsible for installing '09 over '08 so that the bug can be promptly diagnosed before too many more people have the dissatisfying experience of being repeatedly told that they need to purchase a new subscription when they know they ought not have to and suffer, as a consequence, as I did, a lapse in protection. What are you going to do to make this right?"

We'll see.

This post has been edited by gandydancer: 12 March 2009 - 01:50 PM

gandydancer, on Mar 12 2009, 10:44 AM, said:

Hi gandydancer,

I would like to apologize to you for the problems you had when upgrading your Norton product to the latest version and for the issues you had with your license.

Symantec cares deeply about customer experiences, and so what I would like to do is to have one of our specialists contact you directly and answer any further questions you may have.

In order for me to escalate your case I am going to need some information from you. Please check your Inbox on bleepingcomputer.com for further instructions.

Thank you,
Mike

My post here (and not my response to the ineffective chat help) resulted in stateside followup (the chat help is subcontracted to India, or somesuch place), an apology, and a year's extension of my subscription. Since my computer wasn't taken over in the interval when Norton was insisting my sub had expired I'm not too unhappy. But the grade is definately "Needs Improvement".

One of the things I suggested to Norton's chat help that they showed no technical competence to do was recover the product key from the registry. It turns out (http://community.norton.com/norton/board/message?board.id=nis_feedback&thread.id=40400) that you CAN do this. On my machine the old keys are there too, which may explain how the Norton '09 install screwed up. I know my wife's friend insists on running an uninstall tool (maybe the Norton Removal Tool) before installing the new version, rather thann -as I did- unthinkingly letting Norton perform a direct upgrade, but apparently that doesn't clean out the registry either. In my case HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Symantec > CCPD-LC > KStore > 00000082 > 00000097 > 000001cf and 00000082 > 00000046 > 000000b5 STILL contains the 10/07 key. And 00000082 > 0000001e > 00000079 contains a key I don't recognize that may be the '06 key (I can check this, but haven't). But ...00000097 > 000001cf contains the '08 key.

This post has been edited by gandydancer: 17 March 2009 - 03:40 AM