BleepingComputer.com: Norton freezes computer at startup

I am hoping that I can get some advice regarding a Norton and or computer issue that I have. I have been sick and do not have extra money to pay someone to help me. Unfortunately, I was not able to afford Norton's subscription renewal fee and do not have a current subscription.

I have 2006 Sony Vaio laptop with preloaded Norton Internet Security 2006 , Win XP Media Center 2005. w SP2 I have not had any problems with NIS except with an infrequent CCAPP.EXE End Now message at shut down. Now when I start computer , it boots normally and most of the startup programs load until it gets to urllstck.exe and ccapp.exe when they load they each take up 50% CPU , making the comp inoperable and I have to force a hard shutdown. It did this repeatedly. I can only get to the task manager if I open it before those two process load. I tried ending the urllstck.exe in the task manager since it seemed to have the most trouble loading and got the "access denied" message. I also got a message about one of the preloaded game software failing to start and needing to debug (I can give more info if needed).

I was able to get into safe mode and start copying important files. I also looked the the Admin Tools to look at Event Manager to see what was going on.. I saw quite a few errors regarding Live Update not responding and a couple referring to LiveUpdate being corrupt.These entries happened over the past few days and the time looked like it was around times I would have started or shut down my computer. I have screen shots and other Event Ids if that helps. I have couple of ideas but don;t know what I should do first besides get my personal files copied.

I am thinking that either Norton is corrupted, the registry is corrupted, the hard drive is fragmented or has errors or worse is failing, or malware has corrupted Norton (although I primarly use the comp to read email or at worst youtube, I know that it is possible for an infected ad to spring malware).

I do not have disks for any software that came with the pc as it has a partitioned drive with recovery module and I have recovery disks that I have already made.

What should I do first? Check the harddrive for errors? defragment the hardrive? uninstall NIS 2006 (can I even do this if it is corrupt) , run an online scan to check for malware/virus? Or attempt to wipe everything and reinstall everything using the built in recovery console. Use system restore to restore to previous time?

I have to check if I can even buy and install a new Norton product. While I think that it meets the min spec, I do not know if it meets the recommended specs.

Whatever I do, right now I can only do it in safe mode.

I don't have much money either so I greatly appreciate your advice.
Thank you and please let me know if you need anymore information.

I would dump the outdated Norton. I use avast (free) and have had no issues, Also use Malwarebytes.

Norton Removal Tool <- you may need to use in safe mode if you cannot boot normally.

Quote

Free Antivirus programs: (choose and install only one). I recommend any of the first three.

• avast! Free Antivirus
  
• Microsoft Security Essentials
  
• Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus <- includes Ask.com Toolbar unless you choose not to install it
  
• AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
  
• Panda Cloud Antivirus
  
• Kingsoft Free Antivirus (Cloud Scan)
  
• RISING Antivirus Free Edition
  
• PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition

IMPORTANT NOTE: Before removing your existing anti-virus, you should download and save the setup file for the anti-virus you are going to replace it with. Also download any specialized removal tools available for your current anti-virus in case you need them. If is not uncommon for some anti-virus programs to not completely uninstall itself using the usual method of Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features in Vista/Windows 7. In many cases anti-virus vendors provide clean-up utilities on their web sites to remove remnants left behind after unintalling or for a failed uninstall. Alternatively, you can try using OPSWAT's AppRemover - supported applications list.

After doing that, disconnect from the Internet, uninstall your current anti-virus, reboot and then install the replacement. Reboot again to ensure it is working properly before reconnecting to the Internet.