Completely Remove Symantec Products to Solve Norton Installation Problems

If this is the situation you find yourself in, or if you are planning to upgrade your Norton product, use the instructions below to completely remove all Norton (Symantec) products from your computer.

NOTE: - Following the directions below will remove ALL of the listed Norton and Symantec products from your computer. If you have multiple Norton or Symantec products on your computer that are listed below, and you do not want ALL of them removed, seek the help of a professional computer repair service center.

These instructions will remove ALL of the following Symantec Norton programs from your computer.

• Symantec Norton Antivirus 2004/2005/2006
• Symantec Norton Antivirus 3, 5 and 10 User Pack 2004/2005/2006
• Symantec Norton GoBack 3.1/3.5/3.6/4.0/4.1
• Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2004 Professional Edition
• Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2005/2006 Premier
• Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2004/2005/2006
• Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2006 Basic Edition
• Symantec Norton Password Manager 2004
• Symantec Norton Internet Security 2004/2005/2006
• Symantec Norton Internet Security 5 and 10 User Pack 2004/2005/2006
• Symantec Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware Edition 8.2
• Symantec Norton Personal Firewall 2004/2005/2006
• Symantec Norton AntiSpam 2004/2005
• Symantec Norton Ghost 2003/9.0/10.0

Once you are certain that you want to completely remove all Symantec Norton products from your computer, you need to download the Symantec Norton removal tool, SYMNRT. This is a tool designed by Symantec, the makers of Norton products, to save users who are caught in no man's land. It simply looks for, and removes all Norton files and registry entries that could cause a problem with your new installation.

Click here to download the SYMNRT Symantec Norton removal tool.

You can not run this tool directly from your temporary internet files folder, so you must save this file to your hard drive before you can continue removing your Norton products. We would suggest that you save the file to the Windows desktop so it is easy to find once the internet windows are closed.

Note: - Be sure you print this tutorial, or bookmark it before you continue. You will need to restart your computer numerous times to complete this process, and when you do so, this window will close. Click here to bookmark this page. (Ctrl+D)

Next, double click on the Symantec Norton removal tool (SYMNRT.exe) file that you saved on your Windows desktop. Follow the on-screen instructions. The program will ask you to enter a code to ensure that you are a human and not an automated program. Once you have correctly entered the code, the program will proceed to remove all Symantec Norton programs from your computer.

After the Symantec Norton removal tool (SYMNRT.exe) program completed its processes, you were asked to restart. If you have not done so, please do so now. Although the Symantec Norton removal tool program does not ask you to do so, we have found that a second restart is sometimes required for all files to be removed completely. If you restarted when prompted by the Symantec Norton removal tool program, please do so one more time. If you have not restarted at all, please restart now, and then restart again after that. If you have not done so, please click here to bookmark this page. (Ctrl+D)

Once we are done rebooting, you can delete the Symantec Norton removal tool file from your desktop. To do this, right-click on Symantec Norton removal tool file, and then click delete. Click Yes to confirm the deletion. Next you need to check for some files that may have not been automatically removed. This process may vary based on the Windows operating system you are using. If you use Windows XP, click Start > My Computer. If you use Windows 98/Me/2000, double-click the My Computer icon.

Next, double click on your C drive and then double click on the program files folder. In the Program Files window, delete any of the following folders that are present:

• Symantec Norton Antivirus
• Symantec Norton Internet Security
• Symantec Norton SystemWorks
• Symantec Norton Personal Firewall

Last but not least, you need to download and run one final file. In some cases, older Symantec files may survive the Symantec Norton removal tool cleanup. To eliminate these files, download the Symantec Norton MSI cleanup file (SYMMSICLEANUP.reg) and save it to your desktop. Double click on the file to run it and click Yes to any security warnings that appear.

NOTE: - If you use the Firefox browser, you will need to download a different file to accomplish this tasks. Firefox users, please download this version of the Symantec Norton MSI Cleanup file (SYMMSICLEANUP.reg).