How to Uninstall the Norton Utility
Level of difficulty: Intermediate
The computer system protection products developed and distributed by Norton (Symantec Corporation) have gained a reputation in the computer industry as one of the more reliable in the market in its category. There have been instances however that some of these products have installed some components that have gone so deep into the file system of the machine that they become almost impossible to remove. There are a few reasons why some people may opt to remove protection software and similar utilities from their machines. The most common reason would be the installed version has become corrupted and before it can be replaced, all components must be completely removed from the target machine.
Materials Needed:- Computer
- Internet connection
- Web browser
- Registry Editor
Step 1
There are basically three ways to remove Norton Utilities from a computer. To use the Norton Removal Tool, go to step 6. To manually uninstall the program from the machine, jump to step 9. Go to the next step to use the Windows uninstall utility.
Step 2
Click on the Start button and select the Control Panel option. Under the Control Panel window, choose the Add/Remove Programs category.
Step 3
When the Add/Remove Programs window opens, scroll down to the Norton Utility entry and click Remove. Wait for the process to complete before closing all open windows and restarting the machine.
Step 4
If the uninstall process freezes or stops responding, reboot the machine. After the reboot, delete the Uninst.isu file which can be found inside the folder of the Norton Utilities under Program Files.
Step 5
Reinstall the Norton Utilities program to replace the deleted file with a good copy. Repeat step 2 to step 3 to complete the uninstall process.
Step 6
Launch the Web browser and go to the Norton Product page. Make sure that you have a registered account. Sign in using your account.
Step 7
Retrieve your Product Key which the website will generate. Write it down because it will be needed during the uninstall process.
Step 8
Download the Norton Removal Tool and store it in your desktop. After completion of the download process launch the program and follow the on-screen prompts to finish with the uninstall process.
Step 9
If both previous uninstall methods fail, the last resort is to manually uninstall Norton Utility from the machine. Navigate to the Norton Protected Recycle Bin.
Step 10
Right click on the icon and select the Norton Unerase option. This will bring up the Unerase Wizard screen.
Step 11
Select the files that you want to recover. Once all files for retrieval have been selected, empty the Norton Protected Recycle Bin.
Step 12
On your desktop, right click on the Recycle Bin icon and choose the Properties option. Under the Global tab click on the Use One Setting for All Drives.
Step 13
Click on the Recycle Bin tab and choose Standard Recycle Bin. Modify the Title box value to Recycle Bin ad remove the check from the Show Norton Protection Status option.
Step 14
Click on the Norton Protection tab and select the Remove Norton Protection option. Click the Empty Protected Files category and click on the OK button twice.