How bad is this going to get?

[Elfin]

Hi there,

I was recently asked to help a family member, who is a technophobe and very much a beginner, update his ISP from dialup to Comcast broadband. The PC had an unused, expired 2006 edition of Norton installed, and I began the uninstall process to replace it with the free McAfee provided by Comcast.

The uninstall asked for the software disc, and it was then that I learned that the Norton was not owned by him and the install disc was at the home of another relative. Pirated. So I said, great, get the disc and I'll come back to complete this.

To make a long story short, the family member who owns the software talked him into keeping the Norton and convinced him that not only is it the best choice, but that only the software is necessary, no subscription to Norton is actually needed. I tried to convince him otherwise and explain the importance of proper virus protection, especially with constant connectedness of broadband, but it fell on deaf ears and I had to ultimately back off to keep peace in the family.

So my question is, how bad is this going to get? I'm still expected to keep this system running, I just get no control or choice over the virus protection. I know that Comcast is fairly (overly) proactive about diverting rogue stuff from their system, but I feel like this is a very serious open risk and trouble will be quickly forthcoming.

P.S. I forgot to say... the OS is XP, not Vista... so nothing but a personal firewall offered there.

 

[Luke]

install a virus protector, and tell him it is an extension to norton (disable norton Manuely if u can not get the disk) tell him that they changed there name to the new one (obviously don't use the mcafee one now, use something like zone alarm or avg.) Since he's a noob he probably won't catch on.

Or tell him your not going to help him with his computer until he starts listening to what you say.

 

[Elfin]

Thanks, Luke, and I'm telling ya... your last bit of advice I am seriously considering... I have an ugly picture in my head of hours spent trying to undo some sort of nightmare that could have been easily prevented. Frankly, I am quite ****ed off about the whole thing as I've spent many hours there this past week cleaning up the system, transferring data, doing the set-up and training him on using the new set up.

The other family member will be working on the system, reinstalling the Norton, so I really can't screw around with it or do a manual disable... he'll notice. However, I do think I could toss another piece of protection like AVG in there without anyone noticing... but with Norton installed and running, the two will conflict, yes?

 

[Trotter]

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool

If that doesn't work...

Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Uninstall, Remove Programs, Solve uninstall problems

 

[Luke]

trust me, don't use two virus programs at once, one is bad enough, and it is the worst already, norton, what trotter linked you to i used to remove norton on my laptop when i bought it, it works fine. I would just do it, these guys obviously don't know what they are doing so u need to step in.

 

[veedubfreak]

Send him to the kitchen to make you a sandwich, run "NoNav" then install macavee

 

[Elfin]

So I can rip Norton out of there without the disc... thanks for that info and the links. Heck, if I had any idea that this would be such a hot topic for the other family member, I would have never requested that disc... it seemed like such a simple thing at the time! He sees himself as very tech savvy, and its become clear that his opinions are unwavering and oddly possessive.

Due to how bizarre and tense among family members this whole ordeal became (which I don't understand in the least... it's just a **** computer!) and based on your advice, I may just step back completely with the condition that I will be willing to step back in, but only if I have full authority to set the system up according to my parameters.

Assuming the computer isn't a massive glut of malware by the time I'm called in, that is...

 

[veedubfreak]

I usually only work on computers for family with the caveat that they are not allowed to tell me what is better or worse. If they want me to work on it, then they have to take my advice, not that of someone who is uninformed

 

[Elfin]

That, my friend, is a most excellent policy and I believe I will steal it for my own use!

 

[zedman3d]

Never install Norton. I wouldnt even install McAf. Id get Norman or Avast Home. My Avast gets virus database updates twice a day. You cant beat that.