Followed the suggestions on this forum to remove norton AV and firewall. Downloaded and used the norton removal tool. Also searched registry and removed any norton or symantec entries. I still get the message of a norton / firewall conflict after installing avast! home edition. The only thing I can see running in the task manager which may have some bearing on this is alg.exe
OS is XP home
Thank you to the people who have responded. I followed the link provided to another user and downloaded the norton removal program. I wil give the recent response/suggestion a try.
alg.exe is not a Symantec product.
alg.exe is a process belonging to Microsoft Windows Operating System. It is a core process for Microsoft Windows Internet Connection sharing and Internet connection firewall. This program is important for the stable and secure running of your computer and should not be terminated.
Run the three files that you just downloaded
a) On the Windows desktop, double-click the MSIFIX icon.
Click Run.
A black window may appear very briefly.
b) On the Windows desktop, double-click the SymNRT icon.
Click Run.
Click Next.
Click I accept the License Agreement, and click Next.
Type the letters and numbers that you see in the white box, and then click Next.
Click Yes or OK at each prompt.
You may need to click more than once. Your computer may be restarted for you more than once.
You may be asked to repeat some steps after the computer restarts.
c) On the Windows desktop, double-click the SYMMSICLEANUP icon.
Click Run, and then click Yes.
Click OK.
Boot.
You can do these steps even after uninstalling NAV.
Good luck. I’m an ex-NAV too :-[
Thank you for your response. I tried what you suggested and it did not help. I am clueless at this point. Has anybody reported norton anti-virus as being a virus???