Hello all:
I have a Windows 7 running Norton Internet Security 2011 and Malware Bytes. I would like to know if there are any specific procedures I should follow when switching from NIS 2011 to the free version of Avast.
Thank you
Run the Control Panel unistall for Norton, then the Norton Removal Tool uninstalls all Norton products from your computer.
- (If possible) Remove Symantec products through Add/Remove programs from Control Panel. Boot.
- Use Norton Removal Tool for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 or Norton Removal Tool for Windows 98/Me. Boot.
- Install avast! (or repair the installation) and boot.
Norton has greatly improved the normal uninstalling procedure so you may not need the tool. It won’t hurt to run it anyway but don’t be surprised, like I was 2 years ago, if it doesn’t find anything left over.
Thank you, Tech and dch48
I installed it last night, and everything seems to be in order. I DO have two questions though.
1 - Why did avast! redirect me to CNET to download your product? When I was on the avast! page that described the different levels of security offered, I clicked on the free version. It was then that I was redirected. I would think it makes more sense (and more peace of mind) for future avast! downloaders to obtain your product directly from the avast! site itself.
2 - Should I turn off Windows Defender now that I have avast! free installed?
Thank you
Defender and Avast can run side by side without problems but there isn’t anything Defender does that Avast doesn’t do and Avast does it better.
They are either unwilling or unable to support the server load. This is also a marketing issue, they see it as “worth it” to pipe their users to Cnet.
Not all traffic from the main site ends up there, it depends on your locale.
But, that does not mean you can’t get it direct…they just don’t make it easy. 
>>http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_av_free.exe
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The Norton tool finds very little leftovers because it’s rubbish and poorly coded, the only real way to fully eliminate all Norton\Symantec leftovers is to run a search through the computer seperately for those two said names then do the same in the registry and believe me there are certainly alot in the reg.
+1 
CCleaner would perhaps do the job in deleting existing registry files
Not really, CCleaner doesn’t go deep enough.
wow i thought CCleaner was one of the best out there 
did you try uninstalling with iobit uninstaller??? it gives you a powerful scan at the end of the install to delete leftovers
I have to disagree. When I uninstalled NIS 2009. I ran the removal tool afterwards and it found nothing. CCleaner also found nothing and a manual search of the registry only turned up legacy keys that are totally harmless and can’t be deleted in the normal way. I never had a problem afterwards running Comodo Internet Security and after that, Avast.
CCleaner is a good tool but it is so because it doesn’t go to deep which can disrupt your system stability. Other than the fact that i would never use a iobit product anyway but it is not recommended to use any third party uninstaller to remove security products, that is why specialised removal tools are made.
Well i remove Norton and others almost on a daily basis and there are always leftovers that i have to manually clean after running the removal tool several times.
The idea here is to help DarthArgyle not confuse him with personal favorites.
@ DarthArgyle,
Removing Norton through add/remove , follow that by using their removal tool and then booting your system
makes it clean enough to safely install avast! without any conflicts.
If after installing avast!, you want to go on a scavenger hunt an see if there are any remnants of Symantec
left on your system, the have a ball.
Personally, if you find anything it amounts to very little if any and the time spent finding it is useless
unless it’s something you enjoy doing.
I totally agree. As I originally said, Norton, since 2007 at least, has greatly improved their installation and removal functionality.
Revo Uninstaller on max. settings should remove all of it.
However, I agree with DCH. The most recent vers. of NAV and NIS uninstall pretty clean. The real problem is the trial vers. the OEM’s installed on their PC’s. People forget they are there and install new versions over them and muck up everything.
Revo is a generic uninstaller and may be good for certain programs but is NOT recommended when removing Antivirus Programs.
We are again getting off track. please follow the instructions outlined here:
I agree that Norton’s uninstall utility is not the best, but ccleaner is a blunt axe that has done overkilll on my computer in the past.
My favorite combination of tools has been RevoUninstaller and then RegSeeker in that order. RevoUninstaller will use the Norton uninstall routine first, then look for leftovers for you to choose to kill off or not, as you wish. RegSeeker, with the proper keywords, will find the rest IMO.
This may be OT but I tried Revo and to be honest didn’t see that it did any better than CCleaner does as far as uninstalling things. I tested a number of programs and the end results were identical. CCleaner just requires two separate steps, first the uninstall from within the CCleaner program (I find it better than add/remove in Windows) and then the registry cleaning function. I uninstalled Revo using CCleaner.
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