Notebook Computer + Uninstalling Norton = Fried

Mokoshan · Post by **Mokoshan** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 2:38 pm

So I purchased a new laptop, an HP Pavillion dv9000, and have had it about a month.

The freebie Norton Internet Security Suite 2007 just expired, and, as I am not a fan of the program (and don't want it prompting me to pay for it every couple days or so), I uninstalled it and planned to replace it with something else that was a little more, uh, free.

The uninstall finished and it told me I needed to reset the computer, so I did. Instead of a reset it shut down. Thinking that a little strange but not quite as ominous as it actually was, I pressed the power button to start it back up. The power lights came on, and, after about two seconds, the computer shut itself back off.

I can't get to the Setup or Vista's System Recovery crap since the computer doesn't stay on long enough for the computer to boot, and I've checked as much hardware as I can without voiding the warranty and it all seems to be functioning fine (IE: The battery and RAM). I've also foolishly chatted with Cut-and-Paste-I-Don't-Speak-English Online Tech Support instant messenger, and after he told me for the third time that I should enter Windows safe mode I gave up and got him to send me the box to ship it back to them for repair or replacement.

I was wondering if anybody else had heard anything about my mystery problem. I can't seem to find any documentation on it, and the idea that uninstalling a nonessential program would cause a computer to not even boot up seems rather irrational at best...

Embar Angylwrath · Post by **Embar Angylwrath** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 3:06 pm

Norton is evil. Norton is evil. Norton is evil.

Send that piece of hell on earth back to the manufacturer. Then have a priest come over and do an exorcism on all your electronics. And never ever ever buy a computer with any type of pre-loaded software on it other than an operating system.

God forgives you.

Mokoshan · Post by **Mokoshan** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 3:42 pm

Yeah, I'd heard it was a bitch and a half to get rid of entirely, but I wasn't expecting it to rape my computer above and beyond the call of duty. I mean damn, the computer won't even stay on, it could have at least left me with a little BIOS to work with.

Riggen · Post by **Riggen** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 7:19 pm

It seems unlikely that Norton is the cause of your problem if your system can't even POST. It's possible that it's just coincidental, and your system was already a ticking time bomb when the uninstall reboot set it off. Do you have some method of forcing a hard BIOS configuration reset?

Post by **Ddrak** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:00 pm

It's under warranty. Send it back. There's no way Norton or any other software did that to your PC, short of a virus that knows how to blank your BIOS (which I've not heard of running rampant recently).

Dd

Select · Post by **Select** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:22 pm

If you get it back with Norton again (don't expect them to be smart enough to not include it this time) would a reformat do the trick as opposed to an uninstall? I've always preferred a clean computer slate.

Mokoshan · Post by **Mokoshan** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:36 pm

Yeah, the warranty is keeping me from personally fiddling with things and I'm awaiting the box they have to send to me before I can send it to them, so meh... It just seemed really strange that the computer was working perfectly, no issues at all, and I uninstall Norton and it keels over on me, hehe...

Klast Brell · Post by **Klast Brell** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:58 am

They probably will image it and send it back to you. which means you will get norton on there again when you get it back.

Mokoshan · Post by **Mokoshan** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 2:02 pm

Humorously I'm gonna try to uninstall it again when it gets back to me, and if the same thing happens I plan to send it back... over and over again... seeing as HP is the one paying for it all.

Fobbon Lazyfoot · Post by **Fobbon Lazyfoot** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:34 pm

A software change shouldn't prevent you from posting. If Norton was the cause, the worst that would happen is you'd get a disk boot failure.

Unless you had some weird file system error that burned out your CPU or a virus that altered your BIOS.

Definitely a weird problem, though.

Post by **Ddrak** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 11:58 pm

Well, there was a CPU back in the 70s that had a "Halt and Catch Fire" instruction...

Turaylon Soulshadow · Post by **Turaylon Soulshadow** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:54 am

Mokoshan wrote:So I purchased a new laptop, an HP Pavillion dv9000, and have had it about a month.

Mistake #1

Norton Internet Security Suite 2007

Mistake #2

Vista

Mistake #3

Riggen · Post by **Riggen** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:46 pm

Ddrak wrote:Well, there was a CPU back in the 70s that had a "Halt and Catch Fire" instruction...

Wasn't that the Commodore PET or a close relative thereof? An innocent POKE would do the trick.

Post by **Ddrak** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:04 pm

I think you could do something like that on the PET, yes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halt_and_Catch_Fire

Dd

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Notebook Computer + Uninstalling Norton = Fried

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