I had Norton Internet Security 2006 installed on my laptop. The icon
has disappeared from the area of the screen down right where the date
is, and I was advised to uninstall when I ran the program. Now I get a
"fatal error" each time I try to install. I got a message that
Microsoft (Giant) Anti-Spyware is incompatible with NIS but I can't
uninstall Giant because the Windows installer service is not running.
What can I do now?

Hello,

Thanks for letting me answer your question today. My short answer is
this. Do NOT reinstall Norton Internet Security. It is horrible
software and will terribly slow your machine down and cause problems.
I do much technical work and almost every user I help with their
computer who complains of slowness has a copy of Norton Anti Virus or
Norton Internet Security or a similar antivirus program. They cause
more problems than they really are worth.

My advice would be to visit

http://avast.com/

Register and download their FREE antivirus software. As a home user
this software is available to you free for 14 months, after this 14
month period you can just register again and get another 14 months
free. I would not advise you uninstall the (Giant) Microsoft
AntiSpyware as I find that, along with AdAware and Spybot Search and
Destroy, it is the perfect complement to Avast AntiVirus.

However, if you want the best Antivirus on the market you would be
well advised to visit:

http://www.eset.com/

and purchase Nod32 antivirus software, as it is by far the fastest
scanning engineer with greatest detection rate having not missed a
single "in the wild" virus in 8 years. No other antivirus vendor can
claim this.



If, however, after all that I have advised, you are really wanting to
install NIS (if possible I'd advise you take it back and claim a
refund) then you should try the following.

To start the install service click START -> RUN and type

services.msc

Search for "Windows Installer" and check the status of the service by
looking down the "startup type" column. If the startup type is
anything other than manual, right click the service and choose
properties, on the screen that displays change the startup type to
MANUAL.

Underneath service status choose start (the process should close as it
is not needed to run when no installation is running).

You should now be able to uninstall the Microsoft Antispyware.

If the Windows Installer service is still reported as not running, you
may have deeper underlying problems inside Windows. If you get error
messages then please leave them here and I will try to help you.

However my first answer (and probably the best advice) is to install
Avast and return NIS (if you can) to the place you purchased it and
get a refund. There is no reason to pay for an inferior antivirus when
the best is freely available.

I hope this helps. If you need any additional help or clarification,
let me know and I'll be glad to help you out.

Cheers,
--keystroke-ga


Source:
personal knowledge

---

Request for Answer Clarification by jeffsmith-ga on 20 Sep 2006 14:56 PDT

Thank you very much indeed. Sorry I took so much time to respond, I
was expecting an email from Google that someone had answered the
question. Could you tell me if eset or anast provide integrated
protection including a firewall or could you suggest a firewall as a
separate solution?

Jeffie

---

Clarification of Answer by keystroke-ga on 20 Sep 2006 16:22 PDT

Hi Jeffie,

The email notification system is broken, which can sometimes cause
problems for both askers and researchers as far as responding back on
a previous question.

Avast does NOT have a firewall, but Nod32 will be shipping a firewall soon.
Otherwise, Zonealarm is a good alternative.
However, I find the Windows firewall (the one built into Windows XP)
works absolutely fine.
If you have a router device chances are you already have a firewall
built into it that should suit your purposes well.

--keystroke-ga

Thank you very much, you opened a window to a new world for me (not
that I didn't suspect it existed). You certainly are up to the high
standards one has come to expect of Google and I wish you every
success to any career in IT you might pursue.

J.

Try this software and check your pc for any of spyware : -
http://hop.clickbank.net/?install/noadware&mode=d

Thanks Jeffie for the kind words and the tip! :)  

I'm very glad that I could help you! 

--keystroke-ga