ATI 2011 6597 Try & Decide messes up Norton 360 activation
On a windows 7 ultimate 64 bit machine, I am running Norton 360 and AT 2011.
One day, I turn on try&decide to protect the system C:. I installed some software, let try@decide run for the afternoon and then decided to discard the changes in the evening.
Upon reboot, Norton 360 became de-activated. I re-activated it, rebooted but I got the same situation.
Why is Try&Decide discarding any changes and messing up with Norton?
It worries me that discarding changes doesn't return the system to its previous state...
Thanks. I did some research on this on the Norton side and I have 2 leads but I didn't have the time to investigate:
- Norton can be messed up by a *Windows System Restore* if the Norton software protection (auto-protect) is left turned on. I don't know if this is similar to a T&D process at that level.
- I understand Norton activation can be messed up if the synchronization/signature between the client and the server is out of sync. This would happen if Norton updates itself during the Try&Decide but then reverts back to an earlier state upon discarding the changes. I am not sure whether manually scheduling the Auto-update would be enough to avoid this, since Norton uses push updates as well.
If the issue cannot be avoided, Norton forums show users got some luck fixing problems similar to mine simply auto-updating Norton, or fully reinstalling the product.
On another note, Norton 360 is a bit dangerous because, by default, it can defragment a disk during idle time, which you indicate is to be avoided during T&D.
Dear Pat!
Thank you for keeping us posted, we really appreciate it. We've also just got the latest news from the Development team:
They are still working on the details, but the latest results allow to assume that the issue was caused by Norton update module. Try and Decide did everything as it was expected: it reverted the system to it's previous state, and due to the Norton update their program became somehow deactivated. In this case the issue's on related to Norton themselves.
We will recheck this with Symantec, and as soon as we have any news, we'll immediately update you.
Should you need anything else or have any further questions - feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience, we will be happy to help you!
Thank you!
Dear Acronis,
Thank you for your messages. I am suspecting the issue has to do with Norton anti-tampering technology. I don't have the courage to try "messing up" again by trying with anti-tampering on or off. It would be nice to know what to disable in Norton to stay compatible with Try&Decide.
Hi folks,
An update on this as I just tried again.
I tried this to turn off Norton during T&D: Norton updates, auto-protection, anti-virus, etc.
Same problem, but additional issues even more worrisome:
When I discarded the changes, the computer rebooted, and Norton activation was off. I activated it. It activated. But upon reboot, it failed again, as before.
When I rebooted for a second time, the computer couldn't find the SSD hard drive (GASP!).
I shutdown the computer completely, and rebooted again. This time the Acronis Boot loader appeared unexpectedly (since the changes should have been discarded) and Norton was still not activated. I am wondering if there is not an issue with the protection of the boot files or something.
I am going to stay away from T&D...
Dear Pat L,
Thank you very much for keeping us posted. This issue is important for us.
I have forwarded your comment to the Development team. At the moment they're working with Norton on sorting things out. I'm sorry we don't have any additional useful news right now. The investigation is in process.
Your concern regarding Try and Decide is entirely understandable. Please let me know if there's something else we can help you with. while this problem is still under investigation.
Thank you for cooperation!