Norton Systemworks 2000

I agree with jmfairchild. On thing though the NPROTECT is for Norton Protected Files and I ran a registry monitor program once and whenever I did anything on my computer NPROTECT would mock?? (for lack of a better word) everything I did in the registry. Hence running two to three threads instead of just one (if the program wasn't running).
I also am a fan of Norton but I do not allow any of its apps to run in the background. Any Apps for that matter.
Just an extra two cents

No, I don’t use “Crash Guard” either, but I do use the Norton Protected Recycle Bin.
Until now, I have not noticed any problems. I will do as you suggest and re-move, then re-install just the anti-virus portion. I don’t use “Clean Sweep” anyway. (Although I do use the other utilities like System Check, Speed Disk etc.) I’ve noticed “csinject” is always running (clean sweep??) so I uasually kill it. I will take this one step at a time and keep you posted as to the results. Thanks for your help! I’ll get back to you  a.s.a.p.  

Oh yes, I have run ScanDisk (thorough) and it reported no errors. And yes, the 'temp' directory is (was) loaded.

Have you tried running SFC?

SFC???

System File Checker. Try Start, Run, type: SFC, click Ok, Click Start. The SFC will see if you are missing or have corrupted system files.

- Jim

Thanks, Jim. I'll do that right now. Let you know what happens.

Thanks for the tip, Jim. Apparently SFC scan found nothing wrong.

Incidentally, just after I updated Norton’s Virus definitions, it discovered C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe was infected with the W32.HLLW.Qaz.A virus.
The file was quarantined, then subsequently deleted. Norton was unable to repair the file. I am now using ‘Notepad.com’ renamed to ‘Notepad.exe’ which seems to work fine.
I’m somewhat concerned that this virus may have migrated or mutated to other parts of the system. I’d feel better if I could run a full system scan.

The system crash problem when I open “My Computer” has now been resolved.
loading NAV by itself  solved that problem. Thanks,  Jim!  But Norton still freezes during a system scan (no problem scanning individual files though). The discovery of the W32 Virus occurred automatically – during the update process.  

I’d really like to have the other Norton Utilities available also. I’m considering re-installing Windows to resolve this. Do you suppose that would help?
Any other ideas?

Meanwhile, I will read through Norton's knowledge base and research the W32 Trojan to see what I can learn.
 
Thanks for all your help everybody. I’ll keep you informed of my progress. BTW as soon as I have the points available, I’ll increase them to something more reasonable for this problem.

Check this link to properly remove the virus.
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/qaz.trojan.html

Have your tried reninstall Norton to see if that helps?

Reinstalling after removing the virus and doing the update (as Ajnin suggests) should be better now. You may need to update everything (AV files included) afterwards using LiveUpdate, but I believe this is an "automatic" part of the process.

Usually, as long as you're comfortable with reloading drivers if necessary, reinstalling 98 is not a problem. I would try reinstalling Norton first.

Also as Ajnin suggested, I do the same thing with SystemWorks as he does. I install everything EXCEPT crash guard, and remove all the defaulted startup applications except NAV. I use Windoctor on occasion to clean files and registry entries, SpeedDisk to defragment, etc., but I don't leave anything running in the "background" except NAV.

- Jim

This is where I am now:
Removal of the virus has been confirmed. Un-installed Norton System works; deleted Windows temp files;  emptied Recycle bin;  Re-booted system. Shut down everything except Explorer, Zone Alarm, and Systray. Re-installed Norton Systemworks (complete less Clean Sweep, Crash Guard, and Norton Protected Recycle bin). (set for manual protection) Ran live update, then another hard re-boot. I then ran a full system virus scan. The system crashed at 22% scan completed; with a General Protection fault. I didn’t catch the specific error message. No problems with opening ‘My Computer’ now.
I re-booted, then ran Norton disk doctor. The scan went well (no crashes) and reported
no errors – 2% disk fragmentation. Norton System Check ran ok, as did Win Doctor,
Speed Disc and Optimization Wizard. Except for the Virus scan, and an occasional Fatal Exception Error at shut down. everything else seems to be stable.

Naturally, I’d like to have the Virus scan component running as well, especially considering the introduction of that ‘Notepad.exe’ infection.

Have I overlooked anything? How should I proceed?

BTW- Thanks for all your help!!

I decided to run another system wide virus scan to see if it would crash again and amazingly it worked this time! Its a mystery to me why it should work today when it crashed yesterday. Guess I'll keep things as is. Much better performance now than previously, that’s for sure!  

Looks like I was overly optimistic. Norton still crashes / freezes a lot. Guess I’m still faced with re-installing windows.