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May 11, 2008
The dread Norton LU1825 error ... and Miranda Jetlagg
Regular readers will be aware of my contempt - there's no other word for it - for Norton AntiVirus, and purely by association, anything else that comes out of the Symantec camp.
The company seems adept at making bloated, resource-hogging programs that plague users with problems, and generally prove difficult to remove. The continued market leadership of Norton's is living proof of the power of advertising, just as Big Pond continues to prove that bleeding money from consumers while offering them less than the competition doesn't necessarily give a company a bad name. We suspect that the Norton and Telstra advertising agencies tap directly into a little-known masochism impulse that exists in the unconscious of the average consumer, compelling them to give themselves a hard time.
The following email from "Miranda Jetlagg" which lobbed into our Inbox last week, indicates the sort of thing we're talking about. The LU1825 error, by the way, is one of those typical Symantec Live Update faults that can drive a victim insane. Miranda's well on the way.
Whoever Miranda Jetlagg is, she's a scream. The email was headed "I'm So Cyberly Challenged, I Bought the Wrong Windows For Dummies Book!" And it continued thus:
Dear Bleeding Edge,
The above sentence is true.....I DID buy the wrong version of "Windows for Dummies".
Do they make one called, "Windows for F__kwits"?
Therefore, it was with huge relief I stumbled across your Bleeding Edge column. As a publicist in the music biz I'm meant to be on the cutting edge. However my cyberskills, (or lack thereof) are consuming my time and credibility.
I've just spent (wasted!) an hour trying to find the Melbourne PC User Group you mentioned in yesterdaze column.
I gooooogled it, followed the link but got lost in the pages. By the end I'd forgotten what I'd started. Welcome to my world.
Can you direct me to a simple fix-it-all solution for an extreme idiot. I noticed Tinyurl reerences and it seems I want one of everything!.
But my major priority right now is my Norton's, and I ain't talking motor bikes. I actually purchased the whole shebang, including System Works (oh no, it doesn't!). After some initial problems, I decided to stick to the basics and just take advantage of their security.
That was OK ... until last week. I check for udates daily and suddenly, for no apparent reason, the update wouldn't download. I spent hours online with their remote help, ironically not remotely helpful at all. Followed all their instructions to fix Error "LU1825", downloaded and run the symKBFix tool, but it will not activate (I can relate!).
When I click the 'Next' button as instructed, nothing happens.
I suspect the fault's at their end - a similar situation arose with the SystemWorks. Eventually they fixed it at their end and apologised for the inconvenience.
So in bleeding desperation, I turn to Bleeding Edge. One word sums it up ... "Aaaaaargh!!!"
i'd love to uninstall the Norton's and download the free AVG program instead. I used to use that one and it never fought back. But bfeore wasting my hardly earned more than $100, I'm turning to you.
What can you advise? Norton's sent me an email encouraging me to go through the entire remote process again, but once again the "Next" button didn't react as they said it would. And I simply don't have the time to repeat failure. I'm so desperate for cyber solutions I'd be happy to pay for solutions. So far my solutions have only bought more problems.
OK, this is getting way too untechnical but is a fairly good example of how I spend my cyber time. I repeat, "Aaaaargh!"
Can you help a desperate woman? The computer goddess didn't!
Miranda Jetlagg
My advice would be to rip anything from Norton from the PC and re-install AVG. (I do hope she completely uninstalled AVG before installing Norton. I'd also advise her to ring Melbourne PC and have them fax her the membership form. If anyone needs their services, it's Miranda. (I did include the phone number in the column, but Miranda clearly isn't thinking too clearly these days.)
Do you have any advice for her?
Posted by cw at May 11, 2008 11:12 AM
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Comments
When I was a very inexperienced computer user in the early or mid nineties, I tried Norton from a a cd stuck to a magazine I think. It was an absolute nightmare. I can't recall where I first heard about AVG, maybe Charles' GG column? Regardless, I have used it happily for years now.
Posted by: Andrew at May 11, 2008 10:56 PM
Ergghhhh! I remember Norton!!! Something like a virus.
Good luck in removing ANYTHING from Symantec, you even have to use a special removal tool, hidden at http://tinyurl.com/3qczwd
Once bitten, twice shy.
Posted by: member at May 12, 2008 07:46 PM