Symantec forced to fix its own security patch
By Barry Collins
Posted on 26 Aug 2009 at 07:41
Symantec has been forced to issue a fix for its own security patch, after a Norton Antivirus update crashed the software.
The faulty update affects the Norton 2009 and Norton 360 Version 3 products. Some customers who installed the update were presented with an error message stating: "Symantec Service Framework has encountered a problem and needs to close."
The error message is reportedly triggered by the software's failure to handle a response from the PC's hardware, which is ironically meant to confirm that the update was installed correctly. The problem is thought to affect PCs where the user has upgraded or customised their own hardware.
Symantec is claiming fewer than 1% of its customers will have been affected by the issue, although the company's support forums are heaving with hundreds of complaints from users.
The company has halted distribution of the patch and issued a downloadable fix from the Symantec website.
From around the web
What?
What exactly does this mean "The problem is thought to affect PCs where the user has upgraded or customised their own hardware"?
Typical BS from a firm that has messed up big style!
By iwilson on 26 Aug 2009 
Norton AV 2009
Have now lost access to Norton AV completely -- can't open the program, can't contact Support. I was receiving the bug notifications three or four times a day for about 3 days.
By Frank38 on 27 Aug 2009
What?
What exactly does this mean "Typical BS from a firm that has messed up big style!" You either have the problem or you don't. If you don't, don't worry. It's a problem with an update, not with the product.
The link to the fix is not quite right. It should be http://www.symantec.com/en/uk/norton/support/kb/we
b_view.jsp?wv_type=public_web&selected_nav=5&pvid=
nis_2009&docurl=20090821103237EN
By sidcelerye on 27 Aug 2009
No software is perfect
This story is just scaremongering. I have used Symantec products since 2000. I have used Norton Internet Security since 2006 and will be upgrading to 2010 next month. Their products are extremely stable. I have not experienced any issues on any of my five PCs with Norton Internet Security 2009 installed.
These range from small XP SP3 laptops to a powerful Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.93 GHz QX6800 Nvidia SLI gaming PC with Vista Ultimate 64 bit with SP2.
All this article does is scare users into not purchasing one of the world’s best security software programs. The issue was fixed quickly. Remember, a fix must be tested before wide distribution. All software has bugs of some sort, it is written by humans. Nothing is perfect.
As I have read from other sources e.g.
http://www.cio.com/article/500516/Symantec_Offers_
Fix_for_Buggy_Norton_Patch
only a small number of users were affected.
By Jimbo762 on 28 Aug 2009
No software is perfect
This story is just scaremongering. I have used Symantec products since 2000. I have used Norton Internet Security since 2006 and will be upgrading to 2010 next month. Their products are extremely stable. I have not experienced any issues on any of my five PCs with Norton Internet Security 2009 installed.
These range from small XP SP3 laptops to a powerful Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.93 GHz QX6800 Nvidia SLI gaming PC with Vista Ultimate 64 bit with SP2.
All this article does is scare users into not purchasing one of the world’s best security software programs. The issue was fixed quickly. Remember, a fix must be tested before wide distribution. All software has bugs of some sort, it is written by humans. Nothing is perfect.
As I have read from other sources e.g.
http://www.cio.com/article/500516/Symantec_Offers_
Fix_for_Buggy_Norton_Patch
only a small number of users were affected.
By Jimbo762 on 28 Aug 2009
No software is perfect
This story is just scaremongering. I have used Symantec products since 2000. I have used Norton Internet Security since 2006 and will be upgrading to 2010 next month. Their products are extremely stable. I have not experienced any issues on any of my five PCs with Norton Internet Security 2009 installed.
These range from small XP SP3 laptops to a powerful Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.93 GHz QX6800 Nvidia SLI gaming PC with Vista Ultimate 64 bit with SP2.
All this article does is scare users into not purchasing one of the world’s best security software programs. The issue was fixed quickly. Remember, a fix must be tested before wide distribution. All software has bugs of some sort, it is written by humans. Nothing is perfect.
As I have read from other sources e.g.
http://www.cio.com/article/500516/Symantec_Offers_
Fix_for_Buggy_Norton_Patch
only a small number of users were affected.
By Jimbo762 on 28 Aug 2009
No software is perfect
This story is just scaremongering. I have used Symantec products since 2000. I have used Norton Internet Security since 2006 and will be upgrading to 2010 next month. Their products are extremely stable. I have not experienced any issues on any of my five PCs with Norton Internet Security 2009 installed.
These range from small XP SP3 laptops to a powerful Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.93 GHz QX6800 Nvidia SLI gaming PC with Vista Ultimate 64 bit with SP2.
All this article does is scare users into not purchasing one of the world’s best security software programs. The issue was fixed quickly. Remember, a fix must be tested before wide distribution. All software has bugs of some sort, it is written by humans. Nothing is perfect.
As I have read from other sources e.g.
http://www.cio.com/article/500516/Symantec_Offers_
Fix_for_Buggy_Norton_Patch
only a small number of users were affected.
By Jimbo762 on 28 Aug 2009
Sorry
Sorry about the multiple comments above, I only meant to post 1 comment.
This seems to happen by accident if the page is refreshed in my web browser. I have seen this happen to other comments on the Pc Pro website.
It was not intentional. I will be more careful in future. Sorry for any trouble I have caused.
By Jimbo762 on 28 Aug 2009
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