Viruses are found almost daily and the only way to protect against new viruses is to obtain an updated virus definition file. Only those that have paid for the subscription receive these updates.  

We will show you how to insure Norton is up-to-date with apologizes to McAfee (and other software users).

Many of the McAfee versions are very difficult to determine the virus definitions status.  If you are having problems determining if McAfee is up to date, visit their support site or call them.  

In the System Tray (by the clock) you should see this icon.  Double click the icon (or right click and select "Open".)   Alternatively, you can open Norton via Start menu > Program Files > Norton Folder > Norton Antivirus

Version's 2002, 03 & 04 > 2005 appears as a round yellow globe.

When Norton opens you will a screen similar to the next image.

• If this screen does not open, you may already have a virus.

• We highly recommend opening this screen at least once a week and review the status of each item.

If the expiration date has lapsed OR the definition date is more than a few days old, you are not protected!

If the expiration date has lapsed, you must go on-line and renew your subscription.  This will require a small payment to Symantec for another year's subscription.  

 

Symantec now offers support for the maximum of two years. If your version is nearing two years old, rather than renewing the subscription you should replace with a newer version. If you are on a high speed connection, we highly recommend Internet Security not just the antivirus!

 

If the definition date is more than a few days old, click the Live Update button and follow the prompts.

After the LiveUpdate has completed, you should see a screen indicating which items were successfully updated.  

You are done and protected if all items have a green check mark.  

If any are marked red you are still not protected!  Do not ignore these incomplete updates!

If you do not successfully update all items, try again.   If there are multiple items, try downloading them one at a time.  To do this, click the Live Update button then the Next button.  Once the "processing" is complete, you will see the list of available downloads.

 

 

Uncheck all but one then proceed with that (single) download by clicking the Next button.  After that download has completed, reboot (if prompted) and repeat the Live Update until no more available downloads are found.

Automating the Process:

With Norton open, click the Options Button then click LiveUpdate on the left. 

Make sure Enable Automatic LiveUpdate is checked.

There are two options for automatic updating and depending on your Internet habits, one may be better than the other:

• If you typically logon to the Internet for a short time, select Notify.

• If you are typically on for at least a half hour, select Apply updates without notification.

For short Internet sessions it is better to be notified of available updates.  If the automatic update option is selected and your Internet session is too short, the update process will not complete and the virus definition file will become out-of-date.