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Problem with Norton Internet Security

Was there a recently installed update for MSN Messenger? If so, that may well have changed the core executable. NIS would not recognize this as an approved application and would therefore block access.

(That's question #1! )
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Regards, Joseph V. Morris

Yes, there was a recently installed update. It told me I had to update Messenger in order to use it. Of course, now after the update, it won't run. How do I unblock access?

reply to Richard09
Microsoft is also locking out all those who do not have the latest versions of MSN Messenger, due to exploit code published on the web.
edit: too late

reply to Richard09

Just to clarify, Richard stated that if he shuts down NIS he is able to use MSN Messenger and LiveUpdate.

Richard, go here to Symantec support:

»www.symantec.com/techsupp/consumer.html

Perhaps you will find some info about changing the firewall rules or just what to do after updating Messenger.
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The best way to predict the future is to create it - Alan Kay

Thanks for the help everyone. Just to clarify, I'm running Norton Internet Security 2005. I am going to try and change the rules here in a bit and see if that helps.

Joseph, what if Richard uninstalls (follow the directions at Symantec) and then reinstalls NIS?

Ah, yes, the universal solution for problems with NIS/NPF (especially the more recent versions)!

It may come to that. Unfortunately, since the release of NIS 2002 Professional, the end-user cannot really 'view' how NIS is configured, so it's very difficult to determine the cause of a problem, and then resolve it without going to this extreme. For the most part, you can't even gather enough information to pass on to a Symantec tech support rep to get a less drastic solution.

The problem with this architecture is that, for the average end-user, NIS/NPF has become a 'black box'; you don't know (nor will you ever) what went wrong (nor will Symantec). For that matter, you'll never know if you did something stupid that caused the problem (which I presume most end-users would like to know) or (conversely) Symantec will never know if there's some flaw in their internal coding that needs to be rectified (which, I would like to believe, the product maintenance team would most certainly like to know).

There's a great deal of 'under the hood' modification going on in the configuration of current NIS/NPF versions. This was first introduced in the standard editions of NIS/NPF 2002. (At least back then, there were third-party diagnostic utilities that would allow you to detect this, which was especially valuable if something got screwed up.)

For example, the rule sequencing is automatically, silently re-ordered programmatically and this has been known to cause problems. (In NIS/NPF, rule sequence ordering is everything when it comes to processing the rules, but now you've got no idea of what the actual sequence ends up being.) You can also have rules present (which may have been corrupted) that you simply can't see in the current interface. And God help you if you're deleting (or even updating) a complex Internet-enabled application for which you've got rules in the firewall and the system crashes.

And that's why I stopped upgrading with NIS 2002 FE. At least I can find these screw-ups myself!
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Regards, Joseph V. Morris

Whenever I go and try to change anything is the personal firewall settings, I'm getting an "Internet Explorer Script Error" Therefore, I can't make the necessary changes. Any ideas on how to get rid of this?

How do you run a repair from the Add/Remove? All I see is add/remove.

When I go to "Add/Remove Programs" in the Control Panel and scroll down to MSIE (actually labeled "Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 SP1 and Internet Tools" on my box), click on "Add/Remove ..." , the resulting window that pops up offers three options: •Add a Component • Repair • Restore the Previous Configuration (or words to that effect).
Are you seeing something different?
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Regards, Joseph V. Morris

Ah ha, I was looking at the wrong thing. yes, I do have that. I should hit the repair button?

Won't hurt.

I was just having a similar kind of problem with MS Excel, which I solved by 'repairing' it, also.

Mind, I'm not guaranteeing this will solve your problem, but it's likely a good place to start.

I'm presuming you've got all critical updates installed for Windows and MSIE.
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Regards, Joseph V. Morris

I have all the critical updates. When I went to "repair", it said that it could not be repaired and that I needed to reinstall IE. How do I do this?

Need some advice from someone other than myself in this case. I've never gotten that message.

Oh, sure, I could throw something out, but if I were wrong you might end up with no MSIE at all!

Before you do anything, however, I would suggest you download and install Firefox (doesn't have to be on your boot drive) just in case something gets screwed up. That way, you'd still be able to get back here if need be.
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Regards, Joseph V. Morris

reply to Richard09
How to reinstall or repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows XP

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Security Forum FAQs..♥.. AV Complaints?..♥.. SP2 MS Links

Thanks for the link, but I need to figure out how to do it on Windows Me.