I'm trying to uninstall this damn program, but via Control Panel Add/Remove, it gets stuck halfway with a 'fatal error'

The Uninstall that comes with it doesn't work either. I have since managed to delete all files related to the program EXCEPT one called 'vpshell2.dll' which won't budge at all, even in safe mode it's status is 'ACCESS DENIED'

Now.... even more weird stuff is happening, when i right click Stuff (eg. My Computer or My Documents) the Symantec Uninstall kicks in!

I want to reformat, but right now it's not practical, so any help would be appreciated.

Hya Slide2006 , welcome to PCHF.

Have a look on this page for instructions on how to fully remove Symantec manually from youre pc:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...=&osv_lvl=&seg=

Hi Slide,

Welcome to PCHF!

Here is a step by step guide to uninstall the program.

1. Click on Start | Settings | Control Panel
2. In the control panel double-click on Add / Remove Programs
3. Look through the list of installed programs for any item that says either "Norton" or "Symantec" or "LiveUpdate". (for example "Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition" or "Norton AntiVirus 2000")
4. For each "Norton", "Symantec", or "LiveUpdate" item, select the item and click Add / Remove. Follow the instructions, and click Yes or Yes to all when prompted.
When you are done there should be no items in the list that say "Norton", "Symantec", or "LiveUpdate".
5. Click OK to close the Add / Remove Programs window.
6. Reboot your computer if it hasn't already automatically rebooted.
7. Delete the c:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus (or c:\Program Files\Norton) folder.
8. Delete the c:\Program Files\Symantec folder.
9. Delete the c:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared folder.

Hope this helps.

cheers scouse, but the add remove programs fails every time.....

Is the program running in task manager processes when you try to delete it? It may need to be stopped in there to remove.

i have stopped all the processes relating to Symantec Anitvirus in the process list. I think the problem is that access is denied to the file I need to delete.

Have you already removed all the reg entrys as instructed on that site i posted?

If you still cant delete the last dll file after that , then try it like this:


Open a command window (Start->Run, type in 'cmd' hit enter)
Type or copy:
regsvr32 /u vpshell2.dll
And press enter.

See if you can delete it after that.