Hack to Remove/Uninstall Symantec Norton Antivirus (SAV) Client without Password
Norton AntiVirus Clients or Symantec AntiVirus Clients especially Corporate Edition Clients can be installed as managed network setup type by a Symantec AntiVirus Server. When a Symantec AntiVirus Client is managed, it will prompt for password when uninstalling client via local computer Control Panel Add or Remove Program applet. If you don’t know or forget the password, then the client is not able to uninstall or remove. And the SAV client uninstall password won’t work with server group password too, as if you enter that password, you will receive an invalid password message.
The client uninstallation password is different from the server group password, and it can be set by the administrator through the Symantec System Center for the client that is managed. If the client uninstallation password has not been set or changed specifically, it will still be the default password. Thus, first thing to try in order to successfully uninstall a Symantec Client Security program is by using the default password for the uninstalling clients, which is symantec.
In the cases where Symantec AntiVirus server has been taken down and no longer exist, or the client computer has no access to company network, or the default client uninstall password does not work, the following hack will enable you to remove Symantec Antivirus without using a password:
- Open Registry Editor (regedit).
- Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\INTEL\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\Administrator Only\Security\
- Change the value for useVPuninstallpassword key from 1 to 0.
- Exit Registry Editor and now you can uninstall Symantec AntiVirus Client.
The trick should work on most version of Symantec AntiVirus client or Norton AntiVirus Client, including version 7, 8, 9 or 10.
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Entries (RSS)
May 8th, 2007 07:56
lol - nice one - could have done with knowing that a while back!
May 11th, 2007 18:42
man i want to distable norton internet security but i need a pw any help…. and i have not set any pass words so i think
June 4th, 2007 09:48
That was extremely helpful, can’ tell you how much time that saved me.
June 20th, 2007 01:22
Very useful post, thanks Internet!
June 22nd, 2007 20:04
Sweet, worked perfect!
June 28th, 2007 17:45
Extremely helpful man!
I was about to format the machine that can take 4 to 5 hours with software insatllation. This trick save my lot of time.
Thanks
September 30th, 2007 21:25
This was a very nice tip. Unfortunately I cannot try it right now because I need Symantec Client Security to be able to use the company’s VPN. I suspect Symantec is keeping my iTunes from opening. When I get back to the office, I’ll probably give it a go.
Regards,
Sergio Sousa
February 21st, 2008 23:37
Wow, thanks for the info! Very helpful.
February 29th, 2008 18:31
the password for uninstalling the client is symantec
March 8th, 2008 02:01
Worked perfectly. Thanks for saving me so much time.
March 13th, 2008 15:20
Totally awesome - just got a new customer who bought an entire office - along with their workstations with Novell and Norton AntiVirus Corporate…with, of course, an uninstall password and NO IT support. This post saved me a LOT of time - you rock!
March 13th, 2008 19:02
I have Symantec Enpoint Protection 11, there is no VirusProtect6 key there, also there is no key as “useVPuninstallpassword” in the whole registry.
Any idea what i should do?
May 1st, 2008 23:03
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May 13th, 2008 22:37
I uninstalled the client fine but im having trouble uninstalling ghost and pcanywhere can you help me please thanks
June 8th, 2008 03:29
Thanks, this was a BIG help and saved me a lot of time.
June 26th, 2008 18:16
I too have endpoint 11 and this key doesn’t exist in your registry. It would seem that symantec have closed this loophole.
Anybody know of another way round it???
July 2nd, 2008 21:46
Very slick, worked great. Thanks!!
July 3rd, 2008 20:48
Wow.. Thanks man
When it popped up I was like “wtf, I didn’t set no password!”, and tried every password I could remember. Ofcourse it was “symantec”
July 11th, 2008 02:44
Great! Thanks a lot!!!
July 24th, 2008 01:58
Thanks a lot. Bought a computer off of someone with this one it and have been trying to figure out how to remove it. This really helped.