How to Connect to LiveUpdate

The Norton LiveUpdate program is a "helper" application that will automatically download and install virus updates and upgrades to your Symantec-produced anti-virus program. Previously, Live Update was a separate program distributed by Norton to add to your existing anti-virus suite of tools to manage updates for all of the programs. After 2009, Norton has embedded LiveUpdate with all of the anti-virus products to minimize potential errors and version conflicts that can arise. One problem with LiveUpdate in the past has been that some viruses will attack the live update host file and change the uniform resource locator of the program to a "fake" local computer address, thereby preventing LiveUpdate from working.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Open LiveUpdate. Select "File" then "Exit" from the program's main menu. LiveUpdate will need to be disabled to prevent a file-sharing error when fixing the update problem.

2. Open the text editor on your computer.

3. Select "File," then choose "Open" from your text editor's file chooser and select the NortonLiveUpdate host file found in the "c:\windows\system\hosts" directory. The host file is named "Hosts" with no file extension.

4. Remove any address entries that begin with "127.0.0.1" prior to a web address. Remove the "127.0.0.1" portion of the entry and save the file. Many viruses will prepend the "127.0.0.1" address entry to valid URLs that are used for updating the Norton anti-virus suite. As an example, "127.0.0.1.www.norton.com" should be changed to www.norton.com.

5. Reboot your computer. After the system has restarted, open LiveUpdate and select "Check for Updates" from the "File" menu. LiveUpdate should now be operational.

References

• Symantec Information on LiveUpdate
• Troubleshooting Information on Symantec

Resources

• Norton Anti-Virus Update Center