Symantec Endpoint Protection = Molasses (HELP!)

[ButBackstageThingsWereFallingApart]

IT removed the Norton Antivirus from all workstations, replacing it with the server-side Endpoint Protection.  The old NAV was set to do a full-body scan once weekly at noon Wednesday.  For most humans, this corresponded to lunchtime and was not a problem.  The new SEP appears to perform a full-body scan every time the workstation is booted up or a user logs in.  Each morning.  It bogs the computer down as to make it essentially unusable for ~45 minutes.  (Literal example: I typed "golfhos.com" into the address field, then looked up to see "g|".  More than ten seconds later, the "olfhos.com" scrolled into the field.  Then another 10-15 seconds to load the page.  Task Manager wouldn't even launch the first two times I tried it.)

Since it's server-based, I can't alter the scan schedule.  Likewise, it merely relaunches rtvscan.exe if I try to end that process.  Here's a view of its CPU usage profile over the last several minutes:



What can I do to escape its sluggishness?  I'm even more ineffective than usual for the first half-hour to 45 minutes of every day.  IT has been utterly useless, of course.

[stroh]

Well that explains why spacey is gone.

[stroh]

LOL  Nice avatar.

Topic:  I've you've read even a couple sentences of anything I've posted, you will be fully aware I'm of no help with either fixing computers or glueing driver heads.

Good luck.

[Aske]

Win+L instead of logout or shutdown?

[dystopia]

Hmm, tough one.  The trick will be finding a workaround that doesn't piss off IT. 

[dystopia]

Random ideas:

1. I'm assuming that IT won't be open to adjusting any of the settings on their end.

Maybe try disabling the symantec network access control service.  This might go against their policy, though.
http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/70977?page=2

Check the services that start along with symantec antivirus and antispyware protection. Even though NAC is disabled from the SEPM, NAC Services are started in the client automatically.

Disable them & try to see if it helps.

NAC* NETWORK ACCESS CONTROL

2. Assuming you can't leave the machine on all the time for green or security reasons, maybe you can go into your BIOS and have the computer boot up automatically 1 hour before you get to work?

http://askville.amazon.co...ewer.do?requestId=4933774
http://www.astahost.com/i...-Automatically_t7075.html

[dystopia]

Follow-up questions:
1. Does this happen to just your machine or others too?
2. What manufacturer?  Just wondering because I saw some reports of issues with SEP and HPs.

[ButBackstageThingsWereFallingApart]

Win+L instead of logout or shutdown?

I wish -- company policy prohibits a user remaining logged in when gone.  I must at minimum log out; old policy was to shut the machine down every evening.

I've you've read even a couple sentences of anything I've posted, ...

I have read your body of work.  I tried pointing at the computer in a gay manner, but that didn't do anything except make me crave a heater.

Follow-up questions:
1. Does this happen to just your machine or others too?
2. What manufacturer?  Just wondering because I saw some reports of issues with SEP and HPs.

Not sure, but I'm asking around.  I have one of the oldest machines in the company (5.5 to 6 years old, was up for replacement last year, but budget trims pushed things out).  IBM ThinkCentre Pentium 4, 1GB RAM, WinXP Pro 2002 w/SP3.  I'm hearing reports that a few others have similar issues, but it's certainly not a company-wide complaint.

And LOL on the "upgrade to Windows 7" smite.  It's a company-owned computer, bitch.

[dystopia]

It's not going to be easy to find the cause if they control the settings from a centrally managed server.

More ideas:

1. You mentioned trying to end the rtvscan.exe process.  Is that the process that looked like it was hogging all the resources in Task Manager?

If the issue is a specific process hogging the CPU, you could try something like this, which is a utility to throttle processes that hog the CPU:
http://mion.faireal.net/BES/

2.  This page suggests emptying your quarantine, maybe that's worth trying.  Although that looks more like general machine slowness rather than startup slowness.
http://www.iitk.ac.in/nt/mailimages/sep.htm

      After installing SEP my PC became slow.  However it was slow within tolerable limits. Now after a few weeks it has become horribly slow. Can some thing be done?

    Yes. Your quarantine may be having several items. When this is the case it makes your PC slow. Pl empty your quarantine. To do so please open SEP panel and locate quarantine. Does it have many items showing as quarantined. Very large quarantine makes the system slow. In case it is so, please select not more than 10 items at a time, right click and delete the items (all items).

[Aske]

Win+L instead of logout or shutdown?

I wish -- company policy prohibits a user remaining logged in when gone.  I must at minimum log out; old policy was to shut the machine down every evening.

WIN+L has the option to require the password to relogin.  only you , an admin, or someone who knows your password are going to login to the machine from that state..... or are you using more biometric based login/authentication tools?   from a security perspective I'm not sure how a full logout is more secure.  now from a calling the process standpoint....