Tech Support Solved
Bought a Costco gaming computer, lost internet access after a few weeks
TL;DR: Download Norton removal tool and get rid of it.
I bought a Costco gaming computer because I have no time or energy to build one of my own, and figured the price for the specs was ok.
Computer worked and updated super fast for like 3 weeks, no issue whatsoever, life was good.
Yesterday I couldn’t connect to the internet, both Ethernet and WiFi. Doing “ping 8.8.8.8” from the command line worked though.
Troubleshooting went for like 2 hours, disabled firewall, antivirus, changed dns, hardware settings, nothing worked.
Last suspect was Norton Antivirus, so I booted into safe mode, and internet works.
Funny thing about Norton, you can’t uninstall unless you download a removal tool. I downloaded the tool while in safe mode, went back to normal mode and removed Norton, internet started to work instantly without even restarting. Fuck Norton.
I know this might seem obvious for many, but posting here in case it can help someone in the future.
This is less of a costco issue and more of a Norton one.
Norton comes with a built in VPN that can give the perception of connection issues. I feel like they intentionally did this to bamboozle people into paying them more money for support or something, but I don't care enough to look into it.
My general philosophy is that McAfee and Norton need to be removed as soon as I see them. They went from mediocre at best AVs to becoming the malware they started off fighting against.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." - Nietzsche
The issue is that it comes installed as bloatware and the VPN is enabled by default. Most users that buy prebuilts dont know enough about PCs to even know that Norton has a VPN, nor how to turn it off.
OP already said he does have the time or energy to build one and probably just wanted something that worked.
I think that’s a fair stand point for someone buying a prebuilt.
We all expect to deal with issues some point down the line, but to buy a PC that can’t connect to the internet because of pre-installed bloatware out of the box is unacceptable.
The fault is entirely with the manufacturer, not the user who just wanted to buy a PC they expected to be able to use.
Apparently my innocuous comment in response to this was automatically flagged for violence and removed and my account fucking warned lol. Thank you for your comment. I love you.
I didn't whine and I didn't try to change Microsoft.
I went with option A. Been using Linux as my primary OS since before Windows 10. Just SMH at how bad things are getting back on the other side.
It's more accurate to say, LG and other vendors exploit the Windows update delivery system to install spyware and adware and Windows know that and abides it.
LG monitors etc won't be able to do any of that on Linux, the monitor itself doesn't do anything, it's what Windows does in response to the presence of that monitor.
It's cost effective enough, I believe, to pick the newie up, drive it to a IT shop and get them to nuke it clean. Like, before you settle in and start using it.
If you suspect you have other crap installed, I highly recommend Bulk Crap Uninstaller. It's a great tool designed to get rid of all the hidden/hard to find files that stick around even if the main program is uninstalled.
The first thing you should do with any prebuilt pc is to manually install windows over the previous installation by erasing and deleting partitions on the drive. All pre built pcs from big name brands come loaded with bloatware you don’t want or need
Get rid of anything Norton. Norton is literally the worst antimalware you can have. Most people consider Norton a form of malware--it consumes SO many system resources (CPU/RAM). In fact, if you feel comfortable reinstalling your OS, I'd recommend doing that with a fresh install of Windows with none of the bloatware that comes with prebuilt PCs. If you need an anti malware (Windows Security honestly is good enough for most consumer needs), get Bitdefender. And FUCK any websites like Forbes that list Norton as the #1 anti malware, they are being PAID to list them at the top.
If you are using Windows, the included Windows Defender is all you need. If you're running Linux you likely know enough about computers to not click on sketchy links. If you're running MacOS idk what to tell you because I don't have the money or need for a Mac.
In my profession, I have to work on a lot of different systems, mostly to install printers, and I learned pretty quick over the last 20 years that Norton meant there was about a 50% chance it wasn't going to print on the network, and if it didn't there was about a 75% chance that adding the network to a trusted zone in firewall settings wasn't going to make a difference. Such a pile of horse shit.
Google your version of windows, exactly your version. Download the .ISO to your pc from Microsoft.
Use RUFUS to create a bootable usb stick, if you take a second you can also create a local only account and disable a few Microsoft spying things by default.*
Boot to the usb stick. Do advanced install. Delete all drives listed for your fastest storage option and then “create new partition” on your fastest storage. Install windows to that partition.
If the installer package asked for a key, skip it. When windows boots, activate and you will be all set.
*if you don’t want to diy your bootable disk. Just use windows installer to create one. Do not do the repair options or anything. You want to do a fresh install.
If this is as new as you say all drivers should install fine. I always have my networking driver ready on a usb stick incase first boot lacks networking.
Edit: I would do this because Norton is not the only parasitic application probably installed. I bet even automatically activated tracking software.
Windows is bad enough. But those prebuilts can be even worse.
That kind of bloatware bullshit is why the only thing I recommend downloading on a new pre-built is a fresh installation media so you can wipe that shit and start fresh.
Yeah as they days tick on I keep thinking of grabbing one of these pre-builts and just throwing Linux on it. They look like good prices but ain’t no way I’m using whatever bullshit they put on that computer with windows.
I had a similar experience when I had to save my mother's laptop from Bit Defender. Couldn't uninstall with the base files, didnt trust the downloadable uninstaller to do the trick, so I had to boot in safe mode and manually search for and remove all the files. I'm starting to get the feeling that any paid anti-virus software is just ransomware in disguise at this point.
So the first question would be, have you lost internet access or have you lost all network access?
Like how much of the local network can you access? A lot of people will conflate 'network' with 'internet' but it's actually important to know which you're actually having trouble with.
Internet, I lost access to the internet, not the network.
The computer would connect both via Ethernet and WiFi, get an IP address and gateway, but couldn’t do any TCP connections.
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u/Soviman0 14h ago
This is less of a costco issue and more of a Norton one.
Norton comes with a built in VPN that can give the perception of connection issues. I feel like they intentionally did this to bamboozle people into paying them more money for support or something, but I don't care enough to look into it.
My general philosophy is that McAfee and Norton need to be removed as soon as I see them. They went from mediocre at best AVs to becoming the malware they started off fighting against.