Repairing Corrupted Virus Definitions

If you have gotten a message saying "Symantec AntiVirus Auto-Protect is Disabled" your virus definitions are probably corrupted. There are two suggested methods for repairing corrupted virus definitions:

• Method #1: Quick Repair procedure
• Method #2: Download and use FixDefs utility

We recommend trying the Quick Repair procedure first. If the problem is not resolved, then try using the FixDefs utility.

Additional information about corrupted virus definition files:

• Error: "Symantec AntiVirus services failed to start. Virus definition file is invalid. (CC001000)"
  
• How to manually repair or backdate virus definitions for Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 8.x and 9.x
• Symantec AntiVirus service fails to run and/or the virus definitions are more than a week old.
  
  

Method #1: Quick Repair Procedure:

1. Click on the Start button (usually in the lower left corner of your screen).
   
   
2. Select Control Panel.
   
   
3. In the Control Panel window, double click on the Add/Remove Programs icon.
   
   
   
4. Scroll down and highlight Symantec AntiVirus.
   
   
5. Click on the Change button.
   
   
   
6. In the wizard that appears, follow the on-screen prompts and choose the Repair option.
   
   
   
7. Close all open windows and restart your computer.
   
   
8. If you continue to receive the "disabled" message, try Method #2, using the FixDefs utility.
   
   

Method #2: Download and use FixDefs utility:

1. Be sure that you are an administrator for the computer on which you will be installing this program (How can I tell if I'm an administrator?).
   
   
2. Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
   
   
3. Open your Web browser (e.g., Firefox, Windows Internet Explorer).
   
   
4. Download the FixDefs repair utility (http://www.ncsu.edu/antivirus/files/Fix-av-defs.exe). You will need to log in with your Unity ID and password. We recommend that you save this file to your Desktop.
   
   
   
   
5. After the program has finished downloading, close your Web browser and any other programs that are running.
   
   
6. On your Desktop, double-click on the Fix-av-defs.exe icon.
   
   
   
   
7. If you get a Security Warning message, click on the Run button.
   
   
   
   
8. When you get a message saying that you are about to install the repair program, click on OK.
   
   
   
   
9. When the Self-extracting Archive window opens, click on Start. The installation files will be put into a hidden temporary folder named %temp%.
   
   
   
   
10. The program will start immediately, and the repair process will take several moments to complete. You will see the progress in a window, which will automatically close when the process is complete.
    
    
    
    
11. Restart your computer.
    
    

If your problem remains unresolved, contact the NC State Help Desk for assistance.

Page last modified September 5, 2007 by helee2