CALLING ALL NORTON USERS!

Recently we've received a number of complaints about the speed of our website or, more accurately, its lack of speed. This has puzzled us greatly because we have been unable to spot any problems with how things are working. If anything, we are faster than we've ever been.

Starting about a week ago however, another piece of the puzzle started showing up in some user reports - Norton. Here's an example:

I recently had problems with my computer. I had Windows XP reloaded and Norton antivirus put on my computer(Norton is new). I now find your site to run very slow. It takes anywhere from 5-10 seconds for a chart to come up where it use to be half that time or less. I do not seem to have this problem on other sites. Do you have any ideas what could be the issue. Could Norton be slowing things down? Is there a setting I could change? - T.S.

We have tested and re-tested our website using several different combinations of Norton's software, different versions of Windows, and different browsers but we have not been able to duplicate this mysterious slowness.

So I wanted to ask the "blog-o-sphere" (hey, that's you!) for help. If you use Norton security software with Windows XP (or something similar), please add a comment at the bottom on this entry and let us know how fast (or slow) StockCharts.com works for you. Thanks in advance!

- Chip

(Note: Please only comment if you are using StockCharts.com with Norton security software installed. Please use our Support page if you want to report other issues with the website. Thanks!)

OS: Windows XP sp3 Norton: Norton Internet Security ver 17.7.0.12 No slowdowns. Flash and JAVA annotations work fine. Have them temporarily turn off Norton and check your website.

Posted by: Kris Gupta July 30, 2010 at 06:15 AM

I have Norton and Windows XP and IE (can't find the version (: ) In the last couple of days I have begun to have problems with everything "Not Responding" in Explorer. I delete all temp files and cookies every night. I tend to believe the problem is with IE, but have not reinstalled. I don't have another browser so will check this all out this weekend.

Posted by: John Guthals July 30, 2010 at 06:36 AM

My experience with Norton has not been good. After I replaced it with Microsoft Essentials antivirus (It's free!) I have had no problems. It works behind the scenes, like an anti virus should.

Posted by: Stan Brodeur July 30, 2010 at 10:13 AM

p.s. = hummmm....after reading the other inputs above, I updated Java, and Adobe Flash player, and the speed was back to normal.

Posted by: Ben Smith July 31, 2010 at 01:55 AM

Try this to fix the problem : In Norton, under Settings 1. Firewall Uncommon Protocols -->> OFF Stealth Blocked Ports ->> OFF Stateful Protocol Filter ->> OFF Automatic File/Printer Sharing -->> OFF Block All Network Traffic--> Unblocked 2. BackUp Settings Everything should be ON 3. Task Scheduling Automatic I also have network tools that might help.

Posted by: Jane Cullinane July 31, 2010 at 01:56 AM

Have Norton 360 /w Windows XP. Last couple of days had dramatic slowdown on internet access. I thought it might be Comcast. Your pages initially loaded super quick, now for some reason takes a lot more time. Maybe its the Norton? Great site!!

Posted by: P. de Silva July 31, 2010 at 02:49 AM

p.s. = and a short while later, back to ~5-6 seconds delayed loads.

Posted by: Ben Smith July 31, 2010 at 03:35 AM

I have experienced an annoying slowdown with Stockcharts. I use XPpro with Norton (recommended by Dell) and ATT uverse. I use a cleaner every day or so. Recently I deleted several dozen annotated charts that I seldom watch, but there was no improvement.

Posted by: Bob Dorris July 31, 2010 at 05:55 AM

I use XP Professional and Norton with no problems.

Posted by: Lynn Pignatelli July 31, 2010 at 10:02 AM

My Win7 machine with Norton Anti-Virus works very well with Stock Charts. My Win XP machine is a bit slower. Turning off Norton does not affect the speed. JL

Posted by: John Laneri July 31, 2010 at 10:18 AM

I had a very poor experience with Norton slowing everything down - went to AVG and the problem went away. That was with Windows XP Professional. Now on Windows 7 with AVG and everything is fine.

Posted by: Larry Stanczak July 31, 2010 at 10:52 AM

I run a PC with XP pro and Norton Internet Security. I've found it takes me almost 60 seconds to request or update a chart! However, one day I accidently shut down most of the processes on the computer and when I requested a chart, the chart loaded almost instantly. I also suspect Norton of pre-scanning incoming data which would cause the slowdown.

Posted by: Joe Stahlecker July 31, 2010 at 11:04 AM

I run Norton 360 on my laptop with windows XP and do not have any problems with the speed.

Posted by: Leon Klube July 31, 2010 at 11:14 AM

I have Windows XP Professional on a Dell Vostro 1710; 3GB memory; 223GB storage; Norton Internet Security 2010. Awhile back, the stock charts started taking about 5-6 seconds to load...a significant delay from the previous instant loading experience. As I recall, this started about the time that the Flash Annotate tool (which I love to use) became available. I routinely clean out the temp files, history, prefetch files, etc., but the slow loads continue. I use Firefox browser routinely. I was glad to see the "Calling All Norton Users" message, and hope there is a solution to the delays.

Posted by: Ben Smith July 31, 2010 at 11:34 AM

I've noticed my new Norton "360" is _often_ preforming background tests/scan's. Yes my computer has slowed since updating the security software. And every so often it goes into hyper-speed drive for some reason. Like it's turning 10,000 RPM's it does this on it's own like it's possessed. I know i need/could use more RAM . But really these software companies MSFT & SYMC are making the internet slow to a crawl. I wish i had my old WebTV back;"dumb-terminal"/ now called a "thin-client". I use XP with the tearable -( tab's ) new IE-8.

Posted by: Leonard Sampson August 01, 2010 at 02:19 AM

I use XP and Norton and have had no problems. Charts come up fast. It could be their modem. If they are on a DSL modem they should reboot it. If it still persists it could be that their local ISP is working on their system going through an upgrade or something.

Posted by: Dave Cohen August 01, 2010 at 02:55 AM

Xp and Norton 360, no problems.

Posted by: Robert L. Bennett August 01, 2010 at 03:30 AM

Windows XP SP3, Norton 360 4.2.0.12, IE 8, Dual Core 2.70GHz, 4GB DDR2, most up to date versions of Java, Flash, etc. 8MB ADSL No problems whatsoever.

Posted by: Steve Kerr August 01, 2010 at 03:48 AM

I also am experienceing this same problem (15 seconds to download the stockchart view) with Windows XP and IE 7 & 8. The problem started with the Windows Update release of June 9, 2010. There are several Windows XP security updates and an IE security update in that release. At the time I was running IE 7. After a few weeks of frustration, I changed to IE 8 hoping it would be faster, but no improvement. I am certain that the problem originated with that June 9 update release, because I was on Stockcharts.com right before the update installed and again right after the install was done and my computer rebooted. In addition, I have a backup computer which ran the normal 1 second download until the computer got the same security update a week later. To be more specific about the slow download, it is only with the normal stockchart view with the controls below. The actual chart ususally comes into view in 2 seconds, but the screen is frozen (can't scroll to bottom of page). I can't change to other open IE tabs, but can change to another IE program window. I presume that there is additional downloading occurring, but it may be something else. The other views (e.g. 10 charts per page, candleglance, edit list, etc) all seem to work with normal speed. So my conclusion is there is something unique about the content of the stockchart view with the controls that is interacting with that June security update. I am running Norton Internet Security 2010 on both computers and I do not believe it is contributing to the problem (there were no changes to settings or updates on either computer when the problem occurred). I have not experienced this delay on any other website. I hope this helps someone find a solution soon.

Posted by: Mark Brunner August 01, 2010 at 08:01 AM

I use Norton Security software, with Windows 7, and I have not experienced any slow downs.

Posted by: Gary Berkley August 01, 2010 at 10:15 AM

Yes, I put on Norton Antivirus about 10 days ago and it takes about 2 seconds for every chart to load...very frustrating. I assumed it was Norton, but don't know how to fix it. It has a green check mark saying your site is fine. I have Window 7.

Posted by: Stephen Brown August 02, 2010 at 01:14 AM

Be sure you are not running more than one antivirus program. Two or more such programs running in the background will fight with each other and slow the whole system down. Also, don't run two or more firewalls. Turn off the windows firewall if you have another running.

Posted by: John Overstreet August 02, 2010 at 08:44 AM

I had very slow response times with the charts for several weeks. After contacting Norton about the problem, they could not figure it out. I finally discovered that when I opened Internet Explorer (Windows XP) after I Disabled the Norton Toolbar (using Manage Add-ons), the problem was solved. If I need the Norton Toolbar, I open another Internet Explorer with the Toolbar Enabled. It's a little cumbersome, but it works.

Posted by: Susan Robinson August 02, 2010 at 09:32 AM

I use Windows Vista with Norton anti-virus and have also experienced the slow loading of charts. After reading the blog entry and the various replies, I experimented with Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox. I found that the charts loaded slowly when I used both IE and Firefox but loaded immediately when using Safari. Perhaps the problem is not with the Windows/Norton combination.

Posted by: Jeffrey Ebenstein August 02, 2010 at 10:12 AM

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