Have W98SE, Norton AV (part of System Works 2, most of which is disabled). Four questions:

Some months ago I found that the navdx.exe had disappeared from my autoexec.exe so I put it back in. Was this the right thing to do because I am now wondering if it was removed as part of an update? Strangely, if I disable "load autoprotect at startup" using Norton's AV Control Panel I still get all the bootscan text if I have the navdx.exe line checked in msconfig. Is this navdx line currently in vogue or not?

If I check the line navdx.exe in msconfig it forces me to have the DOS SoundBlaster lines too. Even if I temporarily delete all autoexec files (including Norton's), back comes autoexec.bat complete with SoundBlaster stuff. This has only happened since AV Update 31/10/00 though it may just be a co-incidence. Goodness knows where this SB info is coming from - any ideas?

Fortunately I missed the buggy Norton update 6/11/00 but I did take the
allegedly good one of 9/11/00. Ever since that time my HD clatters away for much longer after the desktop and system tray icons have appeared. Has anyone else had this?

It's all reminding me of the buggy McAfee days except that they gave you the update files so you could always re-install with the last good update clicked afterwards. Has anyone has found a way to do this with Norton?

So it's any ideas gratefully received - particularly interested to hear if anyone else has had any of these oddities and generally compare notes. Thks.

Can't help you on the SB stuff.

The NAV running from the autoexec checks the boot records and a few critical files for viri. It is essentially trying to protect you from booting up windows if you have a virus in a critical component.
As for the chatter, my guess would be a fragmented disk. There are quite a few files loaded with an update.
Do a defrag and see if it disappears.

You can reinstall a previous update. The instructions are on the symantec site. I believe it is
shutdown nav
copy all the files from the directory of the previous update \program files\Common Files\Symantec\VirusDefs\nnnnnnnn.nnn
where the n's indicate the directory (date) of the last update
copy them into the \incoming directory in the same location.
Restart NAV

WhitPhil. Thks for tip on update reinstall, will follow up. No problem on the defrag (or anything similar) I'm obsessive about keeping machine clear.