Nortons AV preventing Network Share

If Norton Antivirus (or Norton 360) is blocking access to a network share, it could be due to its Firewall, Intrusion Prevention, or Network Security settings. Here’s how to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

1. Temporarily Disable Norton to Test

• Right-click the Norton icon in the system tray and select Disable Auto-Protect (or Turn Off).
• Try accessing the network share again. If it works, Norton is the culprit.

2. Add the Network Share to Trusted Locations

• Open Norton Security.
• Go to Settings > Firewall > General Settings.
• Under Network Trust, click Configure next to Trusted Networks.
• Add the IP address or subnet of the network share (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24 or the specific server IP).
• Click Apply > OK.

3. Allow File and Printer Sharing in Firewall

• In Norton, go to Settings > Firewall > Program Control.
• Find File and Printer Sharing (SMB) or Windows Networking and set it to Allow.
• If not listed, click Add and browse to:C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe (This is the Windows service handling SMB shares.)

4. Disable Intrusion Prevention (Temporarily)

• Go to Settings > Intrusion Prevention.
• Toggle Intrusion Prevention to Off and test the share.
• If it works, re-enable it and add an exception for the network share.

5. Check Smart Firewall Rules

• Go to Settings > Firewall > Advanced Settings > Configure next to General Rules.
• Look for rules blocking SMB (TCP 445) or NetBIOS (TCP 139, UDP 137-138).
• If found, edit the rule to Allow or delete it.

6. Allow SMB Traffic in Windows Firewall (Fallback)

• Open Windows Defender Firewall (wf.msc).
• Go to Inbound Rules and enable:
  • File and Printer Sharing (SMB-In)
  • NetBIOS (TCP/UDP)
• If Norton overrides Windows Firewall, disable Norton’s firewall temporarily to test.

7. Update Norton and Windows

• Ensure Norton is updated (Settings > LiveUpdate).
• Update Windows (Settings > Windows Update).

8. Reinstall Norton (Last Resort)

• If the issue persists, uninstall Norton via Control Panel > Programs and Features.
• Use the Norton Remove and Reinstall Tool to cleanly reinstall.

9. Alternative: Use a Different AV Temporarily

• If Norton continues blocking the share, consider using Windows Defender (built-in) or another AV for testing.

Common Symptoms of Norton Blocking Shares

• “Network path not found” or “Access denied” errors.
• Slow or failed connections to shared folders.
• Printers or mapped drives disappearing.

Final Notes

• If the share is on a domain, ensure Norton’s Network Trust includes the domain subnet.
• For home networks, set the network type to Home/Private in Windows (Settings > Network & Internet > Status > Change connection properties).

I found this the cure to most issued with Nortons program.

Note: There are several other softwares which cater the tasks better than Nortons over complicated software interface.