[mishell]

The following answer I found in the Adobe help forums, and I post it here because it was a very annyoing problem I ran into, even with a newer version of Norton (which since then I have replaced with QuickHeal). Maybe it'll help someone else:

Hourglass Cursor Appears Repeatedly in Adobe Application in Windows 2000 or NT 4.0

Issue

When you edit a document in an Adobe application (for example, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign) in Windows 2000 or NT 4.0, an hourglass cursor appears repeatedly, and the application responds very slowly.

Detail
Norton Utilities 2.0 for Windows NT or Norton Utilities 2001 for Windows 2000 is installed.

Solution

Add *.lst to the Exclusions list in Norton Protection:
1. Exit from Illustrator.
2. Right-click the Norton Protected Recycle Bin.
3. Click the Norton Protection tab.
4. Click Exclusions.
5. In the text box, type *.lst (where "l" is a lowercase "L").
6. Click Add (Norton Utilities 2.0), Select (Norton Utilities 2001), or Insert (Norton Utilities 2003), and then click OK.
7. Click OK in the Norton Protected Recycle Bin Properties dialog box, and then restart your computer.

Additional Information

Some Adobe applications use Adobefnt.lst files to quickly gather and store information about available fonts. Norton Protection, a component of Norton Utilities, protects certain file types so you can recover them if they are deleted. By default, Norton Protection protects *.lst files; when an Adobe application attempts to access Adobefnt.lst files, Norton Protection intervenes, slowing the application's performance. If you add *.lst files to the Exclusions list, Norton Protection doesn't protect Adobefnt.lst files or intervene when an application attempts to access them.