Norton Internet Security: A Waste Of Money
I tried Symantec's Norton Security Suite because so many people, including security pro's, recommended it. I had been renewing since 2001 and thought I was secure. Then I began getting locked out of my own firewall admin panel. And updates were not accessible at all. I tried contacting Norton through their help section, but no one had any answers to help me understand what was happening. One "expert" suggested something had corrupted and to just wipe my hard drive and reinstall Norton. I did-twice.
What I discovered last year was that this was an exploit used by crackers to hook the graphic user interface and take over your system. The GUI is that cheerful user friendly panel that guides you through setup and monitoring tasks. For $69.99 that's an expensive way to learn that not all internet security products perform as promised. There are improved Norton products out there now, but still, once my trust has been breached I won't be back for another try. My computer is my livelihood and it is not worth having it damaged because a big corporation won't own up to its vulnerabilities. There are less expensive and very effective firewall products out there. Be an intelligent consumer and do your research before buying an overhyped expensive piece of computer software.
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Norton Internet Security 2004 Made By:
Symantec Purchased at: Symantec Price: $69.99 Category: Computers / Computer Security Published: December 20, 2007 19:09
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Definitely interesting - I'm pretty much in the same situation as yourself, whereas years ago all my trust was into Norton concerning the stoppage of viruses, spyware, hacker attacks and whatnot hitting your computer, but now, in this present point and time, that's no longer the case anymore as I've gone elsewhere regarding "Internet Security Suites". Thanks for sharing your experience!
You're welcome Forbidden. I guess the saying "experience is the best teacher" applies here. I do know Symantec at that time was tortally uncooperative and very very difficult to reach. Never again!
My trial period with Norton on my new laptop just ended and I had no intention of buying it. No way! Trying to uninstall it from my laptop took me a couple hours of wasted time to figure out too. It's not just a simple uninstall from my control panel. grrrr! They sure do make things difficult!
Norton hasn't let any viruses through for me, but it is constantly chewing up my RAM and slowing the computer down. Finally learned that the update that was causing this wasn't even for virus protection, but just to keep the Symantec software happy. Phooey. When it runs out this spring I'm going with avg or avast.
Sorry to hear about all the trouble Norton gave you. I have also heard a lot of bad experiences with their software!
LOL, my husband hates Norton antivirus...he is always complaining about it. I'm surprised this was recommended to you by professionals...it is pretty well known to have issues. Sorry you wasted your money on this.
Donna, I'm not surprised by pro recommendations. The attitude across the board is if a newbie asks, they want simple-give em Norton. Once however they know you are computer literate, THEN the truth emerges.
I also agree with you . I had Norton on my last laptop and it has completely shut down. I don't think it should have allowed any viruses in the first place to get into my system, but they did and it burnt up my hard drive. now my computer will not even turn on and I had to buy a brand new one. Norton sucks!
Thanks for the detailed information. This is certainly important information for anyone who uses Norton to beware and maybe look into something better. Thanks for sharing it.
I hear ya Frogster-there are so many more reliable free security programs out there-we just have to be educated consumers & do the research. That just stinks that you tried to reinstall this not once but twice.
this was very helpful, froggy. i had noticed norton's didnt work as good as it was supposed to but thought it was just me. thanks!
I had more problems with Norton myself! I will not use Norton products anymore for my computer. I even had my mom take Norton off of hers and put something else on.
Oh no... I just renewed my yearly Norton today... dang! Will keep this in mind for the future.
I agree Norton can be a bit problematic.
I also am not a Norton fan. My friend was going to school at the time for computers and told me that his professor told them 'Whatever you do do not use norton!' Thanks for sharing:)
I agree, this is a product i don't use.
I have to say, I would never recommend Norton to anyone. Like most people, when I got my first computer, that was what was available. This program became so invasive as to virtually stop my computer. I asked my Internet Provider what he would recommend. He told me to get AVG free. In his words" it wipes the floor with norton". He was absolutely right. I dumped norton and installed AVG. I have never had a problem since and have never had a virus.