Anybody have Experience with Norton Internet Security?

[hwp]

I thought my system was running very slowly so I took it a shop to have it looked at about two weeks ago. It turned out that a fan had come loose from the motherboard. They told me that as a result of this the RAM was fried, but because it was so old (4 years) that type of RAM wasn't available any more so I needed a new motherboard as well, and if I did that then I needed a new video card, etc., etc. - i.e. buy a newe system. They put the fan back on the board and didn't chage me anything. This didn't sound right so I took it to a second store for diagnosis. They said the system was fine but was loaded with spyware. When I told them this didn't make sense because I ran AVG Anti-Spyware (free version) daily they told me that the freeware wasn't very good and I needed something better. I went back a few days later and they recommended Norton Internet Security. So I bought it and came home and installed it - no problems. I ran it and the report was that there were no threats to my system. Since I still had AVG Anti-Spyware loaded on the system I decided to run it to see what would happen. It picked up about 10 spyware sites! I have repeated this sequence several times with similar results. NIS continues to report no threats. I contacted Symatec about this and was told that was normal because their anti-spyware removes the core of the spyware but leaves the harmless shell which is what AVG is picking up. This doesn't sit well with me. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[DieselPower]

I never liked Norton and never had anything but problems with it. I stopped using them about 3 or 4 years ago and have been using McAfee Internet Security Suite ever since along with Mozilla Firefox as my internet brouser. Been trouble free ever since.

 

[Podunkadunk]

I agree with DP. Norton sucks. I also have Mac as my anti-viral package. I use Lavasoft Ad-ware (free version, it's on the 'net) to remove data miners, spyware and the like. I've never had a problem with it. Registry mechanic is a great tool for fixing glitches with registry's.

In a story almost like yours, at one time I had Norton (came installed on a computer I once owned) and Mac (which I purchased soon after buying the computer). I've run them both consecutively... Most of the time, my computer was fine, but in one instance I had a trojan horse. Mac discovered it, Norton didn't find squat.

Mozilla firefox is an awesome browser that is a lot safer than IE. This is because the hacks out there that plant bugs are targeting the largest majority of users...on the oldest platform available...Internet Explorer! As more people swap over, bugs will follow. Unfortunately, nothing is fullproof.

There's a law in the technology world that few have ever heard of. Moore's Law states that every 18 months, computer performance will double. In a nutshell, buy a new 'puter. Unless you order something that's top of the line at it's time, it is an antique in 3 years.

 

[circlelake]

The newer products of Norton and McAfee both suck if you have an older system. Slows down a system way too much. I have switched over to Avast AV a couple of years ago on my system with no problems. Put some of my clients on it when they have problems with speed and sharing files on there workgroups.
Plus it FREE for home use
avast! antivirus software - computer virus, worm and Trojan protection by ALWIL Software
IT Pro here for 18 years.
Tom

 

[k6dyc]

I'm with the anit-Norton folks. I run a regional ISP and we recommend AVG. Our biggest problem with Norton isn't that is doesn't do a good job protecting from virus threats, but that it causes so many side effects and other issues. Although we are capable of fixing computer issues related to infections and connectivity problems, we refer them to several local computer repair businesses. They say that Norton is their best friend since they get so much business removing it and installing AVG. It is sometimes very tricky to get off a system, requiring tedious registry editing and manual removal.

Bottom line IMHO is that Norton is a pig of a program and works no better than AVG free edition for its basic task of virus protection. Combined with a spyware program like Lavasoft (free), Spybot S&D (free), Windows Defender (free), or SpySweeper, AVG does an excellent job.

 

[Mike120]

I'm with the anti-Norton bunch as well. It's a resource pig and doesn't catch much. My wife's machine got a worm while running Norton and I had to take off over 300 infected files. Not a peep out of Norton. I went to NOD32 and Spysweeper on all on my PCs and haven't had any problems since.

 

[heehaw]

so how hard is it to delete norton from a computer: i've always used it because i get it free or almost free, when i buy turbotax: but it or something sure has my computer slowed down..
heehaw

 

[heehaw]

i went to the lava site to load it, but theres a bunch of stuff they wanted to load with it, that i don't want?? is there a site that you know of that doesn't add the extras?
heehaw

 

[Podunkadunk]

i went to the lava site to load it, but theres a bunch of stuff they wanted to load with it, that i don't want?? is there a site that you know of that doesn't add the extras?
heehaw

I'm not sure what you mean by a bunch of stuff they wanted to load with it, I've never had that problem before...it's not like you get a free toolbar or something with it. However, I went to the site. This is the one you want:
Ad-Aware SE Personal - Lavasoft

 

[heehaw]

a google toolbar, norton 2005, were both listed as would be installed: i'll take a look at your link.
thanks
heehaw