Symantec Norton Internet Security 2005 (Full Product, PC)

Reviewed by: Peterm1

Duration of ownership: 1 Month

Strengths: None that I can fiind becasue the **** thing blocks all of my important interent connections

Weaknesses: Impossible to uninstall without causing fatal errors that require a system reinstallation. IF YOU SEE A PC PREPACKAGED WITH THIS PRODUCT- RUN A MILE TO AVOID IT, IT IS TOTAL CRAP Even the IT help desk guys I ring to try to help me (eg from HP on which computer it was installed) tell me that they have nothing but problems with it. CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP do not buy.

Overall: minus 45 for a product that causes nothing but problems, arbitrarily blocks important applications from accessiing the internet wihtout asking and with almost insurmountable difficulty to rectify and WILL not uninstalll without causing problems.

Reviewed by: jadegrasse

Strengths: None

Weaknesses: Very poor installation process, never got got it working, could not 'uninstall it'

Overall: I have never had so much problems trying to remove software from a PC. I'm a network administrator with years of experience and one of the users here at the company brought me her home PC to 'reinstall Norton 2005'. I thought it would be a joke, I was really wrong. I tried the add/remove (Norton was not there), I used regedit to completely remove all occurences of Norton and Symantec, I erased everything on the local drive with Norton and Symantec in it, I even booted with msconfig options set. NO LUCK. Norton support was 'reinstall'. I tried. I don't want to reformat and reinstall everything. I would only recommend this product to my competitors.

Reviewed by: TWA4

Strengths: It not only destroys Virus's but also addware/spyware

Weaknesses: None

Overall: I was using Norton Anti Virus and now I have added protection against addware/spyware.Very easy installation and..no problem allowing new sites to the firewall..there is a learning feature the first week or so to determine the sites you visit for your firewall protection..Just a..real nice interface..and the very best package I have used to date..I highly reccomend this software to anyone..T.W. Anderson

Reviewed by: Turpitt

Strengths: Extremely thorough

Weaknesses: complex, takes time to learn how to properly configure

Overall: I have used many firewalls, including but not limited to Black Ice, Trend PC-cillin, Zone Alarm, and numerous free ware programs. Relative to most of the other firewalls I have used, NIS 2005 has some significant negative aspects: 1) very complex 2) not user friendly. 3) has many automated features which is annoying. 4) takes significant time to learn and configure NIS 2005 also has some very positive features relative to all the others: 1)Absolute communications control 2)Incredible configuablity The first time I used a norton firewall (2003) I was shocked by how many Internet enabled executables it identified. No other firewall I had used even came close to detecting the same number of apps. Currently, with Win XP home SP1, MS Office 2003 pro, Corel 12 and Nero 6, NIS 2005 identifies 177 different internet enabled sub-programs. 177!!! The vast majority of these are Windows XP related. Using NIS 2005, I typically keep all but 5 of the XP communications programs blocked, with no loss of IE or widows functionality. No other firewall I have used allowed me these capabilities. In terms of installation difficulties and system degradation, I have never experianced any, through NIS 2003, 2004 or 2005, however I have seen reviews from many who have experianced difficulties. I can only say, if you are planning on using this product, make sure: 1) ANY old fireswalls are COMPLETELY removed from your system, including your registries and ini's 2) Your hard drive has ample space. 1gig free on a 100 gig drive is not ample. Yes, big enough for the program, but you drive is overloaded (you must always leave space for swap files)or any big prog will be problematic 3) De-frag your hard drive. 4) You have turned off all automated/backround programs and applications immediately prior to install. 5) If you are running win xp SP2, you have turned off the windows firewall. 6) Follow the install directions. Do not simply stick the disc int, hit "install" and walk away. If you you are looking for something reliable and very easy, try Black Ice (not available through Price Grabber) If you want TOTAL control of your computers communications, and are willing to spend time learing the program, then there are really no other significant options I have come accross. NIS 2005 (NIS 2006??) is your best bet

Reviewed by: dave021

Strengths: symantec has successfully defended my computer for years

Overall: The only caution I would give buyers is this...The product will not completely uninstall. What this means is that you cannot install the same version two years in a row. You must buy the latest (and most expensive) version each year.Otherwise, great product.

Reviewed by: Lazor25

Strengths: Good, user-friendly interface. Easy to install.

Weaknesses: Has issues with Windows File and Printer sharing. User will probably have to maually remove any viruses that get into the system, since the automated feature often fails to delete them itself.

Overall: I've used NIS 2004, and 2005 before this 2006 version, and I never had difficulty opening ports to do file sharing between my two computers with those earlier versions. This 2006 version, for some strange reason, will not let me access the local shared files using a remote computer unless I disable the firewall for a minute first.The virus removal feature could be better too.