Symantec Norton Internet Security 2006 (Academic, PC)

User Reviews for Symantec Norton Internet Security 2006 (Academic, PC)

• Reviewed by: perryrt

  Duration of ownership: 24 Months

  Strengths: Does catch viruses Can block intrusion attempts

  Weaknesses: Recent versions slow computer to a crawl - something the reviewer seems to have completely missed!

  Overall Evaluation: I have used various Norton products since the mid 1990s and felt that they were relatively good performers. With that in mind, I installed Norton Internet Security 2006 on a new Dell laptop last year. Up until June 2007 things worked fine, with no real threats detected but also no degradation of computer performance. Since June, though, the program seems to take over the laptop, with the CPU at 100% for hours and hours of time. I checked the Symantec web site and they had a FAQ giving suggestions if NIS makes a computer run slowly - mainly to update the program. Updating to NIS 2007 seemed to help a bit a couple weeks ago, but not completely. What happens is that everything is fine when the computer starts but after being on for a day the computer slows to a crawl (and I mean a crawl!! 5 minutes to open Task Manager, for example) with the CPU at 100% and various bits of NIS taking up the processor. "Debugging" the problem has been a chore as I need to use the computer to do things, not to spend time trouble-shooting. However, I see that a work laptop with the Corporate NAV and basically the same programs as at home has not had any performance problems, and stopping NIS altogether makes the laptop run faster. Recently working with pictures / PDFs / documents makes the computet slow as the CPU goes to 100%. The anti-Phishing feature is a headache unto itself, as it slows down IE when opening web pages to an unacceptable degree. Waiting 20 - 30 sec for a page to begin downloading is not bad if you only look at a few web pages ... unacceptable when really browsing. These sorts of experiences are documented on various chats accessable with your favorite search engine. What is sad is that none of the reviewers seem to have noted these problems - understandable maybe as they take some time to "mature" but still something that makes me even more cynical about the worth of any software / computer review.
• Reviewed by: revfred

  Duration of ownership: 9 Months

  Strengths: It's easy to disable . . . which is a good thing, because you are really going to need it.

  Weaknesses: Poor service ...they charge. I didn't pay. I filed with the BBB and the CA Atty General. But I had to go through hell first. It was their download that caused the problem. Slow scans. Updates are confusing and god forbid if anything goes wrong and you have to figure out one of their "solutions". My ISP warned me about this with Norton. So once my subscription runs out .. .that's it, I'm switching.

  Overall Evaluation: Very poor. I would not buy this again, but would research others on the market that I now know are much better and their telephone service is FREE. You have the choice with Norton of either paying $9.95 for 30 min to talk with a tech. OR you can do it by e-mail for FREE . . . but that takes 2 or more days for a reply . . . and guess who wrote me back .... Aravind GopalKrishna. I knew he wasn't from Cupertino, Symantec's HQ. I also knew after months trying to resolve a problem with :New Delli, Inc. computers that I was screwed from the get go. Gave him a chance ... have been going on two weeks without any security. Filed with the BBB and Atty General of CA, consumer fraud. Got a call from an AMERICAN tech in CA who is going to debug this via a phone appointment. Nice guy .... but I've got 113 days before my subscription runs out and that's it for Norton. Going with my ISP's recommendation. The item got good reviews. Don't feel it's fair to name them because I'm not sure if my ISP can get into trouble for making product recommendations. Sayonara Symantec . . .