norton internet security 2007

I’ve stuck by Norton (Symantec) for many years now on both my personal and business machines, but have never recommended the anti virus software to friends, family, or associates due to a barrage of reasons. In fact, when I install anti virus or security software for others, it tends to be anything but a Norton product.

Last night while uninstalling Norton Internet Security (which was purchased against my recommendations) from a family member’s computer due to an expired subscription I had an epiphany – If I can’t honestly recommend this software to others, why should I be using it myself?

Why I used Norton Internet Security.

I used the product because it is what I’ve always been used to. During my stay in the world of corporate IT, we used Symantec products, and Norton Antivirus specifically. In my opinion, it was a great product at one time – and it still does do the job (sort of), but there were always so many negatives that I had to look past due to the almighty dollar.

Beyond that, my main business machine also doubles as a gaming rig, so it’s chalked full of upgrades and special parts. I never really noticed many of the slowdowns and problems like my girlfriend did on her Lenovo R51e laptop… that is, until I started writing to this blog from it.

Why I can no longer use Norton Internet Security.

Not only is the program bulky, but it runs multiple computer processes to do similar tasks. At any given time, Norton has anywhere between five to ten processes running on my machine. It isn’t an issue with ram since I normally have two gigs free, but this does but a strain on the processing power.

The truth is the product itself isn’t even that good. Here, I made a list:
1. CPU and Ram hog.
2. Too many processes for similar tasks. Seriously.
3. Virus definitions are far and few in between.
4. Virus scans are slow to run, and take up too much processing power.
5. Anti spam is moderate at best, you’re better off using Outlook’s built in filter.
6. The application is no longer user friendly. The GUI is terrible.
7. Installation, Repairs, and Uninstall processes are painfully slow.
8. NIS doesn’t catch all of the spyware/malware.
9. NIS doesn’t catch all of the viruses.
10. It causes too many reboot and shut down issues.

… And that is only a partial list.

To quote jmlloyd: “They’ve sold their user functionality for last quarter’s profits.”

The Uninstall process from hell.

Apparently Symantec did not want me to remove their product. Not only would it freeze on “removing browser component”, it wouldn’t allow me to remove the product in safe mode via add/remove programs. To completely wipe my computer clean of Norton Internet Security 2007, it took nearly two hours of reboots and registry hacks to get the job done.

By the way – don’t bother calling their support line, unless you enjoy speaking to customer service representatives from India.

What I replaced Norton Internet Security 2007 with.

Enter Avast Home Edition. Avast is a free anti-virus that I have been running successfully on my father’s computer for nearly two years with zero issues. Not only is it free, it’s also surprisingly fast and sleek. It may not have every bell and whistle that Norton has, but it more than makes up for that with top notch service and functionality.

If you’d like to purchase an anti-virus software, I recommend going with Trend Micro. They do a great job and offer plenty of support to back up their internet protection and anti spam products.

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