Totally blows!!!!! I read that it will ask you to remove various programs you might also have running like Zonealarm,Pest Patrol,SpySweeper,etc... These are the customer reviews on CNet.com: http://reviews.cnet.com/Norton_AntiVirus_2007/4852-3667_7-32069537.html?tag=uoavrg Basically they want exclusivity on your machine! Who the hell do they think they are?? They probably have a deal with M$ or something (Wouldnt @ all surprise me!!)
People don't realize that you can protect your computer free, you just have to do it right. See my sig (cleancomputerhelp) for details.
nice site, very useful! Norton blows regardless IMO, resource usage alone that is just asinine though about exclusivity!!
I switched to Avast a couple years ago. I was sick of Norton playing badly with other stuff and they were becoming way to expensive. I use the professional version, but Avast also has a free Home version. One thing I really like about the professional version is that I could by multi-year subscriptions. You can check them out at http://Avast.com
good call on Norton not playing nice. My Dad had a brutal time with Norton...it got funky on him and whenever he went to install a new program Norton would refuse and reject it, like an old man sending soup back at a deli. I might be taking a look at Avast soon. Didn't I hear a rumor than as of 1/7 AVG won't be free anymore?
Symantec is one of the worst software companies in the world. You have no idea how bad they plague Microsoft regarding EU issues. At one point (i used to work there) i estimated 1 in 4-8 calls were the result of Norton software. Essentially ANY issue end to end. Their 'System Worse' + AV gets into your OS and wreaks total havoc. I've seen 11+ page documents on how to remove Symantec software manually if it fails to uninstall (which happens). (i opt users for clean install) Still to this day we have old and young users who are convinced they need Norton to 'fix' their problems. Many times i've had to refuse service (regardless of where i worked) due to users refusing to uninstall Norton. Sometimes customers would flat out lie about uninstalling it. Repeated studies have shown that it slows down the OS at least 8% and most of the time 10-11%. At the moment, it is still causing conflicts on a multitude of applications. One of which being FireFox. Do a search for 'Symantec' or 'Norton' @ http://forums.mozillazine.org/index.php . Also try these searches @ http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;EN-US;KBHOWTO - the Microsoft KB. Anything and everything. Sadly, most users are not savvy enough (even when not in denial) to note Norton software is the cause. Even then, many are completely convinced that their system is not secure or will 'crash' if they remove the software (including firewall) I can't really blame Symantec's marketing campaign because frankly, it's not that strong. Users are just stupid. In the past (not anymore) I'd fielded around 25-30k+ calls for multiple tech companies i've worked for. Most often it's old men in there 40's & 50's that are the most difficult to work with when it comes to removal of this software. We will see how Symantec works out w/Vista. It should be interesting because according to who i've been in contact with. What Symantec software will be allowed to do on Vista should be quite limited compared to before. However, what i will say is that could only be a matter of time. If there's a will there's a way and Symantec never ceases to find it.
Great post! I forgot about all the uninstall issues. Control Panel? forget about it 1/2 the time you have to DL a special tool from Symantec in order to rid your system of the viral that is Norton...even then it's still kicking around in the registry!!