Symantec's Norton Internet Security (NIS) 2004 remains a great buy for those accessing the Internet without defences. NIS 2004 includes Norton AntiVirus 2004 and Norton Personal Firewall 2004 with Norton AntiSpam (NAS) 2004. NIS 2004 is a bargain, largely thanks to its first-rate anti-spam program (in our tests, it nailed 94 percent of incoming junk mail), plus a handful of Internet privacy features. Some will object to Symantec's new product activation scheme à la Windows XP, but NIS 2004 is still the best all-in-one security suite on the market.
EDITORS' NOTE: see this comment article for an update on NIS 2004.
Setup & ease of use
Installing and configuring Internet Security 2004 takes about 15 minutes. Because the suite includes Norton AntiVirus (NAV) 2004, the software offers to scan for existing infections before you install anything. The rest of the installation is hands-off: after entering the 24-character key that accompanies the disc, the only choice you'll have to make is whether to decline the installation of NAV 2004 if you already have the most current version on your PC. You must restart Windows to complete the process.
NIS 2004, like Microsoft Windows XP, now requires product activation. Unlike Microsoft, however, Symantec gives users the benefit of the doubt by allowing up to five installations to account for changes in the original PC's hardware or a reinstallation after a hard drive crash.
NIS 2004's interface is now more consistent throughout, with color-coded indicators on the main screen that quickly show you which modules are running and which need your attention. This is an improvement over NIS 2003, which displayed the firewall's status in an unclear, text-style interface. Simply navigate the suite by clicking icons in the bar at the left or get configuration settings of any module by clicking the appropriate link on the right.
Features
Norton Internet Security 2004 bundles Norton AntiVirus and Norton Personal Firewall with Norton AntiSpam, then throws in additional Web filtering tools and privacy and parental controls. While Norton AntiVirus and Personal Firewall are the heart of the suite, they remain relatively unchanged from last year's versions. The most notable improvement -- and, we think, the reason to upgrade -- is the excellent Norton AntiSpam (NAS) 2004.
NAS 2004 lets you create lists of people whose mail should always reach your in-box, lists of addresses to block, and spam rules of your own. NAS also includes its own preset list of anti-spam rules (unfortunately, you can't view or edit the list), and Symantec constantly updates that list via its LiveUpdate feature. Unlike McAfee's SpamKiller, NAS 2004 lets you use buttons on the Outlook, Outlook Express or Eudora toolbars to immediately tag a message as spam.
NIS 2004 also includes parental controls, which let you block sites from young children, and various cookie controls. Unfortunately, NIS 2004 doesn't include a password manager (Norton Password Manager 2004 is available as a standalone program, or bundled with Norton SystemWorks 2004).
Service & support
Symantec's technical support is relatively unchanged from last year -- and it's still expensive. The new Automated Support Assistant, available from the Symantec Web site, takes less than a minute to download and install, automatically recognises the version of NIS on your PC, and then guides you to the most likely problems and solutions. None matched our test problems, however, so we ended up searching the online knowledge base each time. Frankly, the Support Assistant is a waste of precious time.
You can also contact a help-desk technician via email -- if you can find the form. It's a multi-step process that Symantec should simplify.
Phone support is available, but it costs £18 per incident and is available only on weekdays from 9am to 5pm. Once you do reach a real person, whether by email or by phone, you'll get first-rate help. We called and emailed with the same question and got accurate answers both times, although it took Symantec two business days to respond to our email.
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Member reviews
I found AntiVirus to be alright but the firewall is a nightmare. It affects so many things. I know one can alter various settings, but doing that is quite completed for the average person like myself.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10My outgoing email will not stop scanning even though I have followed the simple instructions given by the manufacturer. To get assistance I have to pay for a very expensive phone call to solve a problem that shouldn't be on a brand new product. The support costs are ridiculously high.
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10What happened to the good reliable products of Symantec? These two errors came up and preventing from running and specifying SCANS as needed!
unspecified error
Internet Explorer Script Error
error: 'MainFrame.maWizardPanels' is null or not an object
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10when enabled, can not access mysql database, tried to config all options for hours ???
Can't understand the many positive ratings. I was a very happy customer, having used NIS 2003 for almost a year, and bought the new one expecting it to have improved a lot.
It hasn't. The interface is more confusing than ever, the program slows down internet browsing enormously and the anti-SPAM-program, while doing a decent job, crashed my Outlook too many times.
- 4.70 out of 10
4.70 out of 10My advice is too stay with version 2003. The problems with "LiveUpdate" in the 2004 editions plus extremely poor technical support makes the 2004 version a nightmare.
- 6.00 out of 10
6.00 out of 10Very easy to install, update and use. Minimal spam gets through and no pop-up ads on Web browsing.
I have had no conflicts with my system -- a friend had all kinds of problems, easily rectified by updating his Nvidia drivers.
- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10...especially Oracle and other databases; makes the PC much slower.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10too complicated for the average user, blocks other programs,support is bad,and does not give any answers to fixing problems
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10A short list of problems so far...
1. Passwords sometimes are "missed" by the software, requiring reload of the software. But if you don't have the password, you can't unload it to start over....
2. Autoprotect feature seems to be "random protect". Sometimes starts up with NAV active, sometimes disabled.
3. LiveUpdate refuses to live update. Intelligent updater works just fine.
4. Latest update erased all user accounts and started up with NAV disabled.
5. Support is ineffective, consisting mostly of "if that doesn't work then reload the software".
6. Generally slows down system operations.
7. Cryptic warnings with no real information about how to react to the potential danger.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10This product causes more problems than it's worth. I have been going through hell trying to get it to work. The support is a joke. The people providing the support do not even know how the product works and refer you to FAQ pages that are for totally unrelated issues. Symantec used to provide good support but now unless you are a corporate client they do not give a damn and simply refer you to useless FAQs.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Took 30 minutes to install, REALLY slowed down my system.
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10Works for the first few updates, then says that it cannot update through live update...all tech support says is 'reload software'. Tried that 5 times...same thing. Too many alerts, even on a new system. I had 2003, and it worked flawlessly. STICK WITH THAT!!
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10When you install the product you must ensure that nothing else is running. Go through the complete install running the liveupdate and disk scan. Once you get it setup then it runs in the background with minimal intervention. The system a 300mhz with Windows 98 performed poorly until I had it setup completely.
- 6.50 out of 10
6.50 out of 10Supporting users with 2003 was fine - 2004 & 2004 Pro is a headache. Everything from hogging resources to making drives unavailable means it is not to be recommended. There is no pattern to the problems and their solution to unavailable drives is not helpful and blames every other programme but theirs.
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10High memory usage, intrusive, and caused serious instability when installed on my IBM T20. Even with 12GB hard drive and 256MB RAM, I had serious memory problems, lots of program crashes, kernel problems and even simple game like FreeCell didn't run. The support centre appears to be on Pluto if the response time is anything to go by, and the support technicians specialise in searching the knowledge base for you (needed), but are not problem solvers -- nor do they appear to have access to problem solvers.
Customer service appears not to feature high with this company: their UK staff were actively rude to me.
Maybe the product doesn't like WIN 98SE which is over 40% of installed OS, I believe. Uninstall is the best cure for its problems.
It may work well with Windows XP and might benefit from more memory, but their customer service attitude decided me against trying these options, had they been suggested, but they weren't. I got better support from user group forums.
- 6.00 out of 10
6.00 out of 10To0 buggy. Auto-protect disables by itself. No tech support. Has great features if they worked correctly. 2003 was much better, even though it had annoying pop-ups.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10Used NAV 2001 on Win98 happily. Bought new machine, clean install WinXP Pro, clean install NAV 2004. Hair is turning grey now. After having done everything the (confusing, contradictory)support articles tell you to do, I keep getting the much documented, dreaded 'Auto-Protect Off/Email Error' status rubbish.
On-line support tool is worthless (says a process is not running, which is Password Service, which doesn't need to be running if you don;t use it, according to another Support document) and that's it. No more support available, unlees you start paying to get this product installed.
This is madness, a clear example of an industry gone bonkers. Stay away from this product, if you are still in doubt, Google around before you buy. You will find the horror stories yourself.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Too slow and buggy. Firewall worked OK but anti-virus would not enable autoprotect. Changed to PC-cillin with no problems.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10This product has too many bugs. I too got the "Auto Protect off/E-mail error" alert.
Stay well away... use another good product like McAfee.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Installed on a Gateway Solo 5300 running XP and it worked flawlessly from the start. Tried to install it on a homemade desktop running Windows XP and it has been a disaster. Have spent 2 weeks trying to get rid of scripting errors, trying to get it to enable automatically. It is a toss of the coin if it will work right on your system.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10installs easily but download for updates stopped after 2nd time. On Symantec download site I was attacked repeatedly. Ports aren't stealthed, as reported, received joke program while at site getting virus downloads. Sent info for refund in required time but no refund.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10This is the first security package I've installed. New computer running XP. Major attraction was the parental control feature. Set it all up, thought "wow", this is great for my pre-teens! Now, every minute we are on the computer the "loading parental control" box displays constantly on the screen. Can't get rid of it at all.
Computer is so slow I can make dinner while pages are loading! Crashes my email program. Error messages and instructions to uninstall and reinstall all the time! I'm really disappointed in this and customer service is a joke! I want my money back!
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10Installed s/w -- 2 days later got an 'internal error', solution given to unload and reload s/w. Downloaded live updates ( which seemed like I was downloading the whole application again). Four days later got another 'internal error'; solution given is to unload and reload software.
They only seem to be able to tell you to unload and reload -- where is their technical know-how? This product is only surviving because free 1 month subscriptions are given away with new PCs and so people ( as I did ) automatically upgrade.
Anti virus seems to work fine, but the Internet security is constantly disabling itself. Support online is apalling and almost non-existent and they want money for you to tell them about their bugs. What a cheek -- the support should be free for at least a year.
So in summary, don't touch this product with a barge-pole, certainly don't part with your hard earned cash.
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10Have had this protection on my computer for two months. So far have had to uninstall and reinstall 6 times due to numerous software faults. Parental controls do not work properly. Support at Symantec's Web site is largely useless. This has been a terribly frustrating experience.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10No support -- can't get back to an NIS-removed state.
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10I was very satisfied with Norton 2002, and thought it would be a good idea to upgrade. This turned out to be a big mistake. I have been getting "internal errors" in NIS ever since. I have removed and re-installed 6 times and the errors keep coming.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10Once installed, Norton Internet Security 2004 protected the Internet from my computer, not the other way around. I only got my Internet access back by uninstalling the software. I was previously using Internet Security 2002 which worked fine. They must have trashed the code to end up with such a buggy product in 2004.
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. IF YOU HAVE IT, GET A REFUND!
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Software seems to have been brought to market without full debugging. Running on Windows XP. Have had to unintstall and reinstall countless times. Protection turns itself off. Outlook no longer starts properly. Various features do not work correctly. Best advice is to stay away.
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10I have been using NIS for 4 years without issue, until version 2004. I'm an IT professional, and I cannot get it to work without it consuming 90 per cent of my CPU all the time.
The support site admits this feature but does not give any clue as to what is causing the conflict.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10I'm an IT consultant, and have tried installing 2004 or upgrading from 2003 on several PCs running various OSs. Sometimes it works excellently, other times it will not install/deinstall properly leaving system/registry in an inconsistent state, other times it just kills system performance. I can find no commonality in what will or will not work -- it appears random. Online help is very poor, Symantec's support desk even worse. Even had problems installing AntiSpam 2004 standalone. Why after so many years of being an industry leader with an excellent product I have always recommended is the 2004 version so unreliable ?
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10I have 2 computers with Win XP, one computer installed and seem to work with few problems, the other computer I can't get to work at all -- tried many times with no luck.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10If it were not for AntiSpam, I would recommend the package to anyone. But with multiple email accounts in Outlook Express, NAS forces me to exit from the same email address each time, and restart in the same email address each time to avoid reconfiguring Outlook Express upon each startup. To date, I don't know if there are any fixes for this problem.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10NIS 2004 -- devours resources as a dry sponge soaks up water. My PC is well-equipped; I have never had my resources drop so low, 17 percent! I upgraded from NAV and Personal Firewall 2003; they had some minor glitches, but no problems with resources. NIS seems to have integration problems and eats up resources that cannot be compared to any other program.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10Sick of not being able to get Live Update to update, help site is a joke. For a novice, it is very hard to understand settings and how to enable disable them. The manual is very disjointed.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10I get an error message telling me to uninstall and reinstall at least once a week. By the time I get out the CD, uninstall, restart reinstall, restart, run LiveUpdate and restart yet again, I've wasted over an hour.
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10Internet Security: I get message "generated errors, please re-install" at least once a week. System Status screen then shows "Tampered with" for all functions. There is no apparent reason for this. Restarting system sometimes restores functionality, but a full uninstall and re-install is often required. I am sick of wasting many hours. Have completely reinstalled my system from scratch to make sure these problems were not caused by some obscure software on my PC that conflicted with Norton's software. It made no difference. The software is just unreliable and Symantec doesn't seem to care about delivering a good product or at least providing a decent after-sales service.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10Installed NIS 2004 after unistalling NIS 2002 -- loads of problems. Finally tracked down info in help pages -- they're a nightmare to use. Re-installed NIS 2004 and had no problems since on Windows XP system with Athlon 2100XP+ and 1GB memory. Do wish Symantec would sort out their help pages and Customer Service though!
- 7.00 out of 10
7.00 out of 10Firstly, NIS 2003 worked beautifully, and I wish I'd just paid for a year's anti-virus updates. Problems with NIS 2004;
1. Product activation: Not a problem per se, but there is a bug with the product activation where you keep having to reactivate the program. After a lot of tinkering with the Symantec Web site, I found a patch for this. The support response is slow, to say the least.
2. Change users bug; if one switches between users on an XP system and go into Outlook to check email, you get a runtime error and have to close Outlook. Again, fix available, but it took a while for Symantec to respond.
3. Spam blocker bug; if you click on the "this is spam" box in Outlook, Outlook stops responding.
4. Generalised instability; my PC has all of the MS patches and was rock steady until installing NIS 2004; I now get system freezes requiring a hard reset 2-3 times a day.
Like I say, I wish I'd just paid for a year of anti-virus definition updates for NIS 2003.
- 6.50 out of 10
6.50 out of 10- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10I wouldn't really know if the software is any good since I was unable to install it after three downloads. Reviews I've read show that others have experienced similar and worse problems with NIS 2004. I have requested a refund from Symantec. I have always used Norton AntiVirus, but I am very disappointed with NIS 2004.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10...firewall reports a port closed, security scan shows it as open.
- 7.00 out of 10
7.00 out of 10Well, I am now convinced to not upgrade to 2004. At present I'm still using 2002 which is good except for one thing, after one Live Update I found my PC constantly trying to connect to the Internet during boot up and close down and several times in between. I traced it to SYMPROXY and another Symantec component. Couldn't get any support due to running 2002, even though they were happy to take my subs for the AV and Firewall updates and it was one of those updates that caused the problem.
I've just recieved the free MS Security Update CD and with it there is another CD which is a free year's trial for EZ Armour security suite, AV + Firewall. Norton subs are due next month, I won't be renewing, I'll be trying EZ Armour.
- 6.50 out of 10
6.50 out of 10I have found that NIS 2003 and 2004 tend to be an unreliable source for protection. If anyone is looking for some security for their high-speed Internet, I would suggest in investing in a DSL router/gateway this will provide you with better security without using any of your systems resources. A router and an up-to-date anti-virus will provide sufficient protection against most attacks. For dial-up users I recommend that you should stick to using an anti-virus and a spyware/Adware scanner -- this seems to be the best solution that I have come up with. NIS, in one word, is "useless".
- 2.50 out of 10
2.50 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10Upgraded via a download having used Symantec's products for five years. This is terrible! I've followed the online instructions to the letter and read the manual, but I've experienced all the glitches that others have mentioned and attempted to reinstall six times. Worse is the fact that when you attempt to follow the extended download service you get 'Connection Refused' -- so I've paid for something I can't access. Further, the link that is supposed to help with a refund and provide a Letter of Destruction also displays 'Connection Refused'. So how do you access the extended download and how do you get a Letter of Destruction and a refund? Symantec, what is going on?
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10Since installing this product, I now have a new weekly task: uninstall and reinstall. This is a terrible product with even worse support.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10This product is worthless...stay with 2003 until they fix it and get rid of the stupid activation.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10Constantly tells of internal errors regardless of anything you try to do to resolve the issues. I had fully -- and I mean fully -- removed NIS 2003, including the shared folders, and the problem still arose with 2004. Keep 2003 or get something else.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10These pinhead losers will not acknowledge that someone has made off with their source code and are tampering with our licenses. I have installed and reinstalled this thing every 48 hours for the past two months, and I am fed up. I am switching to McAfee for Antivirus and ZoneAlarm (free !) for my firewall. AT&T has free pop-up stopper and I am willing to spend another $20 on a spam machine. Even at that, it is cheaper than the $80 I paid for this piece of garbage. Their program and their brand are worthless.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10NIS 2004 slowed down my computer considerably. I could not install any application while it was installed and Visual Studio .NET did not work at all. Everything was resolved when I uninstalled and use an alternative.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10Pre Norton, my XP hummed. After, problem after problem with downloads, IE not working, scripting issues. Deinstall Norton, problem solved. Do not buy this dog.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10For what it is, this is a very expensive product. For this sort of price, you would expect it to have been exhaustively tested. Well, you would expect that at less than half its asking price.
So any form of “internal error” on a this type of product with a price like this is completely unacceptable.
My version throws up lots of these, together with causing Outlook to crash out and slowing things down so much at times that you think things have locked up completely. Under different circumstances it would be rather funny that a virus protection system is full of bugs…
I ran the LiveUpdate as was stated in their Web page and it did a mammoth download that could have been the size of the entire product yet again. And the result was not the slightest improvement!
I had upgraded from the 2003 version, big mistake. I feel that I have been well and truly conned.
When I looked again on their Web site today to see if there was a solution to this mess, I was sombrely warned that my SystemWorks 2002 is no longer supported and that I should upgrade.
FAT CHANCE.
To summarise. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Look somewhere else as anything is better than this.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10This product seems to be devoted to keep one re-installing over and over. Norton's Anti-Virus is fine, but the Internet Security has a quality level that's below zero.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10Not only does it slow your computer down tremendously, but the activation problems are enough to drive someone to insanity. Don't buy it -- it's a complete waste of money. I have it installed on 2 of my computers and will never buy anything with the Symantec brand name on it again.
See www.mcafee.com
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10Windows XP, with a 900MHz Intel Celeron processor, 128MB of RAM, 20GB HD: NIS 2004 slows the system -- 8 min startup to usability, slows Internet connection and communication (despite ADSL 570Kbps), keeps encountering internal errors, requiring agonisingly slow uninstall / reinstall routines, etc.
Many of these processes lock the CPU at 100% usage, despite a cleaned up and defragmented system. Internet works perfectly, as long as you disable half the Internet security features -- what a waste of time and effort!
Back to the drawing board Symantec / Norton, please
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10Have spent ages trying to get my network running with this product. Very hard to get them to provide good support. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10Upgraded from NAV 2002,in January this year thinking it would be a better product. Have spent hours trying to sort out internal error messages, all different error numbers on different occassions. Removed program and reloaded from disc and then tried to run Live Update; no good, and in desperation tried Intelligent update. Still told my anti-virus updates are out of date and stuck way back in 08/2003!
I am very annoyed that despite following to the letter the advice on the Web help site (which is not easy to identify) many issues are left unsolved and technical help is very poor. Any novice PC user would find the whole setup a nightmare.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10This is total garbage. I've worked in the IT field for 19 years, and have never seen something sold to the general public with so many untested problems. The Web site has DAILY updates relating to this product, and how to uninstall/re-install it. I have hit error messages of 'not able to complete installation' -- with no explanation. Chose the option to cancel, and then find out that trying to do another re-install, is impossible because they have left flags turned on (registry keys) -- all over my system, which tell the program it needs to be uninstalled. Next step, go to 'unistall' window -- Norton stuff is not registered as installed. So where does that leave you? With an unprotected system, and no way to re-install.
Anyone connected to the development of this software project would be fired, if working for me. It shows a total lack of pre-testing. Total garbage.
PS: I've had Symantec's previous stuff (2002 version), which worked fine; but this 2004 version...amateur software is written better.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10Definitly send this app back to beta. Slowed system down to a crawl. Blocked me off the Internet and said that I wasn't even connected -- I have cable broadband.
Don't waste your time, money and most importantly all the tweaking that has to be done to get it to work at all. Never buying a Norton product again.
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10* #1 feature - lots of internal errors;
* if you want to test this prepare for lots uninstall/reinstall;
* after running live update it usually crashes with an ##### internal error;
* it crashes when youre flooded with spoofed IP packets containing your own IP address;
* it uses lots of system resources - it works acceptably on a P4 2GHz w/512MB RAM or better computer;
* activations phone numbers does not work all the time -- I needed about one hour to activate it because the Symantec servers were down;
* the source code is not optimized for the platforms they sell it for;
* if you want a quality product, try searching elsewhere
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10I am surprised that so many people have had major problems with NIS 2004. Mine is running on a 500MHz processor with 256MB RAM and seems happy. OK, it is slower than before to load apps -- but surely that will happen with any AV software?
- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10...if you know how to use a PC!
- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10I'm a user of Symantec products from 1992. I'm a very expert OEM in PC world. I had Internet Security 2003 (a very good and fast suite) now I've bought the Professional version 2004.
I think that Intel and AMD have paid Symantec to produce a resource-killer in order to sell more fast processors. If you search Symantec's Web site, it seems that the problem of slowing down the PC is not an encountered problem. Bleah.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10Upgrades on two 98SE machines failed and a new install on a clean XP machine caused it to die after the first Live Update. Shame because the previous firewall worked really well.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10I share the frustrations that most of the other users have stated. I had NIS 2002 before and it worked well...I could not get 2004 to work properly at all.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10Don't waste your money and time on this -- it's full of problems just as everyone else has described
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Running XP and every time I change users it seems to claim that NIS has been tampered. Long re-install to get it back.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10Used Norton Utilities 2002 and Internet Security 2004 for 6 months with no problems on Win98SE. Antivirus scan and spam detection for Outlook Express stopped working for no apparent reason. Support referred me to two documents in their knowledge base, both were irrelevant.
Bought SystemWorks 2004. CD was defective: Symantec wanted 15 euro for replacement. Supplier provided replacement free.
After installing, things started crashing all over. Uninstall was messed up by trying to install from defective CD.
Reloaded Win98SE and reinstalled everything. System still crashes (white dialog with Close button, no text)from various programs if Internet Security is installed. Must be a live-updated component since the system worked fine for 6 months.
Uninstalled NIS and lived happily ever after :-)
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10ZERO "real" technical/customer support other than taking your money.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10Never seen it work properly. Has stopped many computers in their tracks. Retailers know that this is a bad product and will give refund without question.
NAV 2004 is an excellent product, but it seems that you can't install just that component. Best advice is to get the stand-alone NAV 2004 and rely on XP's Firewall.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10The NORTON/SYMANTEC name may be shouted from the roof-tops and touted as being something great when it comes to PC security, but I have learned a valuable lesson about not believing everything I see advertised about a product by its own maker. This high priced nightmare is the first and last time I will ever spend money on a PC security package without doing more thorough research. I am amazed that Norton isn't doing more damage control with this 2004 version than I have seen to date. This kind of bad PR seems a bit suicidal given the unstable software markets of late. Shame on Norton/Symantec...they deserve every bad review I have seen. Terrible product.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10Norton Internet Security 2003 was excellent. However,
the 2004 version contains too many bugs. Symantec's solution to reinstall the software again is just plain stupid, it should work first time out of the box!
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10I have been recommending NIS 2003 to everyone I know. I said I could not imagine operating a PC without. However, the NIS 2004 upgrade I purchased has caused nothing but problems. My machine ran very slow and the system was so secure that I was blocked from sites I wanted to get to. I uninstalled it and asked Symantec for a full refund.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10At least let me completly uninstall it without a trace. Many people are saying that they uninstall this and then reinstall it, and still have the same problem.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10I have used Norton Internet Security 2003 on my machine at home, with only minor LiveUpdate problems.
My buddy's computer has been running unpatched and unprotected since he got it a year ago. I helped him when it wouldn't boot. We got it running, and promptly found the Sasser worm. I got rid of that. I recommended NIS 2004 strongly to him.
Well, now I feel bad about having him spend his hard-earned money. The installation went badly. I couldn't uninstall it without spending hours at Symantec.com, on my computer, because NIS 2004 on his machine wouldn't let him connect to the Internet. Symantec's service telephone number was of course tied up by the legions of people struggling with installation problems. Windows XP wouldn't allow an uninstall!
I've spent hours just trying to uninstall it. I've got it partially uninstalled, to the point he can get online again.
Save yourselves, stay away from this product!
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10Lots of error messages on Live Updates. Have had to uninstall and reinstall several times. Computer finally crashed.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10It was suggested to me by a representative of Norton/Symantec to uninstall my AntiVirus 2002, which they no longer support, and purchase NIS 2004, which had the firewall I had just recently updated.
My nightmare with NIS 2004 started two days after installation. At first I couldn't stay connected online and I have a cable connection. The ISP came out, installed new cables, put my computer on a line of its own, installed an amplifier to the line and gave me a new modem. Still NOTHING! The modem kept picking up the wrong ISP numbers. NIS 2004 slowed my computer down to a crawl. IE wouldn't work, scripting issues.
Tried to uninstall NIS 2004 and it wouldn't completely uninstall. Every time I booted my machine I got what I called "the black screen" explaining the system was looking for two Norton files which had been removed. The system was checking the registry.
I manually went into the Windows Program files and deleted anything and everything having to do with Norton/Symantec. Still no help. Tried to reinstall NIS 2004 to try for a complete uninstall, to no avail because it wouldn't INSTALL! Looked in the file folders on the CD and most were EMPTY?!
I essentially paid $80 for software that totally screwed up my system. After deleting some of the files, I was finally back online, however, the nightmare continued for another week.
IE stopped functioning all together, kept getting error messages. Thank goodness I had another browser on my system to be able to do some research.
Suffice it to say, I've been in a total mess until last evening when I finally found those two Norton/Symantec files in the registry! DELETE, DELETE, DELETE.
DO NOT UNDER PENALTY OF INSANITY install Norton Internet Security 2004.
Back to the drawing board boys!
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10If you are PC savvy you may have good luck with this product. If you are not, you are in for a battle. Try something else.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10I have had nothing but trouble with Norton firewall stopping me using Outlook to automatically download mail. It blocks all servers on Internet Explorer until disabled and restarted. It is a pain...
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Support for this product doesn't work. Of course you can always pay them for support at £30 a pop...
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10The product causes major problems and you cannot remove it from your computer because the uninstall does not work. The company denies any problems and says it must be your computer that is causing the problems. They then charge you to remove it.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10Installed this over a newly installed version of XP and it slowed the machine to the point that it took 10 minutes to boot up. Removed it and now it refuses to re-install altogether. Symantec support charge you £18.00 to phone them up and don't provide any contact details on their web-site
- 2.50 out of 10
2.50 out of 10After installing NIS 2004 on Windows 98SE, Outlook Express page faults every time it is closed, and the system randomly page faults regularly. Norton support is clueless and unhelpful.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10I had one forced re-install early on with semi-helpful quidance from Symantec web site, but that didn't recur. Apps occasionally slow to load but doesn't seem to be related to NIS, more to heavy web activity by sons' permanently running programs.
- 7.00 out of 10
7.00 out of 10I spent the best part of 7 hours yesterday fixing the computer(my old HP Brio) of a silver surfer friend after uploading updates for her yesterday.
The only way to get it to work after hours of trying was to un-install and start again.
The computer had slowed to a crawl.
Came to ZD Net to see if anyone else has seen the same issue.
I feel awful,I recommended 2004 after using 2003 on both my home machine and work laptop without any problems.
How can they get an update sooooo wrong and then refuse to admit its failings.
My 2003 versions are due for licence renewal in August this year,I will be looking elsewhere now for an alternative.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10Considering the number of firewalls out there, it's a bit expensive. I bought it as I already had SystemWorks and wanted a integrated firewall & AV. I've had no major problems with it at all, but have had some issues with file sharing in the trusted zone. The automatic program scan was good -- except I couldn't ping from a cmd window, so needed to modify some settings. I think you need a bit more knowledge than for something like Zone Alarm.
- 7.00 out of 10
7.00 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10NIS 2003, NEVER a problem. This has everything: can't install; can't un-install; freezes your computer; etc.
It seemed as though after taking the computer offline, & letting it sit for a week plus, I was finally able to uninstall, not automatically, only hitting the "retry" button a few hundred times & deleting 3 or 4 files at a time (this was supposed to be an automatic install -- BUT , then again, the product was also supposed to work).
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Absoltuely superb product. I have now noticed the number of attacks my machine used to get and all of the are stopped.
I do not get virus' from anything as it integrates well with MSN Messenger and Yahoo.
All my emails are checked and any emails that it considers spam are taken away, and it hasn't picked a wrong one yet.
It runs smoothly and i have noticed for little slowed down. My machine starts slower but really only by a minute, and I can afford that to keep my machine safe.
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10A first install wreaked havoc -- we had to reformat a drive and rebuild an entire system.
We bought NIS because we got broadband -- we were advised that once you have broadband you are more open to attacks, and that NIS is the one to have.
Well, the one most crippling thing its done is to disable our file sharing, two boxes running W2K. Yes, there are settings apparently to permit and block Windows file sharing, give access to 'trusted' computers, etc. We've done all that, umpteen times. The stupid thing is, you do it once and you get file sharing. Next time you switch on, file sharing is blocked, even though no settings have been changed. It is one of the most frustrating problems I have dealt with and no-one has an answer. There's little in the manual about this, even less on Symantec's Web pages, and I am not paying nearly half the cost of the program to get a single incident tech support query answered, assuming they can...
Others will tell you different -- our dealer and network bods swear by it...we just swear at it. Look elsewhere for your firewall, this is another Norton Screw Up.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10- 6.00 out of 10
6.00 out of 10It seems this software was made for Windows 95.
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10I have had no problems with NIS 2004. The spam filter blocks almost all spam. The Antivirus and Firewall keep my computer safe from the threats that exists today.
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10This program has been a huge mess. It restarts Outlook, crashes IE, and has forced my Task Scheduler to go completely on strike.
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10OK... first of all - I have bben reading through the comments so far, looking for an answer to one of my problems... And I have found some rather colourful remarks about this product!
First of all, if ports are said to be closed but security scans show them open, make sure you have disabled 'Internet Connection Firewall' featured in Windows XP for your connection. I have heard that two firewalls running to protect the same area can conflict and leave open large holes!
The ONLY problem I am having is the speed of my Web browser. I reinstalled Windows a few days ago (which is usual for me!) and had to reinstall my NIS 2004. No problems installing, no problems re-activating and no problems with open holes, although I am not as worried as I am behind a NAT translation!
Anyways, I have found that my browser slowed down in loading pages after updating the NIS -- bandwidth tests still show speeds of about 550Kbps but hell... my dial-up used to load pages faster than this (and I was with NIS 2003 then -- which was a brillient piece of S/W!)
Anyways, hope I find the answer to my problem... PS: It's not my connection or anything because my brother is on the same network and had McAfee installed, his system is very similar to mine but his pages load up really fast!!! The funny thing is that he gets lower bandwidth test speeds than me :-(
- 6.00 out of 10
6.00 out of 10Reinstalled twice, following Symantec's instructions and still fails to activate. Each approach to Symantec reveals a bit more information -- would save a heap of grief if they included a utility that set up the system as required before it crashed it. Poorly thought-through product.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10Followed all their help files and still refuses to work with Windows 98 SE.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10This product is unsuitable for the non-computer literate. If you start having email and Internet access problems, the configuration changes required are beyond the average computer user. I could not recommend this product. I see it causing too many problems, and a very high degree of frustration, in home computing situations.
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10This program does what it is supposed to do. It protects my PC against attack. It appears to identify and block threats readily. Updating is painless. My only quarrel is with the anti-spam tool. Spam arrives in my inbox flagged "Norton AntiSpam". This means I still have to delete unwanted e-mail before I can deal with legitimate messages. The McAfee Spam Killer holds all email away from your inbox, locates spam in a separate section so you can quickly review messages before running "send receive" in Outlook. Norton's AntiSpam would be improved if spam was moved to a separate folder. There is a "Norton AntiSpam Folder" in Outlook, but spam still goes to the Inbox. Support needs improvement. I resent being asked to pay for telephone support. On-line responses are good, but slow in coming.
- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10I am extremely frustrated with Norton Internet Security 2004 and Norton Antivirus 2004. I have licensed Norton Antivirus 2001 since August 2001 and have successfully used that product since that time. I decided to upgrade to Norton Internet Security 2004 and Norton Antivirus 2004. This was a big mistake on my part. I had no problem downloading and installing both of these products. However, when I attempted to run these products, liveupdate downloaded a whole bunch of files and my computer froze in the process. I had to power-off the PC to unfreeze it. I have not been able to access the internet from my home PC since that time. There was no indication that this could happen in your documentation. I have since reloaded the operating system (Windows 98), de-installed and reinstalled Norton Internet Security 2004 and Norton Antivirus 2004 following your online directions, talked with customer support from my ISP (Charter Communications), and used MSCONFIG, WINIPCFG and REGEDIT to no avail. I still do not have internet access nor does Norton Internet Security 2004 or Norton Antivirus 2004 function properly. The liveupdates that were downloaded were removed when I de-installed and reinstalled Norton Internet Security 2004 and Norton Antivirus 2004. I have already wasted two days of my time trying to correct this problem. I am also extremely unhappy that I will have to pay you $29.95 to get someone from Symantec to help correct the problem. I am worried that I will have to reformat my hard drive and re-install all of my programs as a result of what has happened. Norton Internet Security 2004 and Norton Antivirus 2004 is by no means a consumer friendly product. I am submitting this from another computer since I obviously can no longer do this from my own PC.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Bought upgrade from Symantec on-line several months back. Installed it right after receipt. It never would start. It kept calling for a re-install, Which I did 10-12 times. Now the support time has run out. I have re-installed NAV2002, but it is not effective on newer viri and my PC is now riddled with hi-jackers and pop-ups. Is there a good alternative AV?
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10This is by far the most frustrating and awful security/antivirus package I have used. My system has slowed to a crawl and the program crashes MS Outlook. Previous versions of NIS have worked fine on my system, but not this one. DO NOT BUY IT unless you desire to learn the art of patience and resignation.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10After 6 months of fighting I've admitted defeat.
Last night I downloaded Zone Alarm (which was free) and switched off all non-antivirus bits of this software.
I can now connect to FTP, sync my Sony Ericsson P900 and I don't get any stupid error messages or "help, help we're being attacked" pop ups. All without having to resort to switching on and off custom rules.
As an added bonus my PC now flies along, and Web browsing is much much quicker.
Can't believe I wased money on it! My advice, get the antivirus and then get the free Zone Alarm firewall.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10After a nearly eventless installation, upgrade from NIS 2003 on XP, it blocked all Internet access, including Live Update, without any indication in the logs or in the statistics.
Does not let me unselect the anti-spam, which I don't want or need (my ISP, Tierranet, provides a decent service). After deactivating it and removing the menu from Outlook, it keeps coming back.
Email support is slow and their advice seems to be irrelevant.
The uninstall instructions are horrifying.
If I don't get it resolved soon, I will try to get a refund.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10I downloaded NIS from Symantec's Web page to get virus protection and to avoid other nuances. Once I opened the downloaded file to install it on my computer, I could not access the Internet pages. When I told Norton that I had paid about $50 for their software, they wanted about $30 more to tell me how to make it work on my computer. Since that conversation, I have totally deleted the program from my computer. I shall never use their NIS software again.
- 2.50 out of 10
2.50 out of 10Built a new PC from motherboard up with Windows XP Home. Thank God for System Restore!
Installed SystemWorks 2003 Pro, and when I hit the reboot button at the end of the install my PC locked up -- it had reset all my BIOS and OS settings back to default. Access to the Internet via dial-up modem was OK, until I downloaded updates from Symantec -- then could not connect to the Web at all until after System Restore.
Tried Internet Security 2004 but restarted PC from start menu -- everything was OK until updates were installed, then had same problems all over again.
Frustrated? yes, but more annoyed at the lack of support/help from the Symantec site. I used the above products because of years of successful use of SystemWorks 2001 Pro and Windows 98SE.
It definitely pays to check reviews before purchasing, which is something I did not do.
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10After formating my HDD and installing windows 2000, I installed NIS 2004. Everything was working great. Then I started the NIS LiveUpdate which went without a hitch. But as soon as the computer rebooted, my PWS (Personal Web Server) stopped working.
I tried every possible permutation and combination in the NIS configuration, but no use. If I uninstall NIS, my PWS starts working again.
I contacted Norton support and received some irrelevant cut-paste crap.
- 2.50 out of 10
2.50 out of 10HELP!
I was happy with this product until my drive failed. I formated the drive and upon reinstallation, "INSTALLATION FAILED" -- over and over again... Yeah, I know this is crap, but can someone tell me how to get this installed. Need the protection!
Call me desperate.
- 6.00 out of 10
6.00 out of 10I purchased NIS 2004 from DABS in January, as I needed it quickly I chose to download rather than wait for the box. BIG MISTAKE. It installed fine activated and no problems until I added another hard drive. It would then constantly ask me to activate.
I then built a new PC, uninstalled it as per the license, installed on the new machine tried to activate but max count reached. Phoned Symantec and was told that they could reset the count nor activate by phone because it was a downloaded product and I should email Symantec Store, which I immediately did. About an hour later I tried to activate it again miracle of miracles it worked. I then had a bios failure on the new board. Took a while to sort and re-flash so as it was the same board and bios chip there were no changes. Booted, NIS started and immediately stopped with the message that it had been tampered with and to uninstall and reinstall. Did this, tried to activate, and got max count reached. Tried again and got A8key abuse, follow link for further information (not verbatim). Follow link and am told sorry no support, you may be the victim of software piracy, would you like to buy a new product.
After a couple of emails to Symantec Store they tell me it is not their problem, I need to contact the reseller, as it is a download. I have contacted DABS who have been very helpful in giving me a fresh download but this has not solved the problem. DABS have told me that it is Symantec’s problem as they are the publisher. (This I totally agree with it is Symantec’s Problem)
In the bowels of Symantec’s Knowledge Base there is a brief mention of ACTIVATION PROBLEMS. I have tried all that I can find but it does not work.
I am now awaiting the outcome of a support email to Symantec. I am not stupid I have designed and built several networks both WAN and LAN involving high security and I will not be told by Symantec that it is not their problem. IT IS. My advice to Symantec sort out product activation.
- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10I followed the installation instruction twice. I have never had problems with installing software or crashes on this computer. I had to uninstall my previous anti-virus program and now I have NO internet security. The manual is no help.
I used my previous version of Norton Antivirus with no problems.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10...and with practically no support I would not risk buying it.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Downloaded the software then a VERY FRUSTRATING fix and configuration followed. Want to use IE after you download NIS 2004, then, have lot of time, I MEAN A LOT, to fix the problem.
A good product, but, it is not for a novice home PC user (will cost you more.)
- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10They don't tell you it's incompatible with previous Norton software until after you install and get error codes. Have to get rid of all Norton software, delete and reinstall. Takes forever! Support is vague. Error codes give you message like "it could be many things, but try this"...Not a happy camper, To get real answers, I have to call and pay $29.95 after I just spent $50 on the product!
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10...I can't believe I paid $50 to have my computer break down on me.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Be prepared to waste a long time by trying to configure it, If you manage to (I couldn't access in NO way the Internet), So I must use it with the firewall off...Simply Useless
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10After getting my Bank account robbed via a Trojan Horse i decided it was time to purchase some reputable Anti-virus software as apposed to using magazine freebies! Norton seemed to be the best available. I now know how it protects you from the Internet -- it stops you even getting on! Uninstalled it, got on Net for support, unlike McAfee (free and VERY helpful support) Norton want to charge me £18 per call just to sort a recognised fault (by looking at these complaints). I'm sure this is a good product when configured but novice users like myself are going to end up spending way over the odds for protection.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10...including a full format, Symantec Support -- they've never heard of the word 'support'.
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10Since I upgraded from NIS 2003 to NIS2004, my Outlook crashes every second time I start it. Tried Support, but was a complete waste of time -- they couldn't tell me how to remove the Outlook toolbar and asked me to raise a product suggestion!
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10I don't see why so many people are having problems with this product. Do they not know anything about computers? If you can turn your computer on, you should be able to install this program with little to no problems. It's the best firewall I've ever had the pleasure of installing. Works flawlessly. :) No problems with any of the features. Clean install and no PC lag whatsoever! If you're looking for a decent firewall this is it. Try to ignore the other users saying it's a nightmare. If you install it correctly (Read the readme) and follow the simple steps, you can't go wrong. All around great product!
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10Over the last 10 days I've had no-end of problems in trying to run a new piece of software on my laptop -- the firewall wouldn't allow me access to my ftp servers. It transpired that the problem lay in my version of Norton Internet Security (2004) and after much wasted time I was advised to un-install my Symantec software. In doing so, I now can’t locate my reinstall files on my PC.
My original NIS download was done via the Internet so I need to get access to the download again. However, when I go to find my account details via the www.findmyorder.com website, as instructed by Symantec, I can only find the details of my home account NOT those for my business account.
I've spent many hours sending emails off to any address I can find - since I can't find any UK phone numbers - and only get replies like this:
"**This is an automated response.**
**Do not reply to this message.**
NOTE: Due to a high volume of various non-business related and unsolicited messages, emails sent to customerservice@digitalriver.com will no longer be reviewed by our Customer Support Team."
So why get me to complete the form???
The level of frustration is now painful.
I only hope the backlash toward Symantec is as painful and even longer lasting.
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10Spent £50 on this product after first checking it was compatible with Windows ME. Installed perfectly but the 3rd 'Live Update' destroyed my system quoting the phrase inc 'could not upgrade....1%' etc (Google it!). It wouldn't even start in safe mode. Had to spend almost £100 getting my PC sorted. Now I find this is a common incompatibility problem that Symantec is well aware of.... I am very dischuffed!
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10I've been a loyal user of Norton products for many years. The support facilities have never been very good, but the products were always excellent. However, since upgrading to NIS 2004, the performance of my PC has been severely degraded. This PC has sufficient power to develop and run an Oracle datawarehouse application, but apparently not enough to run NIS 2004.
- 6.00 out of 10
6.00 out of 10I have never known such a potentially great package to be so badly flawed.
Installs great on Windows 2000, you spend an hour setting up, then you activate, register and run liveupdate. That precisely when the problem occurs. When you restart your PC it simply doesn't.
I gave up after the tenth time. Why ten times? Well I just couldn't beleive it wouldn't startup at least once. There's always a chance, but NO!
Will start in safe mode, but can't uninstall because it needs full windows components for this to be possible.
I am now going to have to re-format my PC and turn to another program.
DO NOT BUY YOU WILL BE WASTING YOUR MONEY, AND THERE'S NO SUPPORT IF YOU'RE WONDERING!
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10Wincing at the cost, I decided protection was critical and downloaded Norton internet Security 2005. I've been running NIS 2003 happily, so wasn't expecting problems. But new version isn't compatible with old installations of any Norton product ...
Several hours later, working through all Norton's fixes to uninstall old versions -- including removing my stable Norton Utilities -- it still won't install. After using their tools, my email logins no longer work, I have a series of bizarre events at startup. Downloading without a firewall, I now have a Trojan. Free online help offers a response in 4 or 5 days (so much for a responsible approach to PC Security) -- I want my PC protected now. They do offer money back within 60 days, which is the only bright spot.
I know where I'm going for my antivirus and firewall - any good suggestions to replace Utilities?
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10Norton won't provide support, won't tell me if it's compatible with Mozilla Firefox -- in fact won't provide any information at all! It's poor value for money and most of its features are avaliable elsewhere for less money, or even for free!
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10The software installed without a hitch but then the conflicts started with other installed applications.
Most of the features in the package I don't require anyway. The anti-virus is the best feature but the other features can be obtained as freeware on the net.
I experience a regular glitch upon startup when the program doesn't load properly. This results in my system not being protected and some internet sites not opening. It requires a restart to get full loading.
The firewall only detects intrusion from outside trying to get in, but doesn't detect anything from within trying to get out. Therefore rogue software that has entered your computer via a download, is free to contact outside computers.
Zone Alarm is a fee program that will detect and stop two way traffic, so is a much better choice.
My advice is to forget the package but buy the anti-virus.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10I use the Internet a lot! NIS 2004 has not let anything through at all. Found it real easy to configure. Shame about the cost!
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10Upgraded from NAV 2003 to NIS2004 by download from their site. It installed with no problems. It is 100% effective since it blocks all access to internet and e-mail. If you cant access then you can't get attacked! E-mail response from Symantec is non existant.
If I thought I could uninstall cleanly I would but aftyer reading a vast chunk of the correspondence on this site, I'm now worried about losing everything. I wish I'd checked here before I bought it.
I've been a long time Norton user but never again!
- 3.00 out of 10
3.00 out of 10I work for a Web development company as an applications tester. The tiresome refrain has become "is it your computer?". I don't appreciate a program that inserts code into the Web pages I develop or the sites I visit.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10I have found that there are many sites which NIS is filtering improperly, even truncating the HTML before it finishes loading in the browser. This shows a HUGE level of incompetence on their part! I'm baffled.
Save your money, go buy something else.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10I have had difficulty downloading the product. After five telephone calls I have not received any worthy support. I am still awaitng a refund (six weeks) Findmyorder will allow you in once, which is a problem if you have two downloads.
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10NIS 2004 works great! I've been using NIS products for years & appreciate the added security in 2004 version. I read several pages of reviews & what stood out were several things that are possibly "unrelated" to NIS 2004: crashes, slow downs, conflicts with outlook & IE. Recommended solution: scan for ad/spyware, check your settings (firewall may be set too high), do you have XP Service Pack 2 (MAJOR PROBS!), check your hardware (if harddrive is failing, reformatting & reinstalling will NOT solve the issues).
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10The inherent problem with Symantec software is that they simply reuse the same engine each cycle. Unfortunately the first version was rubbish and it's easy to improve on imperfection. Seriously though, this product is rubbish. Its a huge resource hog, it slows your net connection down, and if you aren't able to get access to a broadband connection, you may as well forget about the updates that you need to get for it from Symantec. There are too many low quality components in this package, and if one of them fails, the rest fail. Since most "good" (and I use the term lightly) viruses actually target AV engines, and Symantec refuses to do anthing to improve its engine, this suite actually makes your computer a target, and if you've brought it hoping that it will protect your system because you don't want to be troubled with the day to day stuff, then expect to be dissapointed. This product is seriously awful, and in my 10 years of IT experience I have only ever come across two other products that are as bad -- Windows Millennium Edition by Microsoft, and Norton SystemWorks by, you guessed it -- Symantec.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10Opinion on Norton Internet Security (AV= Anti Virus & FW= Firewall)
As for price issues, its the consumers responsibilty to SHOP AROUND!!! You can find it on Sale for as low as 9.99 sometimes, and thats a great price compared to its full retail price that runs you about 79.99.
I agree NIS updates for dial up users can be pretty hearty if the "USER" does not keep up with the updates. Otherwise I think if a dial up user is spending 20 minutes a week downloading the updates is worth it ... Don't you?
I have used several AV & FW programs since 1990. I have to say that they all work, but software is software, and we all know some are better then others ... the saying is "You get what you pay for" and this is true with software too. Norton gets a bad rap because it does add a lot to your system's registry. Well, to be honest with you Norton does A LOT!!! We are talking about a program that monitors every port on your PC, watches incoming downloads and scans them as they come in, scans your email that goes in and out, Spam watchers, has deep deep parental controls, IP tracking, live updates, complete logs, and much more. Now, that alone would surely takes up some resources and of course add some keys to your registry. I agree that the people that have a PC that is running UNDER 512MB, 1GHz CPU, should NOT use Norton. Why? Well, yes it does use a nice chunk of your resources if your not running a to date (somewhat beefy) computer. Personally, I ran it nicely on a 512MB, 700MHz PC, but of course I kept my PC from loading a bunch of clutter programs & OS services, and kept up with it. My suggestion to run this program without even noticing its there I would run it on the minimum of 1GB memory, 2GHz CPU PC, and of course watch your start up programs. You won't even know its there! Norton has even found viruses on RETAIL CDs purchased in the store. I checked the net to make sure they were actual problems on the retail CDs, and indeed it was!
- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10I have worked in IT for a long time now and have never come across a "reputable" company that delivers such bad products. Within 1 week of installing my system is crawling, within two weeks my email is displaying error messages every time i start up, now i've taken it off, don't want to see what happens after a month or two!
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10I have worked in IT for a long time now and have never come across a "reputable" company that delivers such bad products. Within 1 week of installing my system is crawling, within two weeks my email is displaying error messages every time I start up, now i've taken it off, don't want to see what happens after a month or two!
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10I have been using NIS over the years and I can honestly say it gone from good to bad. It may work for a while, but one day you will get a certain live update and things don't work the same anymore (happened many times) - That ftp server you used to connect to no longer connects anymore. You prove its NIS - Fed up - uninstall and get AVG and ZA
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10I used to use Norton products religiously back in the days when they were the best thing out there. Norton Utilities saved my bacon more times than I can count, so I had a strong brand loyalty.
But now ... this security stuff slows my high performance system to a crawl, and renders my high speed network connectivity intermittent at best. Reboots take 10 minutes, applications take forever to start, all in the name of virus checking.
(Why doesn't keep track of what it just checked, so it doesn't have to re-check it again?)
Then one day, you get a live-update that cripples your system. This software protects you like an elephant sitting on you protects you. Yeah, you're safe, but you can't do anything else.
I uninstalled it, just to see what would happen (because I know Windows gets slow too), and suddenly, my system was fast and efficient again, just like new. And that's when I knew it was the Norton product clogging it all up. It was SUCH a stunning improvement in performance, I feel bad for what I've been putting my computer through for the last few years.
I've had no opportunity to compare to other products, but I'm now very motivated to begin looking. I'll be reading your posts for suggestions. :)
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10I have a good spyware system that does a good job checking.
Since I installed Norton Internet Security my computer is slower than anything. I don't even have it on anymore. It also slowed down my outlook. Takes a really long time to get my mail.
I had anti virus and that's fine.
Don't buy Internet Security it's for sure a waste of money
- 2.50 out of 10
2.50 out of 10This product combination killed more applications in all flavors of MS Windows then most viruses have. In all fairness, the anti-virus side of this by itself works fine, but the firewall kills applications without asking if the help files are in the chm format.
- 2.50 out of 10
2.50 out of 10- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10Norton gets worse every year -- that's why the old Norton is good!
- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10Suddenly got a message one day saying that the Trial Period for this product had expired and I needed to activate it. Thing is, this was only 4 months into my 12 month licence. Tried everything support-wise that Symantec suggested and every solution I could find on message boards. Reinstalled but still no joy. So this product basically became worthless and non-functional after 4 months with no recourse to discount. Absolutely shocking. The lesson I suppose is "Do not buy Symantec products and expect performant, well-supported applications". Steer well clear folks.
- 4.50 out of 10
4.50 out of 10After trying to renew my subscription I got the LU1814 ERROR and the bit of brillinace in the online help to just keep trying. Well I tried and tried. I uninstalled and reinstalled all to no avail. Now I'm trying to get a refund for the subscription, with no joy either since it says I have to wait 48 hours to request the LOD.It's been well over 48 hours now and I still can't request it. I have uninstalled this piece of crap and loaded Zone Alarm (Far better firewall) and AVG.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10It's only with the latest msft security updates that NAV has finally made my computer completely unusable. At last! It took a long time, but now it won't activate, and at the same time, it won't shut up about not being activated. I found this board in my desperation to just uninstall this garbage, and get on with my life.
I looked into calling tech support.. it's a $30 call, and then they decide whether to refund you your money or not. That's not what I look for when I purchase what is essentially a service.
I can't WAIT to get this OFF MY COMPUTER.
- 3.50 out of 10
3.50 out of 10Norton was installed when I bought my computer and I do not have the technical ability to change systems. When I attempted to upgrade to Norton 2006 I could not understand the language, pricing, what I would have to do - whether it would be downloaded or shipped - I ended up just renewing 2004
What a dreadful support set up for a good product.
- 6.00 out of 10
6.00 out of 10Auto update does not work. My computer runs extremely slowly. However, it is good at fending off attacks.In April '06 when my sub expires I will return to using Zone Alarm which did not slow my computer down to anything like the same extent as Norton.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10Well 2006 manage to mess up my spyware doctor, internet explorer 6.1 and XP SP2. Way to go!!!
Technical support is just great (if you need extra motivation in shooting yourself).
Basically the product managed to screw up must control box in explorer and prevents some script from running.
Woohoo!!!
On the bright side their live update still work (doesn't matter that you can't finish installing their product).
If you have 2004. Stick with it. DO NOT GET 2006.
Had NIS 2002 and that did protect me well. have just attempted to get upgraded to 2006 new product and theres a conflict between the new and old NIS. Can't get any help from the SYMANTEC bunch and having read this Im just going to try and cancell the payment order at my bank and look elsewhere !
SYMANTEC...sort it out ...
- 4.00 out of 10
4.00 out of 10Immense problems - everything crashed, or when it worked intermittently was soul destruoyingly slow. Removed it completely and installed the free AVG and Zone alarm software. System working perfectly again. Cannot believe what Norton - the best known security software did to my computer. Worse than 50 viruses.
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10My evaluation is based on my experience with NIS 2002. When it works, it works very well. There was a major incident in 2004, however, that caused enormous inconvenience. Technical support personnel were recalcitrant at best and usually totally nonresponsive. A friend's experience in 2005 shows that the company's total contempt for its customers has not changed whatsoever. I will never buy anything with this company's name on it again.
- 5.50 out of 10
5.50 out of 10no help from symantec. all their solutions fail.
will probable try another antivirus system.
- 5.00 out of 10
5.00 out of 10I have had NAV. for over five years, and didn't know why my comp. was running so slow,and all other problem that i was having was caused by Norton atv. Many calls to suport teck. and after trying to fallow instruction,Nothing works, Poor English, hard to understand, would like to Devorce Norton and recieve a settlement of $39.99,AND SET MYSELF FREE OF THEM.
- 2.50 out of 10
2.50 out of 10