Norton 360 [OLD VERSION]

I was an avid user of Norton's System Works back in 2002. The program worked very well, even the AntiVirus program that was included with it was extremely efficient. In 2004 I bought Norton's Antivirus 2004. It quite literally crashed and burned! Now, after using Trend which didn't stop a bugger of a virus, I made th switch back to Norton's after the IT person where I work recommended them over Trend and just about all other programs. What did I learn? Don't listen to the IT people where I work!

Norton's 360 does have some good features. Anti-Spyware, the Firewall, and the Identity protection functions are very nice. It also has a Firefox cleanup as a default setting. So if you're worried about someone snooping around your computer looking for your most frequented websites, this is nice to have. The program installed relatively easily. And the program will auto update on it's own. It also has a PC Tune Up function that includes a cleanup and disk defragmenter, and a Backup files system which can be annoying because it will keep asking you to buy more storage space. It also has "Auto Fill" form for your favorite websites and Phishing protection. All nice features.

Unfortunately that's where the praise stops. Norton's 360 2.0 is so bloated and so resource hungry it will significantly slow down your system. Even if you have a fairly fast computer (I'm running a Dell 2.0 gig AMD Dual Core system with 1gig of RAM) it will still slow your computer down to a crawl at times. Your computer will also boot up more slowly, sometimes the startup sound coming over ten seconds after Windows XP loads. Windows shutdown can also be problematic. Your computer will hang for a bit and then you will occasionally get an error message saying "ccsrvchst.exe error" or something to that effect. Plain and simple, this is something that a software maker should ensure doesn't happen!! Symantec has been very slow to come up with a solution for this. People have come up with some registry edits on their own. However if you're not an experienced computer user I wouldn't recommend attempting them. Symantec's email support is also slow to non-responsive. I sent them an email about a week ago and I have yet to receive a reply. And probably the final insult, you have to download a special tool from Symantec's website to completely remove Norton 360 2.0. As it has a tendency to leave bits of itself behind on your computer.

There used to be a time when I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Norton or Symantec product. However, Norton 360 2.0 is evidence on just how far the company has fallen in terms of quality. The best way I can put it is that Norton's 360 2.0 is the SUV of security programs. It's big, obtrusive, and it's a power hungry beast who's hunger you can not satiate. Honestly, I can't recommend this product to anyone. I'm currently looking for an alternative that's more efficient.

I have been using Norton anti-virus for less than a week. It had an impressive first day, removing a particularly irritating and tenacious bug; otherwise, it's most stunning achievement has been to wipe out my Internet connections, and to provide inadequate instructions for restoring them. Fortunately, I have a family member who can find his way around such problems; otherwise I would have had to spend extra money to pay someone to undo Norton's nuisance. Norton should not be selling a half-developed product.

I was first introduced to 360 as a beta tester and enjoyed testing the product. I like the ease of installation. I like Norton products and have used them for years. All the companies I have worked for as a ME secured their PCs and networks. Have never been downed by rogues virus attacks.Will never use the other guys.

These days, any product that does what it says it will do is a welcome addition to my home. Symantec's Norton 360 does just that, and at a great Amazon price to boot!

Install this software and say goodbye to the overpriced fast computer that you used to love. This software will slow your websurfing blazer to an agonizing pre-1995 crawl. Don't believe the Norton advertisements about "optimization"; the only thing being optimized is Symantec's pocketbook. We are running a dual-core Athalon 5600 with 3GB RAM and it still can't handle the terrible coding implemented with this software.

Want to just try it out? Well, forget trying to disable it or uninstall it once you put it on your system, unless you really want to take a risk with messing with your config.sys or msconfig parameters.

I also run a quad-core HP 6600 beast. And no, that computer will never see Norton. Vista's firewall is simply superior coding by Microsoft (I'll spare you the details) and there are all kinds of quality AV to choose from. It's up to you, but if I were a buyer I would believe the 99%
of people who hated this product and disregard the one person who
miraculously likes the coding nightmare that is Norton 360.