Symantec Norton Internet Security 2005 - Security Camera User Rating

Price range: $15.99 - $74.11 from 52 Seller with a available.

Average user reviews:

Description:Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2005 provides essential protection from viruses, hackers, and privacy threats. Norton AntiVirus is the worlds most trusted antivirus solution. Norton Personal Firewall keeps personal data in and hackers o.Reviewed by: CSwanson from WA on Jan 27, 2005
Rating:

Experience: 2 Months

Strengths: Does a good job if you can get it working right

Weaknesses: Installation, Product Activation

Summary: I have been a Norton/Symnatec user since my DOS systems and have always like the programs. I switched to NIS 2005 on my desktop and laptop in November 2004 and had nothing but problems for weeks. It took over three days of installing, uninstalling and reinstalling before I could even get the program to work. Then it just totally screwed up MS Outlook 2002. All Norton could say was "we know it's a problem, but we don't know how to fix it."

Rather than pay to renew two subscriptions in November I'll switch to another suite then.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: pgarrett from MD on Jan 27, 2005
Rating:

Experience: 1 Weeks

Strengths: Haven't found any! I'm sure it's good if you can install it.

Weaknesses: Unable to install! Tech support says that I need to completely remove previous versions before upgrading.

Summary: This should have been a typical upgrade. Insert the cd, enter the authentication code, install. NO! I didn't uninstall Norton 2003 (any folder referencing Symantec, registry key), I didn't stop every process running on my pc, I didn't disable my screensaver, I didn't empty my temp folder. The install started as typical....insert cd..blah, blah, blah, reboot. My pc went into the perpetual reboot. It rebooted over and over and over until I stopped it by hitting F8 and going to Safe Mode with Networking. I was able to get to Symantecs website and submit a request for tech support. The said that I should download several removal tools, registry clean tool, Microsoft clean-up tool, edit registry, remove folders, empty temp folder, give up my first born. I've been going back and forth for a week to fix this. They have sent me a final fix, which recomends "fixing" my boot record. The email is 3 pages of what they want me to do! I'll try it once. If it doesn't work, I'm going to purchse PC-cillin.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: tmspecial from CA on Feb 13, 2005
Rating:

Experience: 3 Months

Strengths: NONE at all!!

Weaknesses: Does NOT work!!! Mail-in rebates are refused!!!

Summary: I bought the software and had to install it 5 times to make it somewhat work. It still does NOT work 100%. The spam protection always makes Microsoft Outlook crash, therefore I had to deactivate it. The firewall randomly blocks applications every once and a while. The entire suite crashes at least once a week, which means you have to reboot the computer. My mail-in rebate has been denied twice, even though I submitted the correct stuff. I will probably take it to small claims court and Better Business Bureau soon.
You are much better off buying the Zonealarm Pro5 security suite, which got better ratings than Nortan anyway.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: debracrow from NM on Feb 3, 2005
Rating:

Experience: 14 Days

Strengths: Has a nice yellow box....

Weaknesses: Difficult to install. Customer online support not much help.

Summary: I have had Norton antivirus for years and was satisfied with its performance. I decided to go the full security route and ordered the disk. I wish I had read the reviews here before puchasing. The disk loaded and installed. The next step was a Configuration Wizard after restarting the computer. Never happened, furthermore, any time I tried to get on the internet I recieved a error message that I would have to bypass to continue. Tried the Symantec online troubleshooter with no avail. Emailed the support site with the problem (did not want to spend the big bucks they want for actually talking to someone). Two weeks later and 20 pages of detailed instructions suggested by the support group {by daily emails} and countless uninstalls, clean boots and reinstalls resulted in nothing. Now the disc only brings up the "Load Internet Security 2005" page and then states there is an error when you try to. Somewhat disenchanted with the company response, I applied for a refund. If you buy it, I hope you have better luck.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: Nando1961 on Jan 25, 2005
Rating:

Experience: 1 Months

Strengths: Good job in removing viruses.

Weaknesses: Slows the computer down a bit, does not remove all of the spyware and adware, expensive tech support. Should have at least 2 free calls per year included in subscription.

Summary: Not entirely bad. I have noticed, however, that when I use Spybot, there are spyware that NIS did not pick up and remove from the system: so does that job poorly. The technical support is expensive and if you use email tech support, you won't get a reply for at least 3 full days. I am tempted to try PC-cillin next time around.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: Wabo from IA on Apr 8, 2005
Rating:

Experience: 3 Weeks

Strengths: You can't end Nortons processes via Task Manager anymore.

Weaknesses: Runs very slow, Tech supports reply to all problems is to uninstall and reinstall, requires a removal tool from symantec to remove the application.

Summary: I have tried Norton Antivirus 2005, Norton System Works 2005 and Norton Internet Security 2005.

They all eat a huge amount of RAM, and run very slow on systems that down't have at least 512 MB of RAM.

I wouldn't recommend this product because of the following;
Its slow installation
Very weak Antispyware protection
Long scan times
Recent flaws in its ability to stop viruses from infecting your computer
Not uninstalling itself properly, and leaving lots of registry keys and files behind, which make it hard to reinstall the application later.

Right now, I am using PC-cillin Internet Security 2005, which is good and does its job.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: TimAGraham from OH on Mar 1, 2005
Rating:

Experience: 4 Months

Strengths: functionality

Weaknesses: performance

Summary: Beware users with older - slower machines. My IBM Aptiva w/ 400 MHZ has been keeping up with the applications pretty well. I had been using Norton Antivirus for a long time. My previous version was 2002. I upgraded to 2005 Internet Security to take advantage of the spyware protection and it brought the old system to its knees. Even when I turned features off, it just didn't play well. After uninstalling it, I had no problems. I've switched to AVG since with no similar problems.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: lkcrawley from PA on May 9, 2005
Rating:

Experience: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Strengths???

Weaknesses: It has created problems with my outgoing email via Microsoft outlook, and made my computer emulate a turtle.

Summary: I would like to preface this review by stating that I have never before taken the time to post a comment of this sort anywhere on line, however my experience with this product has been so completely negative and time consuming that I felt compelled to warn anyone considering the purchase of NIS 2005.

My only reason for considering the purchase of this software was the prompt from my 1 yer odd Dell computer to renew the expired subscription for the Norton Anti Virus software that came preinstalled on the computer. I was directed to the Symantic On Line Store and offered the option of upgrading to this "New and Improved" product. After downlowding and installing this software I noticed that my outgoing emails were not leaving the outbox folder in my Microsoft Outlook 2003 email program. I contacted Symantec Technical assistance via email (I was able through trial and error to circumvent the glitch by fowarding the mails from the outbox, but could only send one mail at a time), and it seemed that the person on the other end was incapable of understanding the problem that I was having. He kept trying to have me repair a "corrupted firewall", although it seemed to me that the problem was related to a setting in my Outlook program that had been changed. Each and every suggestion from the technician involved some sort of download or patch that I was unable to accomplish because NIS 2005 would not allow my computer access to the necessary web site. I requested assistance by phone and was told that it was available only for a fee. Through tedious research on the Symantec web site I was finally able to locate a phone number where I could speak to a technician who could try to help resolve the problem. It seemed that the only solution that they could come up with to resolve the problem was to uninstall NIS 2005. This was a bit frustrating since I use a dial up connection and completing the inatallation and running live update to download all of the current security measures takes several hours for me to complete. After uninstalling the program once again my Microsoft Outlook program worked flawlessly, but then I was left with no protection and I was out the cost of the program. This was after I spent over 3 1/2 hours on the phone with a technical assistant who supposedly had an intimate working knowledge of the program.

I decided to give it another whirl on my own, downloaded it and installed it once again, and through trial and error discovered that there is a function in NIS 2005 that integrates with your email server (ie. Microsoft Outlook). There is a box in the anti spam configure tab that can be unchecked which prevents NIS 2005 from adding extra icons to the Outlook program, and with this box unchecked I was finally able to get outlook to work in conjunction with NIS 2005. Does the Anti Spam feature still work? Who knows? Is it worth another round with Symantec's so called tech support? Not in this users eyes!!

My strong advise would be to avoid this product.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: MommyElayne from CT on Dec 6, 2004
Rating:

Experience: 14 Days

Strengths: Blocks viruses and spam; allows me to add spam to a list.

Weaknesses: Allows more pop-ups than ever before!

Summary: Since renewing my Norton Internet Security subscription, I have begun getting pop-ups on every website I visit. Never had this before. I also haven't been able to figure out the difference between ad blocking and pop-up blocking. They work the same way in this program, so I really don't think there's any difference whatsoever. I am so totally frustrated with this program and have found no way to contact them through their website that won't cost me half my bank account! My friends have been telling me that I can get the same protection for free from Spybot, but I believe in "you get what you pay for" and I'm afraid to try it. I've always raved about Norton, but the next time I have to renew my subscription, I just might try switching to McAfee.

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: SlapShot12 from CA on Dec 28, 2004
Rating:

Experience: 90 Days

Strengths: Seems to actually protect pretty well - when its running.

Weaknesses: They should go to jail for issuing such a buggy program.

Summary: Since I bought my first Commodore 64 in the 80s, I've not ever seen a program that is so thoroughly buggy and incompatible. Integrates deeply with Outlook, then brings the program to its knees. Massively unstable and requires almost hourly restarts. Technical support appears to be run by my 4-year-old nephew who's answer to every problem is 'start over'. Clean install of OS and reinstall is only solution offered by tech support, even after I tried that and it did not work.

Have been able to replicate the issues on 4 computers in the office, so I'd suggest you STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT AS THOUGH IT WERE GOING TO GIVE YOU THE CLAP!!!!!

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: hooter from IL on Nov 21, 2004
Rating:

Experience: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Actually catches and removes viruses.

Weaknesses: May crash your computer, slow it down, and drive you crazy. Tech support is outrageously expensive.

Summary: First a little background. I have never used any type of antivirus software since buying my first computer in 1996. I¡¯ve found that the best defense against viruses has been to use the delete key and have never been infected by one, although I¡¯ve received plenty of them. I originally went looking for firewall software after noticing a strange icon on my toolbar accompanied by modem activity that wasn¡¯t being initiated by myself. It was easy enough to right click it and stop the transmission, but after the third time it happened, I became concerned that someone was definitely trying to hack into my computer. So, it was off to Pricegrabber to do a little shopping for firewall software. I have absolutely no complaints with them or any of the associated merchants I¡¯ve made purchases from many times. I decided on buying Norton Internet Security 2005 because of their trusted name and dominance in their area, and also figured why not also get antivirus just to be safe. At the time there were also no Pricegrabber reviews for it, and now wish I had read the reviews for their 2004 products. I probably would not have bought after reading them. After receiving and installing it, on first re-boot I immediately got the blue screen of death with a message that the system memory was running very low and that Norton might not be able to work properly. Hitting another key resulted in a VXD error message, and hitting another resulted in system freeze-up. After many frustrating hours of tinkering and re-boots, I found that only after removing one of the video cards (my system has three cards for three monitors) would it start. I also noticed a very annoying and considerably slowing of my system. So then it was off to Symantec¡¯s site to look for a solution that was nowhere to be found in their database. It was now time for tech support, and it turns out that it comes at a very steep price. Although their support page stated that you can get phone support through an 877 number for $29.95 (charged to your credit card), or through a 900 number at $2.95 per minute (charged to your phone bill), I figured that after having just paid $59.90 for their software they could at least attempt to solve the problem by email. I first filled out the form with a detailed description on October 16 or 17th, 2004, and after not receiving a reply I went back and filled it out again on the following 28th. That was never replied to either. Both times after filling out the form at their site I got a ¡°priority ID number¡± that was good for 48 hours. I guess that was a tip-off that they had no intention of offering any kind of solution by email, and definitely not for free. Because I absolutely refuse to let my computer be held hostage, I simply uninstalled it to get it back to working condition. Of course this left me with the original problem of no firewall, but it was easily solved by obtaining free (evaluation of course) firewall software on the internet. As a consumer should you buy Norton Internet Security 2005 for yourself? Well, maybe it will work okay and maybe it won¡¯t. And it might just depend on your own particular system. But I hope to make this very clear¡if you have problems with it, it will cost you plenty for any tech support you might need, and after reading the 2004 reviews at Pricegrabber (and elsewhere), it appears that Norton Antivirus has a well-known history of slowing down computers. As for myself, I feel like I¡¯ve just thrown sixty bucks down the toilet. Oh well, it¡¯s back to using my good friend the delete key for antivirus removal. Just like the old days!

Reviewed by:Reviewed by: Albslave1 from CA on Nov 17, 2004
Rating:

Experience: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Symantec only makes great software.

Weaknesses: Rebates are a pain. By just lowering the price would save everyone headaches.

Summary: (Edited November 17th by Albslave1) I have yet to run across any Symantec software that did not protect and or optimize my computer. I have no hesitation paying for Internet Security. This item will save you money in the long run.
Give it a try, it will save your computer from all attacks that the internet can provide.