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Norton AntiVirus 2006 (discontinued)

Norton AntiVirus 2006

Entered CNET Catalog: 08/10/2005

SKU: 10430010

Manufacturer: Symantec Corporation

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  1. Manufacturer's description
  2. CNET editors' review
  3. Users' opinions
  4. Blogs
  5. Keywords

Manufacturer description

Stay protected with the world's most trusted antivirus software. Whether it's while you are surfing or chatting, emailing or file swapping, Norton AntiVirus 2006 wards off a host of Internet threats. It automatically detects and removes viruses, rids your computer of unwanted spyware, and scans email and IM attachments for threats.

CNET editors' review

  • Editors' Choice: No
  • Reviewed on: 11/09/2005

With Norton AntiVirus 2006, Symantec finally gets serious about spyware and adware, computer malware problems that are becoming as insidious and pervasive as viruses were in the late 1990s. Norton AntiVirus 2006's enhanced protection against these new threats offers a big improvement over Norton AntiVirus 2005. That said, Norton is not as proactive as McAfee VirusScan 2006, which warns you before downloading suspected adware and spyware, a feature we'd like to see added to all antispyware apps some day. And we wish Symantec had left well enough alone and not cluttered the clean and highly functional interface of the previous edition. Despite these two things, Norton AntiVirus 2006 is a solid upgrade for current users, but new users still might want to look for faster, lighter performance found in other antivirus apps instead.

Our installation of Norton AntiVirus 2006 went smoothly, thanks to the assistance of a helpful wizard. We've always appreciated Norton AntiVirus's clean and logical interface. Unfortunately, with this year's debut of the Norton Protection Center, Norton AntiVirus 2006 has lost that uncluttered usability. The Norton Protection Center appears both as a separate icon in the system tray as well as a separate window within the software's control console. Most of the Protection Center's functions are useful, such as the alerts it sends if you don't have the latest virus definitions or haven't run a system scan in a while and the bar graph in the Status window. However the Protection Center is focused on upselling Symantec's other products to you rather than providing any new, useful security information. For instance, if you ask to learn more about data recovery, you're taken directly to the Norton SystemWorks 2006 product page on Symantec's Web site.

Norton AntiVirus 2006 does offer some important security feature enhancements, such as protecting your browser's home page against spyware hijacks. More important, Norton AntiVirus 2006 expands its detection and removal to spyware and adware programs, catching them both in real-time and full-system scans; plus, virus and spyware definition updates are now updated daily. But in our tests, Norton AntiVirus 2006 didn't perform as well as McAfee VirusScan 2006 with regard to spyware. Norton AntiVirus 2006 allowed adware to install and run first, then alerted us to the problem. McAfee VirusScan 2006, on the other hand, alerted us before the offending software started to download. However, once a potential threat was discovered, Norton AntiVirus 2006 provided a detailed evaluation of the specific threat. On the other hand, McAfee failed to provide detailed information, making it more difficult to decide whether to keep the software installed or remove it.

In terms of stopping traditional viruses, Norton AntiVirus 2006 provides a complete array of protection. Norton AntiVirus 2006 scans incoming and outgoing e-mail, and it monitors IM traffic through AIM, MSN, and Yahoo Messenger. In addition, Norton AntiVirus 2006 monitors the network and notifies you of any wormlike behavior it detects. For more complete performance benchmarks for Norton AntiVirus 2006, see CNET's 2006 AntiVirus performance test results page. Norton AntiVirus 2006 showed a definite performance hit during our "real-world" performance tests, but it was less severe than with McAfee. As for reliability, Norton AntiVirus has been independently tested against other antivirus products by AV-Comparatives, and it generally compares favorably at stopping most if not all viruses in those tests.

With Norton AntiVirus 2006, users receive product upgrades as well as signature definition updates through the life of the subscription. Previously, you had to upgrade to the latest version of the software to take advantage of new features.

Norton AntiVirus 2006 users have a choice between free online chat and paid telephone support. Both are offered 24/7. Symantec's support site, however, needs a redesign, because the link to the free online chat was extremely hard to find. We discovered the free chat link only after clicking the "Continue to phone support" link. Phone support costs $29.95 per incident or $2.95 per minute.

User opinions

Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

User Rating: 2/10

this software make my computer damaged.....by Lim Ming Hui - October 2, 2008

Pros: The Norton Antivirus 2006 is the most terrible Symantec Product that I Know, it's virus removal function is very bad and it using too many system memory.

Cons: this antivirus program is the most terrible application that I never seen before. it was very easy destroy by a virus.

Review:

User Rating: 2/10

It couldn't be any slower!by Figaro14 - January 12, 2007

Pros: Well it does work -- sometimes

Cons: Very slow and also allows some viruses to slip through anyway

Review: I've been a customer of Norton since the start of anti-virus software programs and I've watched their product get worse and worse and worse. I guess old habits die hard but after 2006 I'll never buy another Norton AV version again. It takes forever to fully load. Because it is so slow at scanning, it appears to also occasionally allow viruses to slip through. I've tried it on three different computers including my ultra fast Intel Core 2 and it has the same problem on all of them. There customer support is the worst. When you try to email them, the email link is blocked by NAV! What can be more ironic than this??? If you email them through the comments section, you'll never hear back from anyone.
Updated
This is by far the worst version of NAV ever. First you will see a visible difference in the performance of your system, regardless of how fast it runs. It takes forever to fully load and this stupid "Norton Protection Center" which also has to load on top of it makes the load time even slower. What's worse is that most of the time it does not detect viruses until AFTER they make their way onto your system and half the time the program can't seem to remove them on its own. I couldn't dump this from my computer fast enough.

User Rating: 3/10

Won't use Norton againby poetshep - January 5, 2007

Pros: Pretty menus

Cons: Software bloated, slow and won't uninstall or reinstall

Review: I was testing three different antivirus programs, McAfee, Norton and ZoneAlarm. Loaded up the Norton w/o any problems to see how it would work. Slowed down my system. Uninstall still left residual garbage. I even tried Norton's removal program but could never get it to properly clean out their junk.

User Rating: 1/10

Ken Feinstein's CNET review is rubbish - this product sucksby mjeanes - December 27, 2006

Pros: None, zero, negatory

Cons: Ruins your system

Review: I put NAV 2006 on my Mum's PC and it has been a disaster from start to finish. I've since removed it and it's like heaven now. I will look elsewhere for an anti-virus program. HOW ON EARTH CNET GAVE THIS A 5.5 I'LL NEVER KNOW. IT'S A REAL WORRY. I HOPE THERE ARE NO BACK HANDERS AT PLAY.

User Rating: 2/10

Very interferingby keanb001 - December 21, 2006

Pros: Nothing really good to report

Cons: Interfers with everything

Review: Very poor customer support unless you want to pay. Huge overhead on my PC. It really slows my PC down. Can not send pictures by e-mail. Symantec server rejects them. What in the world is the Symantec server doing getting into the business of my e-mail I am trying to send. I disable the outgoing e-mail scanning and it still scans them. Talk about Orwellian, welcome to 1984. I will never by this product again and will recommend to everyone not to buy it.

User Rating: 2/10

Product seems ok - Company doesn't care about its customersby mrfrinkles - November 30, 2006

Pros: Packaging is flashy

Cons: SYMANTEC IGNORES ITS CUSTOMERS

Review: 30 days after purchasing this program I had relized that I was going to be unable to use it as I was leaving the country. I notified the Customer service at Symantec who wrote back a simple form letter saying they didn't have the capability of helping me in any way. When I responded to them again asking of any other options I had they completely ignored me and never responded even after I wrote them about ten times. I will never buy a Symantec product again due to this inflexibility and will be sure to spread the word of how Symantec has no problem taking your money and ignoring any concern you may have.

User Rating: 2/10

Nortons Takes Up A Lot Of Resourcesby islandporgy - October 17, 2006

Pros: The best thing I done was uninstall Nortons Never buy there product again

Cons: Never use it again takes to long to boot up to your desktop.

Review: Norton lost me as a costomer 2004 was there last good Antivirus program they had. They had some nerve telling me I installed there software to many times. They should be glad I was using it.

User Rating: 3/10

Norton Antivirus 2006 delivers corrupted files through downloadsby TxRed - October 14, 2006

Pros: None that I feel make it worth buying

Cons: I've received bad files through both downloads and CD version

Review: I'd been using Norton Antivirus for years. I upgraded my 2005 to 2006 and the problems began. After several months they remain unresolved. Norton's tech support is out of the the U.S., and so far they have not done anything to resolve my problems. I've followed all their recommendations, but still receive error messages. The problems appears to be corrupted files for the LiveUpdate. I feel it's time to dump Norton and find something better. I don't know if Norton Antivirus 2007 is any better, but I'm tired of uninstalling, reinstalling, and trying to patch an obviously flawed product. I've wasted enough time and money.

User Rating: 3/10

Won't be using againby TgiDarren - October 2, 2006

Pros: Detects Virus's

Cons: Unable to delete virus's

Review: Had to instll AVG (free version) to do Norton's job V.Poor

User Rating: 5/10

Beware of false worm positives and poor support!by TraditionalCountry - September 10, 2006

Pros: Loads easily,available at a low street price

Cons: Poor,inaccurate,customer support.False worm positives and blockings

Review: Shortly after loading NAV 2006,I began receiving so many Bladerunner worm warnings/blockings that web surfing became a nightmare.I contacted Norton via email.One week later;and still no answer from them.A second email to them brought me a poorly written,(broken english)hard to understand warning that since NAV 2006 cannot possibly cause false positives for Bladerunner,I must have a serious problem requiring immediate action on my part,including,perhaps,hiring a computer technician to check out my system.This is sheer nonsense as my isp sent me an email the following day confirming that NAV 2006 most definitely DOES create false positives for Bladerunner by conflicting with web accelerators such as the one I was using.A little research via Google search turned up other NAV 2006 users complaining of the exact same problem that I experienced and that Norton denied.I suffered a lot of unnesscary aggrvation and wasted time by not contacting my isp about the problem before I contacted Norton.But,naturally,I assumed that Norton could be trusted to provide accurate,truthful help.What good is an anti virus product if its customer service people do not understand their own product and give out false advice?By the way,I contacted NAV support one more time politely informing them of the truth about this problem.They never answered that final email from me.
Don't buy NAV!
Malcolm Leonard

User Rating: 1/10

Absolute Rubbish!by crasher_dai - August 25, 2006

Pros: none I can think of, worse than nothing!

Cons: resource hog, unstable, unremovable, unsupported

Review: I am an Electronics Engineer of 26 years experience and repair around 3000 customers' systems a year and have not seen a product of any worth from Symantec since NAV2003 (the last good thing they made). Symantec wanted a Visa number from us to talk with technical support and we are a dealer! Uninstall doesn't work, and the dedicated removal tool only works in normal mode which is useless because a lot of the time NAV & IS 2004, 2005, 2006 is preventing the system from starting in anything but safe mode. It steals system resources like GW Bush steals elections! It does not protect properly and drives users crazy with cryptic errors & warnings. I have only seen it working properly a half dozen times in the last three years. We sold 3 coppies of the new version in 2004 then withdrew the products because ALL of the customers came back complaining resulting in our having to repair the computers at our own cost because of this awfull software....I hope they go bankrupt as I am sick of having to manually remove the products (delete files, folders and clear registry entries by hand) because it is almost impossible to uninstall psoperly.

User Rating: 1/10

Another company and product down the toiletby smbodie - August 23, 2006

Pros: Haven't gotten any virus', but common sense is better

Cons: Lots of errors, time wasted and poor service

Review: The new bells and whistles eat up way too many resources. Several application errors that required reinstallation before resolution released. Now 4 months in and activation won?t work. Support site worthless and good luck getting live support (that you can understand through the middle eastern accent). I stayed at this party too long, it is definitely time to move on.

User Rating: 1/10

Worst Virus Protection I Ever Hadby MattLee0416 - August 19, 2006

Pros: Nothing I Can Think Of

Cons: Just About Everything

Review: i dont remember this damn thing removing a single virus but i do remember a virus tearing this to pieces.

i actually couldnt even get to certain sites without the browser closing down after this piece of crap failed. luckily i was able to download McAfee and it found 50+ viruses i mean 50+!!!! some spyware protection norton has i mean 1 or 2 missed is understandable but 50+?!!

say goodbye to norton and hello to bit defender, mcafee and zone alarm av

on another note the free versions of antivir and avg did a better job than norton so if youre thinking about norton then just get the free version of antivir or avg and pocket the money u wouldve wasted on norton on something nice like say a night on the town with your sweetheart =)

User Rating: 1/10

Norton Antivirus 2006 Worst of the Worst - Horrible!by extremeq - August 13, 2006

Pros: None that come to mind.

Cons: Worst software on the planet.

Review: I always thought that I was proctected with Norton NAV 2006. In fact, I was introduced to the product years ago, and just kept on buying it year after year. Yesteray that all changed when I tried to get support for the first time. I started getting a Norton error message whenever I booted the computer or tried to open a MS Office document. The error message stated, "Norton Antivius 2006 does not support the repair feature. Please uninstall and reinstall." -- This went on for about a week causing me grief, but I didn't have time to address it until yesterday. The first thing I did was type the error message into Google. It was obvious that thousands of others were suddenly having the same problem. They pointed towards instructions on Symantec's website about how to correct it. Although Norton won't take the blame, the problem was caused by a faulty "live update" session the week before where Symantec pushed millions of broken updates onto people's machines worldwide. The created the problem. The first thing Norton tries to get you to do is ignore the problem. They state that the pop ups and error messages cause no harm and to ignore them. Yea, like we have time to spend an average of two minutes per computer session to click out of error pop-ups. If you want to pursue the matter, Norton has a web page set up with the "fix." It includes following several step by step procedures and the download of a "patch". The only trouble is that the patch and instructions don't work. Doing more Goole searches on the problem made it obvious that no one else has been able to get their software fixed either. I decided to make my first call to Norton tech support. As soon as the phone is answered, a recorded message comes on..."If you are calling about an error message that says ""Norton Antivirus Does Not Support Repair Feature"", then go to the following web page." If Norton has this message recorded as the very first thing you hear when you call them, then you know that they are in hot water. I spend 30 minutes on hold and was finally connected to a female tech support person. Her foreign accent was so thick, that I could barely communicate with her. I explained what the problem was, and she wanted to charge me $39.95 to tell me how to correct the problem. I told her that Norton caused the problem due to faulty code in a live update, but she didn't care. Even if I had paid the money, I doub't I could have understood her enough for her to help me anyway. -- I already said that I had been using Google to get information about this problem. Something else caught my eye while reading the search results. There were many people trying to expose Norton for not being able to detect 80% of current malware and many current trojan horses and viruses. There were also allegations that Norton 2006 was very vunerable to be sabotoged by simple scrips. I uninstalled NAV 2006 and started looking for trial versions of other programs. I won't tell you which one that I tried, because I don't want my post to lose credibility as if I'm spamming on-line reviews, but after installing a new product, the thing found 23 trojan horses (1 super critical), 2 worms, and several other low risk spyware programs. It cleaned them all. When done, I had computer performance that I never knew I had. (Norton NAV 2006 was set to scan once daily.) The first thing I thought of was a laptop computer I have that has been sick for months. It took almost 10 minutes to fully boot up, and it has just been acting strange. You guessed it, it had been using another paid in full version of NAV 2005 and been fully scanned frequently. I also used Ad-Aware and Ewido on that laptop too, and it found lots of stuff Norton missed, but still did not fix the problem. I uninstalled NAV 2005 on the laptop and installed the free trial of the other antivirus software. It took one hour and 45 minutes to complete a scan, but it found numerous trojan horses, worms and adware that NAV 2005 (with the latest update) didn't even acknowledge. After a few automatic reboots, the computer was completely cured. Amazing. I will never been a Symantic customer again. They are totally worthless in my bood. John - Daytona Beach, FL.

User Rating: 1/10

NORTON SHOULD BE CLASSIFIED AS MALWAREby gizmocruz - August 9, 2006

Pros: After hours of time, effort, trial and error, I got rid of it!!

Cons: Too many to name

Review: Norton AV should be classified as malware. How Symantec should truly be embarrassed. I will not reiterate the reasons that this software falls way below expectations, but I will say that I experienced the same system-slowing-to-a-crawl issues, as well as the install/uninstall issues as many others. I finally got rid of it (no thanks to Symantec's "technical (non)support)and my computer runs much faster and crash-free.

Unless you enjoy being angry and frustrated, my advice is to stay away!

User Rating: 1/10

Buyer beware of new Lic agreement, poor integration and very poor customer service!!!!!by damitchell1 - August 7, 2006

Pros: only 1 and that is I removed it from my computer!

Cons: Doesn't get along with other apps., drains system, buggy, crashes, prevents shutdown, ect,,, read opinion for more

Review: I have a stronger than avg knowledge of computer systems and software as well as a nice power pc,,, (p4,ATI X850, 3gig RAM, ect)

I have used Norton Sys Works and Virus since it came out and have been a very happy customer until the new 2006 version came out. After purchasing just 2 months ago I have had so many issues with the Nortons products and my computer that I re-formated my hard drive three times and started with a fresh install. Well little did I know that the user agreement prevents you from activating (activation key required to run)more than 3 times. I was told that there is no exception and that there system shows I have activated it 3 times. Because of that,, even if they are no longer in use,,, I have to purchase a new lic.
Now in the old Norton way customer satisfaction matters,, but let me tell you it doesn't today!
Bottom line it always caused start up and shut down problems,,, it conflicted with 2 or 3 other devices including my Creative Audigy sound card and my HP 2600 Printer....
I will never,, ever buy another Symantec product again.

Im so disapointed because the 2000-2005 products and customer service were great!

Oh and don't think your going to get to talk to someone that can read something besides a script or speak english.

User Rating: 1/10

I will never use a Symantec product againby kkelsay - August 6, 2006

Pros: Can't think of anything!

Cons: Let a Trojan Horse into my computer

Review: Brand new computer purchased less than 3 month ago and I installed Norton AntiVirus 2006 per a friend. Everything worked well up until last week when I was on the internet. A box pops up and tells me that Windows is infected and "click this box now" to repair. While I'm freaking out I don't pay attention to what's telling me to hit that button and I assume it's a security program in my computer and I hit it. What happends? Spot Bot (Virus) puts itself on my computer! It takes the desktop away and any ability to make changes to it. Do a full Norton scan - "no viruses detected". Download a bunch of free security: AVG Free, Ad-Aware, Sypware Blaster, Spybot Search & Destroy and Trend Micro and discover that I have a trojan horse virus. Before I do any fixes or repairs I give Norton another chance and run another full Norton scan and Norton continues to tell me that there are no virues!! Norton is gone and I will NEVER buy another product of their's again. Once a week I run all those free securtiy programs and do any necessary clean up. Spyware blocks spwyare and runs constantly on the computer to protect you on the internet - Zone Alarm is another one I got running all the time as well. PLEASE, do not purchase Internet Securtiy 2006 for your computer. Use the programs I've mentioned in this review or buy another brand.

User Rating: 1/10

Rebate RipOffs!by OKBrinker - August 4, 2006

Pros: lots of promotional / discounted / rebate versions

Cons: rebates seldom work / Products and Service going downhill fast

Review: I'be been (was) a longtime user and fan of Peter Norton products (since 1980's). No more. One of the reasons I've 'hung on' over the last couple of years was all the rebates, particularly at CompUSA. Over the last couple of years, however, even those haven't worked as marketed. For the last two years I sent the required 'proofs of purchase' exactly as requested and still would get a 'you did not provide xxxx' message in the mail in a few weeks. If I persisted with xxx phone calls and had copies, etc., I could possibly prevail in getting my rebate. Unless you have the time and energy to continually fight this battle (and I didn't in this last and final case with Symantec Permier system works)then I suggest you look elsewhere. I won't even get into the 'install/uninstall' problems... they've been elsewhere discussed in detail. For me, I'm going with one of the free / shareware utilities (e.g., AVG).

User Rating: 2/10

westiemom2by westiemom2 - August 1, 2006

Pros: price was good

Cons: product activation

Review: I will not purchase from Symantec again. I have been trying to activate my product key for 2 weeks so the protection will not lapse. The message I get says my product key is not recognized. I have emailed them regarding this every day for a week and have gotten no response even tho' I have paid for 1 year coverage. My AntiVirus is no longer runnning.
Thank you so much Symantec. I have my fingers crossed there will be a class action against this--fairly certain they have ripped a lot of people off and provided no service.

User Rating: 1/10

avoid norton antivirus /NISby rseek - August 1, 2006

Pros: Nice looking interface

Cons: Every thing except looks

Review: More reviews should be forthcoming to warn people in the danger of using norton security products.When u have highly effective and lean commercial products like kaspersky,nod32,bitdefender etc and free apps like avast,adaware etc there is no reason for any body to use norton.Briefly the cons are norton hardly removes 20% of the infections,slows down your pc horribly,crashes regularly.

User Rating: 1/10

Wouldn't download and install!by drawdc - July 31, 2006

Pros: Competitive price

Cons: No good if you can't install it

Review: I usually look at the CNET reviews before buying, but we use Symantec and how bad could it be? The software failed to download, required reqistry changes and then won't uninstall with out going into hidden files. When I finally got it installed, they had to download 9 upgrades for my new software package. Then the product wouldn't load on my other user pages on Windows XP. The uninstall / reinstall was unsuccessful. I have asked for a refund after printing 11 pages of fixes from Symantec. I don't know who they think uses a $50 antivirus package, but this is way too much trouble for the average web surfer.

User Rating: 3/10

What a joke on John Q. Customer!by mgsimm - July 5, 2006

Pros: I have nothing positive to submit about this product!

Cons: NOTHING good about this rip-off piece of junk!

Review: I never liked either Norton, or McAffee (sp?)!!! The office where I'm in charge of computer operations used it, but when the former "manager" obtained "2006", I removed it and got a complete refund. Not only did our programs not work (even though I carefully configured them), but Norton immediately disabled our network. As soon as I removed Norton, everything worked as expected. We are now using Avast Professional Edition and are so happy. Avast found a phishing "bankfraud" trojan in some recovered files that Norton failed to find.

User Rating: 1/10

Took control of my computer for 3 hours, crashed other programs, including e-mail.by purposeinc - July 2, 2006

Pros: None, if any, it did not factually take my life.

Cons: Uninstallable!

Review: I have been a Peter Norton customer for around 20 years. His company has always provided excellent software in the past. Part of this program bundle installed itself in front of windows, and prevented me from even opening windows. When I went to call customer support, there was no phone number provided, only a FAQ and training center. I almost bought a new system just to be able to work that evening.

If someone at Norton reads this and wants me back as a customer and have me remove, I will tell you what I need you to do if you go to http://www.bodyabcs.com and contact me.

I would have sent this e-mail to them, but they did not provide an e-mail address that I could find.

I was running xp, 500 mb ram, 60 mb hd

dk

User Rating: 5/10

Norton Says....by herbinnj - June 28, 2006

Pros: Past experience...reputation

Cons: Very negative user opinions

Review: I too, have been a loyal user of Norton AV.
After reading these coments, I called Symantec.
They claim that AV2006 works best with the following:

1. Windows XP
2. A high speed connection. Comcast, FIOS, etc.
3. A cd download is preferable over an online download. The online download over a dial-up connection misses some impportant files.
4. Don't uninstall the previous version. The cd will take care of old Norton files with the new install.

I currently run AV2004 with Windows Firewall and the upgrade version of Spyware Doctor...
and that's IT! My operating system is
XP Pro with a Verizon FIOS internet connection. I live on the net and have never had a crash, virus contamination or any other problem. In the past, I have found that all these crazy suite software pkgs just foul up your system and clean files that are needed. Keep it simple is my motto.

So, I will take Symantec at their word and try the AV2006.

To be continued............

herbinnj
Updated
Updateon my previous reply....
The AV 2006 cd arrived today and it installed flawlessly. I closed all open apps, turned off the windows firewall, shut down Spyware Doctor and proceded with the disc install. Not sure what all the hub bub is because it was seamless and reletively quick.

After installing, scanning and running the update utility, I ran several internet speed tests...Internetfrog.com, verizon online speed test and Speakeasy.com. There was no noticable slowdown.

Maybe it is just me but when all else fails, just read the directions on the box.

To be continued after using for a while.

he
Updated
Update on my previous reply....
The AV 2006 cd arrived today and it installed flawlessly. I closed all open apps, turned off the windows firewall, shut down Spyware Doctor and proceded with the disc install. Not sure what all the hub bub is because it was seamless and reletively quick.

After installing, scanning and running the update utility, I ran several internet speed tests...Internetfrog.com, verizon online speed test and Speakeasy.com. There was no noticable slowdown.

Maybe it is just me but when all else fails, just read the directions on the box.

To be continued after using for a while.

he

User Rating: 1/10

Cardboard box it comes in is more usefulby _Polar_Bear_ - June 20, 2006

Pros: The only pro is that I now know never to by Symantec again

Cons: Bogged my system down, poor at catching spyware, didn't catch a trojan and doesn't like to be uninstalled.

Review: Guess I feel like most others who have bought this product - I'll never buy another Symantec product - Marketing in box and thats it.

User Rating: 1/10

unethical business practicesby HeadSurgeon - June 5, 2006

Pros: Well known name

Cons: Lack of ethics (and see the long list left by many many others)

Review: Like others I have been a Symantec customer since the days of DOS. Today I switched to CA's eTrust Ez antivirus. In recent years my experience with the Symantec has mirrored the same poor experience left by so many other reviewers.

However, what finally got me to drop Symantec was what I feel to be their clear lack of ethics or at the very least extremely poor, (non customer focused) business pracices. I am referring to their use of Rebates - we all know that game. But that's not all. Now they have begun what they call "On-going Protection"

NOW GET THIS, with Symantec's "On-going Protection" when you buy their product online via credit card you are also signing up for automatic yearly renewals. This is not Opt in. But it is worse than that. In order to opt out you have to responsed to an email!!! (No radio button to click) Not only do you have to respond to the email that shoots you to a web based form that you have to fill out but the form includes entering in your 25 digit product key, your order number, email etc. OMG...

For this they get a rating of 1..According to CNet this means I think this product is absolutely abysmal. And while it's possible for a product to receive a 1, it's extremely rare...I think Absolutely Abysmal nicely sums up Symantec's unethical business pracitces.

User Rating: 1/10

What ever happened to Nortons?by jrisles - June 5, 2006

Pros: Absolutely nothing with this version

Cons: Where do i start

Review: I have never ever written an opinion on cnet but this woeful version of Nortons antivirus has prompted me too now. What ever happened to this great product? What types of people are they employing at Symantic. Clearly they have lost the plot. I have been using Symantic for years but this product is so bad that i have uninstalled it and have gone over to McAfee. Such a shame .. i do like to be loyal but when things are this bad i have had to jump to the competition. I really do believe that CNET editors were being polite when they rated it a 5.5. Do yourself a favour & don't even install the latest version. Stay with what you got or go to someone else. Sad sad situation Nortons have got themselves in.

User Rating: 5/10

My ony gripe is the 3 user subscription catchby fw2005 - June 4, 2006

Pros: Well supported if you go online

Cons: Expensive, subscription service issues

Review: I purchased NAV 2006 Home Protection Pack which includes 3 licenses for use on 3 computers.
Problem is that when I installed the 2 and 3 computers 60 days after installing the first, I find that the sub has been pro-rated. That is, I only get the number of days left from the original install for the subsequent ones.
This, in my opinion is lousy business practice.
I cannot see why I should be penalized for waiting to install the 2nd and 3rd computers.

Otherwise, I have never had any of the problems some have been reporting here. Possibly because I never purchase the entire Internet Security package, only the Antivirus.

User Rating: 3/10

Symantec is loosing another long term customerby lawnmower1 - May 29, 2006

Pros: I have a hard time thinking of any.

Cons: Did not stop incoming worm, could not eliminate it, and pay per use tech support failed to remove threat.

Review: I have been using Norton/Symantec software since 1987. Sadly, the reason for my sour review is the opposite of the reason for me purchasing the products back in the early days.

I worked for a new hospital in from the mid to late '80s. At that time, the hospital was beginning to put IBM XT and AT computers into some areas of the hospital. Because we had fair number in our department, I got to know the IT guy who handled PC installation. One day, he had a problem recovering a file on one of our computers and ending up calling Norton support to troubleshoot the issue. He ended up speaking with Peter Norton. Norton and his software recovered the file and I had to say to myself, "How cool is this!"

Through the years I have been a staunch supporter, if not cheerleader for Norton. Now, all that has changed. While surfing the web, a worm passed through to my computer that was running Symantec AV 2006 with all update and most recent definitions (I check for updates everyday that I ran the computer). After numerous attempts, the software would not remove the worm. I logged onto the internet for support from Symantec AV and paid the $68 plus dollars for support. After two attempts at chats and an attempt for remote access, my system crashed. I could not get the computer to recognize my hard drive. I spent another 30 minutes just trying to get a refund for failure to provide services and was denied.

It's too bad. I used to like Norton/Symantec for the fact that they produced programs that worked and provided stellar customer service. Now, in my opinion, they do none of the above.

User Rating: 1/10

Stay Away from this Product unless You're looking for Troubleby behrak - May 16, 2006

Pros: Nice Look - Symantec (rapidily eroding) Brand

Cons: Too many to list here

Review: I went through the process of becoming a member of CNET exclusively to provide web users at large with the benefit of my experience with this product.

1- Don't expect any help from Symantec if anything happens. Good luck finding their service phone number. No Instant messenging available either.

2- The Software does not detect some new and OLD viruses specifically affecting its operation or essential subcomponents' operation.

3- The Software does not detect any arriving spyware, malware, etc. worth mentioning. It's good at telling you that you have been infected after though, assuming that its virus definitions are up to date (addressed later).

4- The Software has the nerves to every often advise you that it needs to be activated to continue to protect your pc. I PAID for it, I ACTIVATED IT. Now while you are looking at it not being activated, keep in mind that it does not protect your pc anymore. One could compare this type of reaction to bullying or extortion, but Symantec probably has another great pc sounding name for this.

5- The Virus Definitions automated updater (LiveUpdate) hangs ALL the time. What does that mean? That means that you delay the actual updating until one day you feel like you're playing russian roulette at every mouse click. When that happens, Symantec's website tells you to restart the pc, or to use the autofix tool. None of these actually fix the underlying LiveUpdate problem.

6- If you need any help from Symantec, make sure you have Internet Explorer installed. Now for those web users who long discovered that IE is aside from being a disastrous product also often the cause of much problems, that does not sit well. Forget about using Opera, Firefox or Netscape to use any of their tools. If you do use Internet Explorer, be prepared to watch it crash.

CONCLUSION:
I am sure that Symantec means well, but with so many other reputable competing products out there, I am clearly not returning to my guinea pig role when my subscription runs out.

User Rating: 1/10

No longer a reliable companyby ClarkEllis - May 10, 2006

Pros: no pros for this product

Cons: If your computer crashes for any reason after 90 you lose your money

Review: A system crash forced a need to re-install the software but software WILL NOT re-install. Hours upon hours with their "tech support" (ha ha) each encounter asking me to repeat the same steps to correct the problem. Finally gave up and asked for my money back and was informed that because I had owned the software for more than 90 days I could not get a refund. I installed McAffee and got on with my work. Learn from my misfortune. Don't buy Symantec! Professionals write software that works!

User Rating: 1/10

The worst one yet!by positive311 - May 10, 2006

Pros: None come to mind.

Cons: Bad install, crappy worm settings.

Review: I purchased NAV 06 only because I've had it in the past, and it always did OK. NAV 06 was horrible. First, the install received multiple fatal errors, and would not install the program. The scan confirmed I was virus free, but it would not work. I then looked to the NAV knowledge base, and I had to install a tool that worked through the install. During the set-up, it asked if I would like the NAV worm protection to take the place of Windows firewall, so I said yes, I'll try it. The firewall, however, blocked all my ports, so I could not connect to the WWW. I went to the "easy to use" settings, and the worm protection had multiple listings of blocked items. Then, i figured I would disable the worm protection, but then all you get are pop ups and a red "X" stating your NAV is not correct. Norton could not tell me in their knowledge base how to fix this, but rather I call the tech support and be charged $39. How the hell can they charge me $39 for their product error. Needless to say, I did not call, I uninstalled NAV, and went back to AVG Pro. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. ASIDE FROM EVERYTHING ABOVE, IT IS A SYSTEM RESOURCE HOG. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU NORTON? YOU USED TO BE GREAT!!!!!!!

User Rating: 2/10

Stay Away!!!by karenj67 - May 3, 2006

Pros: Has the normal Norton AntiVirus items

Cons: Since upgrading to 2006 cannot shutdown or restart computer. I now have to shut off by uplugging the computer from the power.

Review: If you have another another instance of NAV on your computer and have had no problems, just renew DO NOT upgrade to 2006. I have contacted Norton support with no help. I am now trying to have the 2006 version refunded and just renew the older version I had prior.

User Rating: 2/10

Rendered the computer unusableby SeaMariner - April 24, 2006

Pros: Supposed Reputation

Cons: Buggy, Poor user interface, system hog

Review: I just spent the whole day debugging a brand new computer. Various programs would not function correctly, Firefox was prevented from connecting, the computer would freeze during software installs and shutdown. Throughout the day, Norton Antivirus intervened without providing any feedback or bypass to this user. I suspected a virus at first, until I removed Norton, and everything functioned correctly again. Is there any possible excuse for "security" software to run this poorly? I'm not impressed.

User Rating: 1/10

STOP!! CALL MICROSOFTby Smart Tech2 - April 20, 2006

Pros: None that I will ever see

Cons: POS software

Review: Where do I start! Well after I installed Norton 2006 it picked up Dr. watson as a virus. ITS A FLIPPIN POSTMORDEM DEBUGGER FOR PEET SAKE. I later could not view secure site and when I launched it a second time it gave me Norton Intergrator has encountered a problem and needs to close. I tried the manual removal, the symnrt tool and it was still on my computer. I resorted to calling the wonderful techs at Norton *rolls eyes and pukes* Here is the call:

Thank you for calling Norton technical support, My name is aljahmhnnoy (Bob). May I please have your name and your credit card number? We take Visa, Mastercard, and any other major credit card. This service is $89.99 and is not refundable. How may I be of assistance to you today?
I proceeded to tell him that I got an error Norton Intergrator has encountered an error and needs to close. He started to giggle and said oh yes I know what exactly the problem is...*pause* STOP CALL MICROSOFT THEY WILL FIX IT FOR YOU. Call 1-866-727-2338 these technical agents will be happy to assist you. End of call

Waste of $90 to be refered to Microsoft PCSafety which does not support third party products...install or uninstall. Again I had to break out my xp cd, back my data...and do a clean install.

Way to go Symantec for outsourcing.

User Rating: 1/10

sorryexcuse for protectionby hwcoll95 - April 19, 2006

Pros: very few,first on installation OK for 2 months

Cons: rebate what a joke

Review: let a hijacker corrupt the norton program resulting in complete crash,no help unless you want to pay alot of money(more than the software costs),let several trojans operate behind it,finally unistalled and thrown in trash

User Rating: 8/10

Not as bad as most people make it out to be.by - April 11, 2006

Pros: Solid product, reliable, and one of the best at prevention.

Cons: Slow, bloated compared to other products.

Review: The good:
One of the best antivirus products you can get for keeping your computer clean. More detailed information regarding issue compared to other products. Excellent for newer users but still good for pros.

The bad:
They added a security center which in my opinion is not needed, caters too much to the novice user and just slows the computer down more. Also they have had 1 (count it ONE patch not several like others said below) that caused a problem forcing people to reinstall their product. Due to all the things it does, it does take up more resources causing your computer to be slower. Scheduled updates and scans ignore your requested times so if you play online games in the evening, it will slow you down a bit.

Other:
If you use this or any other antivirus product for spyware protection, you are just shooting yourself in the foot. NONE of the antivirus products do an adequate job of protecting vs spyware. If you want to protect against both, get two different products. One for viruses, and another for spyware.

I've used most of the AV solutions out there, and Symantec despite its heaviness is still one of the best. It blows away Panda, McAfee (which does aggressive marketing of its other products, forces you to login to their website to get updates, and does a slightly worse job of cleaning viruses), and PCCillin (one of the worst at cleaning).

So if you want something you can rely on, caters to a wide range of people, and has frequent and well informed updates, get this product. If you are an IT pro and can decipher and setup everything on your own, F-Protect might be a tad better.

User Rating: 1/10

NAV 2006 corrupted my OS files and now it won't reboot into Windows.by cyberpop1 - April 9, 2006

Pros: none that I can see.

Cons: Uses NAV 2005 for older systems; their support is negligible and unknowledgable.

Review: I'll switch back to McAfee -- a better AV product.

User Rating: 8/10

Tech Savvy Necessaryby that_boy_gen - April 5, 2006

Pros: Clean, Dependable

Cons: Delay Starting Up

Review: Norton Internet Security (and Anti-Virus) 2006 is a wonderful product...as long as you know a little about computers and tweaking. I must agree that when I first loaded it up, it was a little too much and put an unnecessary burden on my computer. Well...not my computer, but the final computer that I installed it on. My computer has a great amount of RAM and general memory (via PAGEFILE), but the final computer that I installed it on didn't have as great capabilities as my own.

What I have found helpful, for the folks who utterly despise the "Protection Center" as I do, is to go into your services (Run Command: services.msc) and DISABLE the Norton Protection Center service that is there. The Norton Protection Center is utterly useless, and informs you of nothing that you don't already know. In addition, having "LiveUpdate" on automatically just about cancels anything worthwhile from the Protection Center. Many times, I founf that it displayed information that I was already aware of and preferred not to be reminded of (like the fact that my Windows Update Application was disabled)...

I just about hate Windows' updates for they seem to cripple my computer system with each one that I download, so I don't use it.

Norton's Firewall is more than adequate in terms of protection, and the system test that they have available online is magnificent. I believe that with a little more patience, many will find solace in NIS2006 and roll with it. Now as for Norton System Works 2006...I say pass. The only "good" thing in that whole suite is the "System Optimizer" that allows you to control some pretty cool funtions of Windows...(like not allowing anyone to move your toolbars around and being able to set the amount of duplicate windows until the taskbar groups them all together...that is awesome!)

IN conclusion, I recommend NIS 2006 (w/ NAV 2006) because it is a rather simple program, as long as you are a little savvy with computer technology...

Zades

User Rating: 1/10

Slower and More Inept with ageby SFCrameret - March 25, 2006

Pros: Nice colors

Cons: Slow, bloated and worthless

Review: They should add some more bells & whistles that don't do anything so it could make your computer go slower. I never ran into a more resource hungry program. I have seen this thing report too many times that it found a virus and couldn't do anything about it. Symantec should get out of the business and save people's money.

User Rating: 1/10

I wish I could rate this lower....by traper - March 22, 2006

Pros: If you have a weekend and a computer to kill, go for it!

Cons: Never got it installed.

Review: I really wish I would have read these reviews first. But..I was a long time user of Norton products, they are not great but better than most. Used the 90 day 2005 anti-virus when I bought my new screaming system (top of the line Gateway). When my 90 days were up rather than re-up my definitions I decided to upgrade to 2006, what a mistake! The install of 2006 brought my system a me to our knees. After two days of broken english-speaking tech support I had enough.

2006 will not run on any user accounts in XP Pro, nor did it run well for me in my admin account. After several (10-12) uninstalls and re-installs I called for a refund. I then went to re-install 2005 and buy the updated definitions for another year. Problem solved right? NOPE!

2006 has screwed up my registry so now I can not reinstall 2005. After another day of really poor tech support I decided to go to my computer supplier. After a few more registry sweeps and finially a system restore I was able to reinstall 2005, problem solved, right? NOPE! Now 2005 will not run in my user
accounts.

What it now comes down to is reinstalling my OS to it's original state and backup everything that I have done for the last three months. The other option is to uninstall the 2005 anti virus and use another software. Which now sounds like the way I will go after another refund request.

Long story short...save yourself this grief and look else ware for a software that will protect your system.

User Rating: 1/10

Don't wait your money to buy this productby w_mok - March 18, 2006

Pros: A long-term player in this area

Cons: Not easy to un-install

Review: I'm a Mcafee user and a first time to use NAV 2006. It makes me so mad when I need to invest not only money but a lot of hours to install and un-install this lousy software. Don't spend your money on this product. The Production support is useless. They can help you to slove the issue. You can find the same answer from the web site if you have a lot of time. I will go back to Mcafee.
NO more Norton....bad and lousy product

User Rating: 1/10

Complete Disaster - Will never buy Symantec againby chopper260 - March 11, 2006

Pros: They did refund my money

Cons: Just a complete disaster

Review: I have used Symantec/Norton Antivirus for years and have spent probably a a couple of thousand in my lifetime on upgrades and the like and have recommended the software to friends and family etc. NEVER AGAIN. I have had it with Symantec.

What put me over the top was deciding one Friday afternoon that I would be good computer owner and upgrade my older version to the "NEW, ROBUST, ALL ENCOMPASSING 2006". Well, I paid, downloaded the software on my computer and installed the program. Of course when I rebooted and it was up and running, nothing was running on my computer. Maybe the software was so good that since I could not do anything on my computer that it was impossible for a virus or worm to ever make its way into my computer! Well, after several hours on the online chat customer service, that should have taken all but 30 minutes we eventually manually removed the software in safe mode. What is even more amazing is that Norton AntiVirus wont let you remove the software in safe mode.

All in all it took about 5-6 to get my computer back to where it was and nothing was accomplished. What a waste.

Hey at least the refunded my money
I will never ever buy a Symantec product and will DEFINITELY not recommend them to anyone, EVER.

By the way, I do not work in the tech industry, have no affilliation with any software firm, let alone a security/anti-virus. I am just a semi techno savy guy who runs a landscape design and construction business.

User Rating: 2/10

XP Professional users - don't waste your timeby squeakyman - February 27, 2006

Pros: Nice interface

Cons: Will not install properly with XP Pro SP2

Review: Well folks, I've been using Norton products since the mid 1980's (when Peter Norton still had dark hair)! In short, don't buy the product or attempt to install it if you are running XP Pro (service pack 2) with multiple users that do NOT have administrator priveleges. I'm an advanced user (and former programmer), and this program will not install properly. When a user logs into Windows, NAV will give you error messages. Symantec did not design this product to work with users without administrative rights (and I'm not talking about the person installing the product which must have admin rights). If you have your home PC under this kind of setup, please don't waste your time or your money.

I strongly recommend BitDefender 9 (review also available here on cnet). After many years of using Norton (Symantec) products, I can't recommend NAV 2006. Did I mention it took me several hours to completely remove the product from my system (including the registry)?

It's time to move on to a better product.

User Rating: 3/10

Bloated, confusing, unstable.by axslinger - February 24, 2006

Pros: Can't think of any

Cons: Too many to list

Review: Symantec has a way of screwing up every product they touch and this is no exception. With litterally hundreds of registry entries, a multitude of updates and reboots upon installation and a nightmare to remove, I can't recommend anything about Norton.

User Rating: 2/10

This prodcut is not worth your trouble, time and effort, or moneyby job414 - February 23, 2006

Pros: I have never had problems with previous versions of this product

Cons: It didn't install, left me unprotected from spyware and adware until I could get a new anti-virus, the customer service call was long distance, and I have yet to receive a refund.

Review: I ordered this program to download onto my computer from the symnatec.com website. It didn't download, so I followed their instructions to troubleshoot, which didn't work either. I then called customer service (which was a long distance call) and was put on hold. After 45 minutes, I hung up and just completely erased everything and filled out the form for a refund, which I should have received by now, but they keep sending me e mails saying I need to fill out the form (which I did). I checked with the BBB, out of 119 complaints, 42 were due to refunds/exchange issues, by far the majority of the complaints. The next leading complaint was customer service with 24.

User Rating: 5/10

Resource Hogby subs1 - February 22, 2006

Pros: Easy to use, attractive design, IM scanner

Cons: Slows down your system

Review: Although protection was fine on a set-it-and-leave-it basis, uninstalling this was the best thing I've done all week. My notebook runs fast enough for me to work again!

User Rating: 1/10

ROOTKIT, beware!by fiqqer - February 17, 2006

Pros: An improvement over Nortons 2005

Cons: Nortons 2005 was a very poor product, this is only slightly better

Review: I can't believe that they persisit in making Nortons hog more and more of your computer. It is so big it has virtually taken over. It has taken over your OS by installing intself as a rootkit. It has taken over your processor but using up so much processing power.

By installing itself as a rootkit it is so difficult to uninstall that most people will be forced to pay the subscription fee just to be able to continue using their computer. Highway robbery? as close as you can get to it.

User Rating: 4/10

will loose market share if not improvedby ashishtx - February 16, 2006

Pros: Legendry and very popular.

Cons: Resource hog, Every thing you don't like about antivirus software

Review: It is not a bad antivirus to use but some of its rivals are getting better and better.Added antispyware and attractive package.clutters your hard drive and registry.install it if you are not going to try any other antivirus software.

User Rating: 6/10

solid dependable product - meets my req's.by darryl&jeanr - February 13, 2006

Pros: Not Available

Cons: Not Available

Review:

User Rating: 1/10

Causes More Problems Than It Solvesby apinksquash - February 13, 2006

Pros: Not Available

Cons: Not Available

Review: Norton is a horrible overbloated piece of junk software that nobody should buy, much less pay a yearly subscription to have.

Why do people want virus and spyware protection? ... Well, besides the obvious reasons like not losing your data and protecting your identity, a large part of the reason that viruses and spyware are bad is that they pose annoying problems and can slow your computer significantly.
Well, here's some news for you... Norton will slow your computer by as much as 400% (that would be my estimate from experience, Windows load times can be even higher) and can annoy the heck out of you with their persistant pop-up box questions asking you if you want to renew your subscription or about how your office application might be a security risk.

People I've known who used to use Norton and uninstalled it have had SIGNIFICANTLY less problems with their computers since they got rid of it and also their computers' performance has also increased SIGNIFICANTLY.

User Rating: 8/10

Symantec bashers are wrongby teo665 - February 13, 2006

Pros: Can be integrated with other symantec software

Cons: Support comes from India.

Review: The software has not given me any of the problems others are complaining of in this forum. No BSODs, no corruptions, no lagging in OS, etc. The definitions and individual pieces update like a charm for me. Use this software with common sense like you should with all software. Do not think you can not make backups of your registry, and do not think you can keep installing the newest version without uninstalling the old one first. If you are finding that your system is lagging, perhaps you should upgrade, or accept that you need an antivirus application with less features.

User Rating: 9/10

You guys really need to upgrade!by jreed3786 - February 5, 2006

Pros: Faster scanning than before, removal is great as usual.

Cons: Bit of a resource hog, but not as much as before.

Review: I just don't see what you all are complaining about. I too, have an AMD 64 processor, 1 gig of GOOD memory, and have not experienced ANY of the problems that you guys have. One thing is for sure, about Norton...you better have a good system, otherwise you'll cry, "Boo hoo...it's slowing down my system!!" But it's the 00's kids, time to ditch your P4's and get on with the dual core race. Yeah, I will admit, I had a prob w/ the activation, but that's a thing of the past, after reinstalling right away...ever since, I've found it to be a much nicer version of Norton AV than crappy '04 and resource hog '05. It's much faster than 2005 and the sypware is actually decent, though it allows it to install before removing. So, before you guys start in on Norton sucking, I'd try to FIX the problem, then see what you think. To be honest, I'm a software tester, and I've gone from AVG to Avast! to BitDefender 9 to ZoneAlarm, and I keep coming back to Norton. Am I crazy, you may ask...NO! I just know that when I DO get a virus, it's easily removed, and the interface is nice. Way to go, Symantec...keep up the good work. But your tech support could use a bit of work.

User Rating: 8/10

Way under ratedby robertaccettura - January 29, 2006

Pros: Good protection, reliable

Cons: MemoryHog, a bit slow

Review: Lots of people seem willing to give up security for a little extra performance. I'd rather have a more secure computer. I've used norton for years with 0 viruses getting through (hundreds, likely thousands detected and blocked mainly in email).

IMHO it's not worth giving up some protection for 2% performance.

User Rating: 1/10

I?d rather deal with a Virus than to deal with this Program!!!!by smac58 - January 29, 2006

Pros: Nothing that I experienced

Cons: Unable to install and if you want it installed they'll charge anywhere form $40.00 to $70.00 and up!!

Review: I just recently purchased Norton Antivirus 2006 thinking this may save me some problems. Well now I wished I would have read the reviews prior to making such a stupid decision. After installing the program I tried to activate it but it would keep locking up after the Welcome screen. After several hours of troubleshooting the problem and un-installing and re-installing the program I called their 1-800 Tech Support line. One of the technicians tried several things and none of which solved the problem so he gave me another number to call. I talked to another technician and she said that they would have to scan my drive for viruses, if there were any viruses on my drive they would have to delete them otherwise Norton Antivirus would not activate. At that point she said that it would cost $39.95 to do this. Now I starting to get upset, I?ve got almost $70.00 wrapped up in this program and can?t past the welcome screen reluctantly I said yes. The scan on my drive took approximately 9.5 Hours. (That is based on how big your drives are and how much you have on them.) After the scan was complete it detected some spyware and I had a Trojan Virus on it. I called the Tech Support to relay the findings and the technician said he would need to remove the spyware but now that would cost me an additional $29.95 to do this. Now I?m looking at paying $100.00 and still not get past the welcome screen. I at that point I told him he could have this piece of CRAP. I told them to refund the previous charge for the scan and I un-installed the piece of crap from my computer. Anyone reading this take heed BUYER BEWARE!!!!!

User Rating: 1/10

Live update won't update, no supportby carlos.nice - January 27, 2006

Pros: 60 day return policy yet to be tested.

Cons: Won't install, no support!

Review: Stay away from this product. Can't get the live update to update. No support via web or otherwise available. My only option is to test their 60day return money back guarantee. Let me see if they honor it. They charge for support calls to fix their problems. Maybe they should outsource the CEO position to china so they can increase profits even more!

User Rating: 4/10

Got to agree...I'm done with symntec productsby tinkergeek - January 27, 2006

Pros: better than nothing

Cons: embeds symantec/norton more deeply while hiding itsel

Review: i, too, have used many symantec products over 6-7 years. it was impossible to completely delete there hidden files (i will be nice and not call them rootkits.) Now they come out with the norton protection center. bloats the antivirus program even more. i have the norton firewall 2006 and asked if there was anyway to install the program without the personal protection center. i've waited over 2 weeks-no reply. they choose to ignore me,-i promise i will ignore their products and any of their affiliates. i feel i am being very generous with my rating here. symantec, phooey on you.

User Rating: 4/10

Shoddy Marketing Practicesby leeknight - January 22, 2006

Pros: Easy updating of virus definitions

Cons: HORRIBLE renewal process; wouldn't let me report a virus that slipped through

Review: I have been a happy customer of Norton Antivirus for at least 15 years. I am today switching to another brand because of Symantec's aggressive and sleazy renewal/marketing process. Specifically:

(1) Even though my subscription is good for another month, LiveUpdate makes it seem as though I must renew now. When I tried to skip the renewal, the update just fails to execute without any alert. If I hadn't noticed that there was no update, my system would be at risk for viruses. THANKS FOR THE "PROTECTION"!

(2) When I exasperatedly figured out that I'm FORCED to go to the renewal page to SKIP THE RENEWAL and get my update, I see that I'm basically bullied into upgrading, because the 2004 version is "no longer supported." NICE "PRODUCT SUPPORT"! This means I have to install a new program, which always puts my system at risk for problems or crashes. I'm not an idiot, guys, I know we're just talking about new virus definitions here, and there is no need to "upgrade" any software.

(3) When in even greater exasperation I went on to download the $39.99 upgrade, I see that the shopping cart adds in BY DEFAULT $6.99 for something called "Extended Download Service." Doesn't sound like much but if you work it out it's a 17.5% PRICE INCREASE. And isn't it interesting that it's not flagged to stand out in anyway, so that if you just glanced at it you might assume it's some sort of tax. If you take the time to find out what it is, you realize it's something NOBODY NEEDS (at least nobody who has a CD burner or doesn't back up their software). Very clever. At least Best Buy ASKS you if you want their extended service scam, rather than just adding it in at the cash register.

So, Symantec, good luck with your USED CAR SALESMAN STYLE PRACTICES. You'll probably make more money in the short run, but you're going to lose loyal customers like me who have until now given you good word of mouth. Oh, I almost forgot: I'm a software consultant and recommend software for companies with 10,000 plus desktops ... guess who's on my sh*t list now?

User Rating: 1/10

Run Away!!!! Symantec is EVIL!!!by Cooperman_66 - January 18, 2006

Pros: I finally woke up

Cons: Like others, I had to reformat

Review: Like many I've suck with Symantec through the years. NAV2005 had it's share of problems but I found workarounds for these (I thought). But I wish I'd questioned my decision to purchase NAV2006 and looked here and elsewhere first. Yes, it destroyed binary data in the hive after installing it so I'm in the process of restoring that machine. Part of the problem is that 2005 created legacy reg keys that CAN NOT sipmly be deleted or modified. They wanted me to reinstall '05 and use their uninstaller but since the system is fried, why? If you've never used prior versions I suspect you may be able to use this software but considering it misses 1 out 4 viruses I'd advise looking elsewhere. You may be interested to know that Symantec also confessed to installing rootkits on unknowing users PCs. This company hasn't a clue about security and has lost my trust, respect, and support. I'm currently in the process of seeking a refund and researching the many alternatives to this horrible code.
You've been warned...now warn others and stop the spread of this disease!!

User Rating: 3/10

Corrupted my system when I was slow to update my license.by shinga - January 18, 2006

Pros: Not bad virus protection

Cons: Corrupted my system and did not block all spyware

Review: Norton Internet Security/Antivirus corrupted my system when I was slow to update my license. I was unable to access secure websites and had a several day ordeal of diagnosing the problem and then fixing it. I was not unpleased with the product before then (except it did not cat all spyware), but will never buy again.

User Rating: 1/10

Do I hear the fat lady singing?by Captain Stupid - January 17, 2006

Pros: Impossible, there aren't any

Cons: worst code ever written

Review: Abysmal is putting it mildly. My official review is -10. My folks bought this before I knew about it and had it ready to install. Guess what? It won't install. I cleaned their registry twice and it still won't install. I'll either try again tomorrow since I know their support won't do anything or try to get a refund somewhow. I learned my lesson when NAV05 became bloatware that required me to upgrade to 2GB RAM and support never told me what SPBBCSvc.exe was for even though I disabled it on my PC along with NPFMntor.exe and SNDSrvc.exe. They offer NO support, NO documentation, NO control (unless tweaked) and have become more of a bloated nightmare. I'm not waiting for my subscribtion to be up. I'm listening to the informed and isntalling Trend Micro PC-cillin on both asap and I'll continue to warn friends and others on newsgroups about this dangerous expensive malware.

User Rating: 1/10

Won't Activate - Unusableby corgistuff - January 16, 2006

Pros: Since it won't activate I can't use it, so there are no Pros

Cons: Wouldn't Activate

Review: I spent 4 hours with 4 different Symantec Techs trying to get this software to "Activate." As of this writing it still is not working.

User Rating: 2/10

Huge Disappointment - the update downloader does not workby al_soindy - January 9, 2006

Pros: I was unable to find any redeeming qualities in this version.

Cons: Norton 2006 will install but not update. No protection.

Review: The fix offered by Symantec for the update downloader does not work. After all these months this problem remains in the program. Chamging the program to download program updates as well as virus definitions has resulted in this new download program that simply does not work in Norton 2006. After years of using Norton I am forced to switch to a program that will keep me protected with current virus definitions.

User Rating: 3/10

Thumbs downby richards1052 - January 8, 2006

Pros: give me a few days & I'll think of a few

Cons: Too intrusive, quarantines perfectly good files/software

Review: My main problem with this software is that it's too intrusive. It makes decisions about which files/software to quarantine & they're often bad ones.

For example, if you use keylogging software on yr computer, Norton will automatically consider this spyware even if you legitimately want the software there. After you restore the software to your pc it's liable not to work correctly & you'll have to reinstall it.

That's what happened to me. And NOrton never even bothered to respond to my complaint about this behavior. That's customer service with a capital C & S!

For an expanded version of this review see my blog post: http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2006/01/02/pitfalls-of-norton-anti-virus-2006/

User Rating: 1/10

PATHETIC!!!by drewman9000 - January 7, 2006

Pros: NOTHING! I'd rather go without security

Cons: EVERYTHING! WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!

Review: turns your machine into a slow, problem filled headache! this software is horrible! the only reason people use it is their lack of information about more efficient, better software available. If you want good security and a resource efficient software...go with AVG plus firewall! half the price and a two year licence. I didn't think semantec could've done worse than 2005, but they win again in my book for junk software! Congrats Norton..You SUCK!

User Rating: 2/10

Symantec has finally lost me as a customerby JohnnyW - January 5, 2006

Pros: None that other products can't offer

Cons: Plenty - see below.

Review: I've been a loyal customer of Norton Antivirus and Norton Utilities for years, but not any more. Later versions of these products and the Symantec firewall neither install or uninstall cleanly, demand more and more system resources, and after extensive research, can't match the performance or effectiveness of other products.

I now use Sophos Antivirus 5.1 (expensive but fast and low on resources), PC Tools Registry Mechanic and PC Tools Spyware Doctor to keep my PC free from viruses, spyware and problems.

User Rating: 1/10

Why does Norton keep it's industry standing.by nlandas - January 4, 2006

Pros: None - This software is utter garbage.

Cons: Slows systems significantly, misses common viruses that free scanners find.

Review: This software is the worst I have ever seen. Symantec has no support even if you pay for it. This software slows every computer that I have seen it installed on with every suppported OS version.

Symantec's support paid or otherwise is a joke. With quality AV software from vendors like Grisoft(AVG), FreeAv.com, Panda and Kaspersky. I can't believe that Norton continues to have such brand recognition and strong industry suppoer from OEM vendors.

Do not buy this product, you'll regret it.

Go get a free antivirus program first. AVG or FREEAV and if you like them pay for the commercial ones.

User Rating: 1/10

Every product change gets more disappointingby Thomas_White - December 31, 2005

Pros: It's Symantec. (In other words: none.)

Cons: Heavy footprint, poor service, lack of control.

Review: I'm also a long-time Norton Utilities user since DOS. I was also big time Norton Desktop fan, which made Windows 3.1 tolerable. I too, like so many others here, am throwing in the towel on the entire brand.

Their outgoing-email scanner has always lacked support for gracefully recovering from connection errors, resulting in messages not being sent *without* notice to the user and without capability to resend.

In addition to so many of the other criticisms offered here that seem right-on to me, I am also extremely irritated that you cannot remove the new "protection center" icon (which is nothing more than an advertising billboard) from the system tray, nor can you simply turn it off altogether (which would be my preference).

If not Norton, what is the alternative, you may ask? Excellent question. At this point, I'd recommend anything. Trend Micro and Macafee have at least shown they can improve products. Norton on the other hand, has proven only that they can continually make products worse -- and at the same time *dare* to charge increasing amounts for them. I say enough is enough.

Knowing full well that in an IT context change itself is antithetical to stability and security, it's getting to the point with Symantec where I feel they are on the verge of extortion, and I'm jumping ship now. In all enterprise settings I'm recommending Trend Micro. For home and office I'm recommending "anything other than Norton."

User Rating: 10/10

I also don't see what the fuss is about Norton 05 or 06...by ofcmattio133 - December 31, 2005

Pros: Norton is a great Anti-Virus utility and is very affective when it comes to removing viruses. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this program!

Cons: As before, there are no cons about this product at all that I can think of...works just great

Review: I've been a Norton fan for the past 7 years and still am. Like the other review had said, its probably not Norton causing a problem with people's computers. I've been running this product for the past 7 years from new version to new version and it has never gave my computers a problem. Not only with Norton products, but with other software coming out, you should have a stable running computer with enough system memory that will handle it. Otherwise you will start to experience problems and you will end up thinking its a program you installed when it might not even be that. Norton encoureges people to at least try their product for 15 days and see if you like it. If you go to their website, they call it Trialware and could be found by searching through the Home & Home Office section of their website. You also can find it by searching CNET. CNET will also redirct you to download.com and allow you to download the trail version. Please give this review some great thought before you make any final decisions. And again, I highly recommend this product.

User Rating: 2/10

hard to install & uninstall -- less usable than previous versionsby afmareck - December 23, 2005

Pros: Easily available from local stores

Cons: Cumbersome and confusing compared to previous versions

Review: I've used Norton AntiVirus for a very long time--but this latest version is confusing to install, had a bug that interfered with Windows opening, had obscure, insider-type instructions, and the Protection center is not as easy to navigate as previous versions. I wonder if Norton, with this product, is focusing more on marketing than on usability. Kind of wish I had not purchased it again this year. I will probably investigate other options when this subscription runs out. Too bad, this, in the past, has been an easy reliable product.

User Rating: 2/10

At least it didn't crash my computerby NoReallyMerlin - December 20, 2005

Pros: You will experience very long install times.

Cons: Previous owners of Norton will have ugly problems

Review: I never left a bad review but I am doing this so other people don't have to go through my problems.

If you are installing this on a virgin computer system you will have no problems.

Previous owners of Norton will have a really ugly time uninstalling the old software and reinstalling the new one. You MUST tell the program not to register and skip directly to the upate process, otherwise your computer will lock up everytime. Once you do that you have a 50/50 chance that the registration key will correctly install.(this is data gather form personal experience on 2 different type of machines) If you buy the bundle package of System works, Antivirus and Antispam every year the previous years on your computer the computer will not update your Antispam to the correct date. Some serious manual intervention will be required. This intervention will require you to be an expert MS Windows user otherwise you will get lost in the instructions. Sorry to leave this note but I didn't want other people to bang their heads too hard on the keyboards. I wish everyone the best with this software.

User Rating: 2/10

Better enjoy fighting with all the 'feechurs'by porthome - December 16, 2005

Pros: Looks great on paper

Cons: the next step backwards from NAV 2004

Review: I have been a loyal Norton user for many years, but when it came time to renew my subscription this year, I went for an upgrade to NAV 2006. What a mistake! Many of my applications started to fail, and the support people just suggested I upgrade them too. The firewall and anti-spam features that come built in fought with my online applications so I had to disable them. And if you do, you are pestered with warnings that you must 'fix' security problems. And I suspect they are not completely disabled, either.
So I negotiated a deal to reinstall NAV 2004 and transfer my subscription, accompanied by many warnings that there will be **no support for you**. Now I am happy again, but won't be renewing next year, for sure.

User Rating: 3/10

Had enough, moving onby airfart - December 10, 2005

Pros: Extensive well developed virus checker

Cons: complicted interface, Misses some viruses

Review: I don't want to make it seem like this is a Norton bashing session as I have used their product sucessfully for many years BUT 2005 gave me such headaches. As noted above at some point the update failed somehow. This meant that it needed to be uninstalled and reinstalled to get it to work again. Support is as noted non existant. I'm moving to AVG. Free, is updated regularly and found stuff Norton didn't. 'Nuff said.

User Rating: 1/10

unusable: can't be installed and registeredby GCBon - December 9, 2005

Pros: undeterminable: can't be installed and registered

Cons: cannot register, cannot use even once

Review: After removing all other virus scanners, as required, I attempted to install the new product. It got to the point of registration, then failed. It could not be registered, and could not even be used as a trial product, insisting the trial period was up before the installation could be completed.
Symantec provided an excruciatingly long procedure to clean the system before installation. None of their suggestions had any effect.
After years of swearing by Norton, I gave up.

User Rating: 2/10

Tech Support Needs Training, Product Activation Needs Fixingby ITguy4fun - November 30, 2005

Pros: If you can keep it activated, it works well.

Cons: Outsourced tech support dept takes forever to contact and lacks knowlege.

Review: I've been a NAV fan for years. It worked flawlessly behind the scenes keeping my gear safe from the lastest outbreaks. Then NAV 2005 became a buggy product to keep up and running. It would lose it's activation frequently and after many instances of reactivating, required an arduous time consuming call to tech support (apparently in Pakistan) to reset the activation code. NAV 2006 was the straw that broke my back. It would lose my subscription information, claiming it was expired with a year left, then refuse to activate. After spending more than 4 hours on the phone (mostly on hold) with their outsourced tech support division and getting bounced around to sales and back to tech support, I surrendered. The only good thing I can say is they acknowleged their inability to solve the problem and refunded my money. I'll give Trend Micro a shot.

User Rating: 9/10

Whine, Whine, Whineby ry5000 - November 30, 2005

Pros: Easy to Install, Run, Use

Cons: None right Now

Review: I don't know why everyone is complaining about this product so much. I switched to Norton after Mcafee drove me insane with their crappy product. I having been using Norton for 4 years with NO problem, it blocks and deletes all viruses that have ever come into my computer; it was so easy to install and run. I just set it to scan my computer weekly and let it go. I haven't opened the configuration panel in months. It updates and scans automatically. So quit your whining and let Norton Antivirus do the work for you

User Rating: 7/10

I cannot understand what the fuss is about Norton AntiVirus 2006 or Norton internet security 2005.by jersey7518 - November 17, 2005

Pros: install easy, full protection

Cons: None ,this program works fine

Review: I'am running windows xp media center with a athon 64 processor on 1Gig memory with both Norton Internet protection 2005 and Norton Anti Virus 2006 at the same time with absolutely no problems.My advice is to get a system that can handel ether program. oh by the way, I also have Sygate firewall running with no problems.

User Rating: 1/10

No way. Too many crashes of Windowsby lourwill - November 16, 2005

Pros: Deals with viruses on a limited base

Cons: Slow with new virus updates and conflicts with other software

Review: I gave up on Norton after a few years because in began to cause crashes. I switched to Panda, and the service is better, the updates are quicker and more frequent.

User Rating: 3/10

They think that are godby epantner - November 15, 2005

Pros: There is none

Cons: Slow, problems installing, technical support sucks

Review: There are better antivirus like the one from Computer Associates or NOD32

User Rating: 3/10

Blue Screens After Installationby pmchefalo - November 15, 2005

Pros: Takes Decision Making Away from Non-Pros

Cons: Difficult to Install, Miserable Off-shore Support

Review: A customer of mine bought SystemWorks (SW) 2006 (including SAV 2006) and tried to install it over the 2005 Norton Internet Security (NIS) that I installed for him last year.

To make a long story short, SW 2006 DIDN'T remove NIS 2005 before it installed itself. When NIS compalined about being expired, it BLUE-SCREENED XP. Then it BLUE-SCREENED an Automatic Windows Update.

I was called in, tried an uninstall of NIS, BLUE-SCREEN. Used the GoBack feature of SW (how does it differ from standard System Restore?), and was finally able to uninstall NIS by disabling it manually (bypassing all the SW warnings,) then uninstalling NIS. Success.

I have tried Symantec support -- truly pathetic excuse for off-shore talent. I have used on-shore Gold Corporate support, and was offended by the ******** about Microsoft's installer being the problem with Symantec products.

As a customer advocate and consumer, I am also concerned that the failure to support pre-2000 operating systems with the latest versions of Symantec products will cheat many folks who purchase the new versions. I also think that the multiple SKUs that Symantec uses are just an attempt to extort upgrades after you realize that the store-bought product doesn't have the feature you thought it did.

The benefit of the Symantec software: it shields unsophisticated users from decisions that they would have to make with simpler freeware products.

User Rating: 1/10

Last Strawby johnmsch - November 14, 2005

Pros: Absolutely nothing

Cons: Absoulutely everything

Review: Been a loyal Norton user for a long time. I knew that once Symantec bought them out, it was only a matter of time before they runined a good product and reputation. Had an issue during upgrade and called support. The guy on the other end of the line (in India, evidently) could not speak even marginal English. After spending about a half an hour saying "I don't understand you", I asked for a supervisor. He hung up on me. I tried calling again, but got the same situation - horrible and totally unintelligible English.

I'm now a very satisfied PC-Cillin user and will never by another Symantec product. I was so ticked off with them that I also bought Acronis True Image and have abandoned Ghost.

User Rating: 5/10

Resource Hogby steveola - November 14, 2005

Pros: It does let you know what it is up to and you can see it at work which I liked.

Cons: Resource hog, slowed system down *noticeably.* Uninstall was a nightmare.

Review: I used NAV for 5 years. I never got a virus, but then I avoid "risky behaviour" to borrow a phrase. NAV has a nice front end, you can see it doing it's job which I never could with McAfee, and it updated and let you know about it. The amount of system resources it sucked up got to be too much even for my 18 month old system so I went to Zone Alarm. So far ZA is the best of Norton's "I'm showing you what I'm doing" without the system slowing down.

User Rating: 3/10

Its Over The Topby bigjohnuk - November 14, 2005

Pros: Stops Virus

Cons: Too Much Software

Review: Norton have been very good at helping us get unstuck with things. But with their norton virus software they seam to waht to casue us many more problems.

First too much software. It seams to drain the system when you boot up. Taking too long to do things.

If you had enough and want to unistall, then Norton seams to not want to let go and may be ensure that they mess things up for you after they have gone off your computer.

I personel find Trend micro pc-cillin the simple to us. Less when boot, eays to update and easy to unistall.

User Rating: 4/10

not worth the buyby thesplintercell - November 10, 2005

Pros: antivirus protection

Cons: seemingly slow, not enough support for todays threats

Review: this is my conclusion after reading other users posts. i don't know nav 06 so i can't really say of the user experience, but i can say i did own nav 05. i trashed it today because i was reading about what symantec was doing in light of the sony DRM scandal: symantec was doing NOTHING. while other av companies were busy looking for trojans that eventually surfaced today...symantec had thier heads up thier ***** saying things like 'this is not a virus, nor is it malacious....' meanwhile bitdefender, pc-cillin and panda have already posted information about trojans they found, and have issued updates for download to thier customers.

i think it suits symantec to leave thier customers hig and dry....

User Rating: 5/10

Not Worth The Upgrade From NAV 2005by Cobra_R - November 4, 2005

Pros: Still a big player in the AntiVirus market

Cons: Very few Improvments over NAV 2005

Review: If you haven't used NAV since NAV 2002 then this will be a big upgrade for you, but other then that NAV 2005 only adds very little improvements over NAV 2005 or even NAV 2004 for that matter.

If you are looking for any major imporvements in NAV 2006 over NAV 2005, then you miles well wait until what NAV 2007 has to offer. NAV 2006 is pretty much nothing more then a NAV 2005 Service Pack 2.

I look for NAV to step it up in 2007 considering they will have to compete against Windows Vista possible built in AntiVirus.

User Rating: 1/10

Locked Up Foreverby ChampagneMD - October 29, 2005

Pros: The painless refund process.

Cons: Everything.

Review: Like many here I've been a fan of Norton for years. I run one form or another of various Symantec/Norton security suites. I've had a few problems before but was familiar with the software and kept with it even though the past glitches have caused major problems.

I signed up to be able to input here today. NIS 2006 is a mistake on every level you could possibly fathom! Do not upgrade! It took a perfectly functioning system and rendered it helpless within 15 minutes. The software is useless as is the joke of the support they provided.

User Rating: 2/10

2006 version is not up to Norton's standardsby sarace - October 27, 2005

Pros: At this point, there are no positives

Cons: You will spend hours trying to correct what it does to performance of your computer

Review: Norton has always been my choice of antivirus system. I upgraded to 2006 version and I am experiencing nothing but problems with my computer. It has slowed down the performance, frozen the programs and caused it to crash. I have spent hours reinstalling it and each time it adds more problems. I want to return to an earlier version of Norton where it did not completely ruin the performance of the computer. It is impossible to contact Norton for support. Surely this product will be retooled before it is distributed for mass sale.

User Rating: 5/10

Good but a memory hogby TampaDSM - October 26, 2005

Pros: Works very well

Cons: Slows down your computing

Review: If you trust buy it if not don't get it because it's a big memory hog.

User Rating: 5/10

so far so-soby hpbear - October 25, 2005

Pros: when working, works well

Cons: start-up is iffy, not as easy to install as 2005

Review: Overall so far I'm seeing not much problems between 2005 and 2006. But a few things stuck out at me that could be troblesome if you don't know what to look for.

On the installation itself, it's not as easy to install 2006 as it was for 2005, where 2005 did all the ripping out of the old stuff that was needed to be brought out. 2006 requires you to rip it all out manually. I could do it, but not-so-experienced people might have problems.

As for startup after it's all working, there's a start-up process called ccapp that has a purpose to see if everything is working ok. All well and good. But if you try to do anything before it says ready, then it crashes and causes you to not be able to bring in e-mail (using t-bird) until you reboot the machine. But waiting for this startup process adds as much as an additional minute to the time you wait in between start-up and usage time.

that being said, the scans themselves worked well as promised, and as an average user, it seems ok. how i see this software in the longer term is yet to be seen. but what i saw so far says it's ok.

User Rating: 1/10

AV under NIS 2006 crashed /NIS 2006 bad on W2Kby holly45 - October 19, 2005

Pros: Who knows?

Cons: Bad quaility assurance...Not well tested.

Review: AntiVirus software crashed under Norton Internet Security 2006 on W2K. NIS 2006 also didn't work properly and screwed up on Outlook without anti-spam feature. Don't know if it works with...didn't try... Apparently Norton doesn't believe in QA any more. Couldn't stop computer without using Task Mgr to halt NIS 2006 first. Don't buy...

User Rating: 1/10

For God's sake, don't do it!by Oldsmobile_Mike - October 16, 2005

Pros: Scanning my system right now, let's see if it finds anything...

Cons: Installing this software messed up my installs of Microsoft Anti-Spyware, Spybot, Desktop Weather (The Weather Channel), more...

Review: I am a sucker. I'll admit to that now, after fighting with the install of AV 2006 on my PC for the past 4 hours. I read all the negative reviews, but thought the pros would make this software worth it... ha. I am even a long-time user of Norton, and went back & forth on if I should just get another year of definitions for my expired 2005 version, if I should upgrade to 2006, or if I should wait a little longer to see how the other new (and less-expensive) programs stacked up.

I chose wrong.

I cannot believe how this software infiltrated my system - Spybot, of all things, reported the changes AV 2006 made as a "check immediately!" First I tried to do a simple add/remove uninstall of 2005. Didn't work. Left parts behind. Then I downloaded the SymNRT removal tool. This tool also removed (deactivated) Microsoft Anti-spyware, Spybot, and Desktop Weather (from The Weather Channel). Applications were still on my system, but their startup entries had been removed and/or scrambled when I checked msconfig. Oh - and should I mention that my mouse & keyboard stopped responding until after a reboot?? What the heck? Anyhow, after several removals & attempted reinstalls (when I had to click blindly on an empty AV 2006 requester box), I finally got it installed. Nope. More errors. Does the Symantec online help tool detect anything? Yeah, right. Remove & reinstall. Reboot. Activate. "Norton Antivirus detected an error and was unable to load". Great. Reboot again. Wow, is it working now?? Let's see how long it lasts. And I'm scared of a system rollback, after all these changes - would probably only make it worse. How do I exchange this 2005 - 2006 "update" for just the definitions for my working install of 2005? Oh well, too late now...

Symantec, are you getting my submitted bug reports? Listen to your users! Fix your software!

User Rating: 5/10

Graded Averageby LancerVII - October 13, 2005

Pros: Excellent Detection and Removal of Viruses

Cons: Quite a resource hog

Review: Just like the previous version 2005 , Norton antivirus 2006 is excellent in detecting and removal of viruses, trojan horse and worms.. I highly recommend users to upgrade their computer to at least 512MB Ram or more before installing norton antivirus.. Computer maintenence is also very important in ensuring norton antivirus to work smoothly in your computer.. I highly recommend users to defragment and disk check their computer regularly every week or so.. Also try installing Anti Spyware products like Adaware SE and spywareblaster with combination of Norton Antivirus and Zonealarm firewall.. run the spyware scan and virus scan every week to ensure your computer is virus and spyware free.. These are the secret recipes of mine in running a smooth and high performance PC running on Norton Antivirus.. For those who previously graded norton antivirus as negative, pls look through my review first.. thx

User Rating: 2/10

Unfixed Compatability problemsby Grey Bird - October 10, 2005

Pros: High virus detection/cleaning ratings

Cons: On-access scanner semi-unpredictably won't start

Review: I have used Norton Antivirus for a number of years and been extremely pleased with it. Version 2005 stopped that, cold. It periodically won't allow the on-access scanner to start, and upon going to the Symantec website to troubleshoot states that I must turn off several utilities related to my SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS card. No other software I have ever seen states that it won't work with such a common card's utilities. They have had nearly a year and still have not fixed the incompatability. Anyway, I turned off all of the utilities associated with my Audigy card set them not to autostart and rebooted. It didn't work. The on-access scanner still wouldn't start.

The troubleshooting guide associated with the error goes on to reinstall a part of antivirus, and eventually to uninstall and reinstall Norton Antivirus. Going through all of this has still not fixed my problem. Every time I install a new program, and some other times for no apparent reason, the on-access scanner won't start. I have to run the applet to reinstall the part of antivirus and sometimes reboot 1 or more times before the on-access scanner is active again. I'm on broadband and not really keen that my internet connection goes live before I have an active on-access virus scanner. I sent them an email several months ago stating that if they couldn't fix the incompatability I would not renew, and it still has not been fixed. I am not planning on renewing Norton this year and I can no longer recommend it as I have in the past.

User Rating: 1/10

Norton AV no longer a favoriteby oldlady2 - October 4, 2005

Pros: reputation

Cons: Disappointingly abysmal

Review: I abandoned NAV after nearly 15 years of loyalty-how long ago was DOS? I purchased it or upgrades every year through 2004.. The last few versions purchased were filled with problems installing, uninstalling previous version which didn't really uninstall, having to pay for tech service and multiple licenses for in-home use, and downloading utilities to "TOTAL UNINSTALL" previous version. A lot of their problems focus around the registry tracking of previously installed versions, and the update subscription. Now I use AVG which updates daily--no problems. I have friends using AVAST, too. FOR FREE

User Rating: 3/10

I think norton took itself out of the anti virus marketby woodtogo - October 4, 2005

Pros: catch most viruses to the common users

Cons: Have narrowed the usage of their product

Review: Who are they in bed with? Now only will operate on the latest os. What do you call this? Is this service? Is this anti virus service? Oh wait how silly of me, we will all just all go out and buy new operating systems, what you say your pc not fast enough, oh well we will just go buy new a new pc.
Now we are talking. This is the service I am talking about...... Too many other antivirus services out there, some even free, which will protect the average user.

User Rating: 1/10

Symantec has finally lost me as a customer.by wwheeler1 - October 3, 2005

Pros: None that I can think of

Cons: If it's like NIS 2005, it's a resource hog that doesn't do its job

Review: After spending many years supporting Symantec/Norton Antivirus and utilities and reccomending them to my customers, I have finally had enough.

The last straw was a series of uninstall-reinstall-experience the same problem-repeat that I have been through 7 times since I bought NIS 2005 in November of last year. It was caused in EVERY instance by a faulty update from Symantec that broke their crappy product, which can't even repair itself without a complete removal, registry scrub and reinstall.

I have given up my addiction to their expensive, blaoted packages of software that claim to have everything, and do but only in half-measures.

I now use a copy of CA EZ-Armor that is supplied by my ISP that includes a stable, robust firewall and antivirus as well as anti-spyware components that work without breaking everything else, including my MS Outlook (hey, I like the calendar).

Good bye, Symantec. Call me when you get a clue.

User Rating: 4/10

Not likelyby sralls - October 3, 2005

Pros: Easy to use

Cons: Poor Service

Review: Norton Products are easy to use,but hard to uninstall, and service is almost non-existant. Live service is especially awful, as Service comes out of South Asia.Still have issues that have never been resolved.

User Rating: 9/10

still a dedicated fan of symantecby j.l.jamez - September 29, 2005

Pros: Does an excellent job of cleaning my system overall

Cons: lacking on spyware removal, spybot still found more stuff

Review:

User Rating: 1/10

AWFUL AWFUL AWFULby louisb6 - September 29, 2005

Pros: There are none

Cons: Everything about it

Review: For the basic home user, overblown security software should not be stressed, what should be stressed is BEING CAREFUL ON THE INTERNET. Unfortunately, there's no profit to be made in that so you can't blame Symantec for trying. Viruses and Spyware do not come by themselves people, stop worrying about your antivirus program and start being careful online!

User Rating: 1/10

Destroyed my registryby ajp31 - September 29, 2005

Pros: Probably works great

Cons: Didn't install and destroyed my PC

Review: The installation program destroyed the part of my registry that handles Windows file types. I can no longer run any programs.

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Norton AntiVirus 2006 specifications

  • General
  • Category Utilities
  • Subcategory Security - desktop antivirus
  • Version 2006
  • License pricing Standard
  • Software
  • License Type Complete package
  • License Qty 1 user
  • License Pricing Standard
  • Platform Windows
  • Distribution Media CD-ROM
  • Package Type Retail
  • System Requirements
  • OS Required Microsoft Windows XP Professional , Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition , Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or later
  • Min Processor Type 300 MHz Intel Pentium - 300.0 MHz , 300.0 MHz , 300.0 MHz
  • Peripheral / Interface Devices CD-ROM
  • System Requirements Details Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition - RAM 256.0 MB - HD 150.0 MB , Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or later - RAM 256.0 MB - HD 150.0 MB , Microsoft Windows XP Professional - RAM 128.0 MB - HD 150.0 MB
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