User Rating: 
6/10
Penetrated by hackersby - April 8, 2003
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Twice hackers penetrated my Norton personal firewall 2002 and attempted to send personal financial information to web sites.
User Rating: 
3/10
No Help to Deal with Port 25 Blockingby - March 12, 2003
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Once I installed NPF, I could not use secondary emails, which use port 80 for SMTP (to prevent port 25) blocking. It appears that NPF doesn't allow SMTP on this port. No documentatio is available to deal with the problem. No response from customer support either...
User Rating: 3/10
Blows!by - December 14, 2002
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This is nearly unuseable software compared to other Norton Suite software. It slows down internet use 20 to 30 percent and makes a general nuicance of itself. Avoid...
User Rating: 
5/10
Don't buy before you review like I did!by - October 24, 2002
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I'm runnng windows 98se and bought Norton systemworks and personal firewall 2002 together for $40 BEFORE reviewing! Didn't install systemworks preferring to run it from disc under norton utilities where it works well! But firewall(NPF 2002) blocked all secure sites and wouldn't allow me to use the configurations or anything else! Support is poor so far but will give them a chance to reinstall to see if I can make it work right!
User Rating: 
8/10
confusing at first, but works awesomeby - October 20, 2002
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I dont know how to figure how whos trying to attack, but it blocks them, for which i am etenally grateful. I've had 2 bad viruses and dont want another.
User Rating: 
7/10
Very good overall.by - October 14, 2002
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Very good overall, and hopefully doing what it is supposed to be doing. I have not had a chance to inspect the validity of all of its claims yet. I did not access Support feature. The little globe that sits in the corner of the screen and notifies you of an alert is annoying and can be removed. I agree with user Dan- "it would constantly screw up sites utilizing Java and also constantly filtered images from sites."
User Rating: 8/10
Memory Hog!by - October 10, 2002
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When you load this on your machine, be prepared to give it up, fella! It eats up a lot of ram. It does the job well, but when you use MS Office and AutoCAD, memory is at a premium. I don't need my firewall eating up so much of it.
User Rating: 5/10
stopped all computers from talkingby - October 9, 2002
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The firewall in Norton Internet Security 2002 is causing me all kinds of grief in getting my pcs to network together. It seemed to destabilize my home network as updates were made. I had to completely uninstall on both machines to get an XP Pro machine to talk with a 98SE. Too many headaches. It also detects Everquest as some kind of Trojan horse, so has to be disabled to work.
User Rating: 7/10
Worked well for me.by - October 4, 2002
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I was somewhat leary about installing NPF on my computer after I read the reviews on cnet. I figured if 78% gave thumbs-up, I had a pretty good chance it would work for me. And it did. I had no problems with setup and configuring the program. Sometimes it does block pictures on the web, so I make a few minor modifications and the pictures appear. I have cable modem, and I can't tell you if it slows it down, because I just upgraded from a dial-up connection. And anything is faster than dial-up. I am happy to have installed it.
User Rating: 8/10
Works Great For Meby - September 15, 2002
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I am using XP Pro and it installed Personal Firewall 2002 with no problems and has not interfered with my internet connections. The wizards work fine and setup my programs that access the internet with easy customization features for each site as you will. I was expecting problems and did not get any. It also works with my PCAnywhere10.5 with no problems. It is a super program for me and have not needed any support so the 3 is a guestimate for support.
User Rating: 8/10
Confusing, but goodby - September 5, 2002
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Most users that have posted negative opinions here have either not configured it properly using the internet connect scan or have tried it with Zone Alarm installed with it. DO NOT TRY TO INSTALL/USE THIS PRODUCT UNLESS YOU UNINSTALL ZONE ALARM AND ALL OF IT'S COMPONENTS AND FILES, INCLUDING REGISTRY ENTRIES. This product and ZA is incompatible with each other. Do yourself a favor, get NAV 2002 and Norton Personal Firewall to go with it. You won't be disappointed. If you have ZA on your PC and don't want to delete/unistall it, you are stuck with it.
User Rating: 
1/10
NPF is a waste of time and moneyby - September 3, 2002
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I installed NPF on my XP and guess what? It woul donly let me access https:// sites. Even after I disabled it no luck seeing any of my http:// sites. Finally I unistalled it and I am back. ZoneAlarm is better a 100 times.
User Rating: 
9/10
Better than zone alarm proby - August 8, 2002
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I got zone alarm as my first firewall and was pleased with it for the first day or 2 then it screwed my internet up. I have now started using norton firewall. It is stable uncomplicated and head and shoulders above zone alarm. If you are a home user like myself i recommend it strongly
User Rating: 8/10
Worked Great with XPby - August 8, 2002
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I was a little nervous reading that some people had problems running on XP. However, the setup was such a breeze. It automatically set the rules for about 99% of my internet applications. Plus it gives me the ability to customize just about everything. I had absoulutely no problems that some have experienced using xp. The only annoying thing is the little globe or whaterver it is that sits in the corner of the screen and notifies you of an alert. The only thing i didn't check was the support since I had no need to. There was virtually no system performance difference when the firewall was enabled or compeletly shut down. All in all a great product, easy to use, with lots of features. Just what I was looking for.
User Rating: 8/10
216.166.197.233 Tried Hacking In!by - July 4, 2002
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Booted my computer, then decided to watch tv before going on the net. I have a cable modem(always on), but had not launched my browser. When I came back to my computer Norton told me this a++hole was trying to hack into my computer, made 6 attempts!!! A possible Trojan Horse it said!!! Well, whoeve owns the IP address: 216.166.197.233, not only does Symantec have your IP address, I'm going to post it everywhere there's a review for Norton's Firewall. Nice try, sc--bag!
User Rating: 1/10
Do not buy this!!!!by - July 2, 2002
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Keeps asking for "Supervisor" Spent five hours trying to follow their instructions for fixing problem. No go. Won't give me my money back. NOw I have nothing. First time I have had problems with Norton Product. But its a doozy.
User Rating: 8/10
Works Great.by - June 25, 2002
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It was a little strange to get used to but it has been working just fabulous. Have had no need to use Support, which is ALWAYS a good thing. The price is right.
User Rating: 7/10
Well played!by - June 25, 2002
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Although ease of use is not the best, this firewall gives you peace of mind and will stop anything getting in or out.
User Rating: 
10/10
I'd buy it for a dollar.by - June 25, 2002
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Beautiful. You know in your heart everything-else is 3rd rate to Norton. It's only REAL competitor being McAfee. Let me tell you. I went to the McAfee web-site, only to find one of the coolest things I've ever seen [A way to scan your computer for viruses via their web-site]. WOAH! Right? Eh... No. It was more like "It's free this time kid, but next time bring the 20 bucks" *sniff* I dunno, something about free services, that expire, or change or... NORTON. That's all you need to know.
User Rating: 9/10
A very good firewallby - June 23, 2002
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This firewall is the best one out there. I really don't see why people don't like it. Well I think Symantec has proven itself again.
User Rating: 10/10
Correct Myselfby - June 20, 2002
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I have another comment placed on June 19th that the only thing that the product was lacking was blocking specific sites. I was incorrect. I went to the Symantic site and learned that if you set Privacy Control on High, every cookie that appears you will be asked (1) Except it (2)Refuse it. You have the option underneath either choice to click to remember this choice and do not ask again (for that site only). If you need to change a setting you just go to Advance settings, highlight the site and switch your preference. In just one day, it has refused 254 cookies. Cookies like doubleclick, advance.net. etc. It does a fine job. Truthfully, you really do not need another program to block cookies if you use this. The first few hours is nothing but beeps, but after it realizes what you want and what you do not, it is great.
User Rating: 9/10
Very Stable Productby - June 19, 2002
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It is very stable product. However, I had to make a few adjustments to get my cable modem speed back up to par (it slowed it down terribly). You should set in the Advanced Options everything to the Green light. The Referrer Option is what blocks out places like doubleclick, but it slows your system down. Have all settings on LOW and it does well. At GRC.COM my system was Stealth with these settings. However, not being able to block out specific sites (advertising) is a setback. Besides that I have had at least ten hits a day and am pleased with it.
User Rating: 8/10
not badby - June 17, 2002
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seems like a good stable product; ad blocker will occasionally block an expected popup window, but it's a quick couple clicks to disable, load page and re-enable the ad blocker.
User Rating: 7/10
Great protectionby - June 16, 2002
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Easy to set up, great the way it integrates with Norton Anti Virus 2002. Yet another winner from Norton!
User Rating: 7/10
Won't leave home without it..by - June 15, 2002
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I trust this software to protect my computer against novice hackers. I had trouble getting
User Rating: 6/10
Confidence on the netby - June 14, 2002
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I used to work for Symantec, then they fired me, but I still buy their software. NIS worked great! The prospect of having to choose to allow or block all the tiny individual functions is a pain, but then again, that's what a fire wall does. For a knowledgable user who really knows their system and how it works it's not too difficult. For a novice, all I can say is that if your going to be on the internet (A network) you need an administrator if you want your stuff to run correctly, so boning up on your OS and networking in general is a good idea, then you'll have a better idea what all those little apps actually do, and know what to block and what not too. With $50 in rebates and $10 off from CompUSA I paid $9.95 for the firewall with antivirus, it was a killer deal, and in the last 3 days it's blocked 3 hackers from uploadign trojan horse type apps to my system, so was worth the $10, and would have been worth the $59. As a suggestion, try writing down the app names of what the firewall is trying to block, and block them for one session only, then see if you have any rpoblems running apps to decide if in the future you should or should not block it.
User Rating: 
4/10
What is a supervisor?by - June 13, 2002
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What is a supervisor? It may cost you a lot of time to find out! Installed on WinME, cable modem, unfortunately didn't uninstall ZoneAlarm first. Killed my internet and many apps didn't work either. It was impossible to uninstall. I uninstalled other programs, backed up all mydata, finally deleted something that allowed me to uninstall NPF. I need the advertised features, but am extremely leery of installing this product on a computer that counts! However, maybe fortune favors the brave...
User Rating: 7/10
COMPREHENSIVEby - June 11, 2002
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once it is set up it is great. it does filter out lots of images, if that is a problem to you.
User Rating: 
2/10
Avoid this like the Plague.by - June 7, 2002
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$30 for a phone call for support should say enough about this. It's too much hassle, whether you're the Supervisor or not. You'll have your kids bugging you 24-7 to take down the firewall for every single page they go into, or to change the filter settings. It's not worth it at all. Spend the money on ice cream or something. It also seems to slow down your computer to the pace of a banana, and has more bugs than roadkill left out on the street for a week. Once again, just stay away from this. If you really wanna monitor what your kids see, get ZoneAlarm or something.
User Rating: 3/10
2nd Rate Support, 2nd Rate Productby - June 7, 2002
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Atrocious Customer No-Service and a product to match. Don't replace NIS 2001!
User Rating: 2/10
Buggy And confusingby - June 7, 2002
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First off its bugy. It blocks windows update, and sometimes hangs on pages and must be shut down. Both issues have been aknowleges by symantic for months but they have not produced an actual fix. Second of all it is confusing. I am an experienced user and programmer and have a hard time navigating its options. In an attempt to make it simple they made so many helpers and menus that they did just the opposite. It also has dificulty handling alot of internet content which it blocks. Customer support provided a slottion by instructing me to use meny options that do NOT exist. I dont think they have a real person andwering their message board questions. At least not a real person with any intelligence. I would recommend tiny personal firewall, or zone alalrm over this anyday. And those are free.
User Rating: 6/10
Drives me nutsby - May 30, 2002
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Norton Firewall 2002 is a good program in general. However, it often will not let me see online graphics and I often end up temporarily canceling it.
User Rating: 5/10
I've given up after 5 abortive installationsby - May 26, 2002
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Have tried to install this product under windows Me without success - each time it's screwed up my system & I've had to uninstall (thanks yet again to System Restore for getting me out of the deep doo-doos). There's a wealth of technical data on the Norton site but it's of little use when the intallation process has screwed your Internet connection. I've tried installing cleanly using msconfig but still no joy & now reverted to ZoneAlarm. It's free & does the job - why did I ever think about changing????
User Rating: 7/10
cute but too friendlyby - May 24, 2002
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The only thing i hate is the user interface. Too friendly! It seems was made for the persons who don't want to think at all, just click and that's it! To make a rule i have to pass through several windows, why don't just make a link at tray icon menu. It would be nice to have "advanced mode" or something like that, w/o annoying wizards
User Rating: 6/10
Tried free trial version and de-installed itby - May 23, 2002
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After installation, which was no great hassle, but it blocked me trying to do my on-line banking! could not change the settings on the trial version once installed so I de-installed it. It did show some attempted intrusions and gave me the IP adresses and addded to black list.
User Rating: 2/10
JUNK JUNK JUNK JUNK JUNK JUNKby - May 21, 2002
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NO TOLL FREE SUPPORT $29 PER CALL. I SPENT FOUR DAYS TRYING TO GET NPF 2002 TO WORK ON MY GATEWAY SELECT 1000, 512RAM, WIN 98SE, IE 5.0 NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR 4.79 RESOURCES AT 85%. AFTER INSTALL I COULDN'T ACCESS ANY LINKS ON MY NETSCAPE HOMEPAGE EITHER IN I.E. OR COMMUNICATOR. WEB TECH SUPPORT TOTALLY USELESS AS WELL AS USER MANUAL. CALLED TECH SUPPORT-- THEY SAID IT WAS A CONFIGURATION ISSUE AND WOULD COST ME $29 TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. WHY? I ASKED WHEN THE PROGRAM AUTO CONFIGURES ITSELF. I ONLY HAD IT FOUR DAYS. AND IT CERTAINLY ISN'T WORTH PAYING $80 TO US IT. I SUGGEST CHECKING OUT REVIEWS ON SOFTWARE IN THE FUTURE AND SEEING IF THERE IS TOLL FREE SUPPORT. IF NOT DON'T BY THE SOFTWARE. THIS IS WHERE THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD STEP IN AND GO AFTER THESE HOT SHOT COMPANY'S WHO PUT OUT SOFTWARE THAT DOESN'T WORK PROPERLY THEN TURN AROUND AND SAY YOU HAVE TO PAY TO GET IT TO WORK "MAYBE".
User Rating: 9/10
Solid & dependableby - May 17, 2002
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This is much better than ZA Pro, especially Ver.3.0 - a nightmare. It takes a little learning about and time to set up but it works fine when you do. Very important to use LiveUpdate and subscribe to it after the first year. Also like the fact that it's not very resource hungry. Tech support is fine if you're patient and use e-mail sensibly. Most probs are already within the knowledge base at the Symantec web site.
User Rating: 8/10
I have found it the most effective firewall I have ever used.by - May 14, 2002
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The only thing I find lacking is the stability. It can easily be fixed by reinstalling it and it's well worth the effort.
User Rating: 7/10
This SW Firewall is greatby - May 8, 2002
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Hard to use/configure? Maybe for a Macintosh user or someone under the age of 3... Found it very simple to get going and even diving into more detailed setup was a doddle. Did not feel it slowed down my dial-up connection at all, on the contrary, with ad-blocking enabled, it was faster. Now with cable there is no real difference. Runs in our house on both Win95/Win98 (Pentium 133 MHz, 64 MB Ram) and Win98se (P3 650 MHz 192 MB Ram). I wish I could say the same about Norton AntiVirus which was part of the NIS package. When it works, it is great, but on one of our machines it will not update anymore (although there is 6 months left on the subscription) - Symantec's email answers where vague and their support website kept going in circles. I have now disabled the AV part for that machine and installed AVG instead... Doesn't change my opinion that it is a great package end an even better bundle with AV included!
User Rating: 1/10
Allows valueclick.com to snoop youby - May 8, 2002
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Until recently I was a Nortons firewall beliver then the recent update changed all that. The update added fp.valueclick.com access to my computer and every time I surfed it opened more ports. I traced the fp.valueclick.com to california and then decided to wipe out nortons firewall. Zone Alarm Pro 3 and I are getting along just great now.
User Rating: 1/10
Avoid this product!by - May 1, 2002
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It immediately restricted me for accessing any and all web sites. I clicked the disable button. I still could access nothing. I uninstalled it. It had made changes I could not correct. Because I still could access any web sites. I reinstalled windows to get up and running again. Norton Fire Wall is not for me.
User Rating: 4/10
Troubleby - May 1, 2002
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After a couple of months it will completly deny access to anything. It will virtually shut down access to your system
User Rating: 5/10
Killed my cable connectionby - April 27, 2002
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I uninstalled and re-installed twice, read the manual front to cover and still couild not get it to work with my ISP. You are better off buying a cable/dsl router.
User Rating: 7/10
It's a touch and go programby - April 24, 2002
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Since I got this program I've had to uninstal and reinstal three times. For some reason it likes to keep me from getting on to the internet. In order to access some website I have to disable the firewall to view the pages. But other than that it seems like a decent program.
User Rating: 9/10
Better than the rest but costlyby - April 22, 2002
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I have used Tiny Personal Firewall, ZoneAlarm, and BlackIce (yuck). This is better than all of them in my opinion, although Zonealarm and Tiny Personal Firewall are better values at no cost. Stay away from Tiny if you are too dumb to use Norton. I did not think Norton was tough but apparently some do.
User Rating: 9/10
Good Softby - April 21, 2002
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I bought and used Zone alarm pro but was having problems in windows xp when loading up it took ages so i tryed this and like it best iv used in a while.
User Rating: 10/10
Has helped to keep attackers out.by - April 20, 2002
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In the last few days I have been attacked by the backdoor subseven trojan horse, and this firewall has blocked it everytime. It makes me feel as if my money was well spent. Not as hard to configure as people think. All you have to do is an application scan and set them to automatic. The rest is all taken care of.
User Rating: 2/10
Unbelievably incompetent productby - April 7, 2002
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After reading what features this product I had, I decided this was the right one fo me. I installed NPF on a Windows Me system, The installation process itself was seemless and looked to be professionally put together. That was as far as I got with this product. The program wants a user to be logged in with what it calls Supervisor equivalent permissions, this is needed to change settings and run this product. Unfortunately NPF always thought I was not logged in, depsite who ever I logged in as. Being this was installed on windows ME with only one user account i was limited to who I could log in as anyway. I was furious, I couldn't run the program (the enable button was not clickable) and I couldn't uninstall it as the uninstall program wants me to be logged in as a supervisor, which obviously I am being its windows ME but NPF thought I wasn't. I had to download a uninstall program from Nortons website which Nortons says it doesn't support so I could remove the program. Their web page on this type of problem is utterly usless, it briefly mentions what could cause the problem without any real explanation to what the its doing and any real clue in how to fix it.
User Rating: 7/10
Norton Firewall has McAfee Beat!by - April 5, 2002
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When I first tried McAfee firewall 3.0 on my computer(that has windows 98) I had so many problems trying to surf the internet and getting email. After hours of talking with McAfee's Tech support people I finally scrapped it and downloaded Norton's Firewall. Bang! Worked perfectly. No problems. Wasn't hard to configure, didn't even have to call tech support(I even knew more about their product then some of the Tech Support Agents!) except to thank them for such a good product. A word to the wise, MCAFEE IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS 98 NO MATTER WHAT THE BOX SAYS! I have no idea how it works with ME or even XP, but if they say a product should work with a particular OS then it should work. Although I wouldn't purchase the firewall by itself(50 bucks is a lot for just a firewall) I would recommend buy Norton Internet Security or Norton System Works. It has the firewall, virus protection and some other things. I never had any idea how many things can probe into your system until I got this product.
User Rating: 10/10
zone alarm pro is a nightmareby - April 1, 2002
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Norton was easy to setup and you feel confident about it. Zone alarm comes up with a myriad of confusing messages and nothing seems to work when you install it until you configure lots of isoteric buttons
User Rating: 3/10
Don't even bother with itby - March 19, 2002
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I tried to install and use the new Norton Personal Firewall and gave up on it. Apparently there is a major bug in this upgrade, which tech support refuses to acknowledge. (The bug causes some computers to freeze, and will not allow some users to change any options, including the ability to enable the program.) However, just look at their online support board and you will see that it is affecting a lot of customers. Stick with Zone Alarm.
User Rating: 9/10
Easy setup and no crashesby - March 17, 2002
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I has tried the free zone alarm program that cnet had recommended, but my computer completely locked up. After days of trying to fix the problem with no success I switched to Norton and is has worked perfectly
User Rating: 7/10
Interferes with Norton Utilitiesby - March 17, 2002
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There is a conflict between Norton Personal Firewall 2002 and Norrton Utilities; that is, you cannot run either Norton disk Doctor or Speed Disk with NPF installed. I had to uninstall NPF. Zone Alarm does not interfere.
User Rating: 10/10
really good firewallby - March 16, 2002
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this is a piece of good software if you want most out of it you must read the help files how to configure, easy to configure for connection sharing and i have read the reviews on ohter website that this firewall didn't pass the Leak Test at www.grc.com but not true, the same moment i read it, go to the site and did the Leak Test but it didnt allow to access the internet and according to yours security setting it pops up that this application trying to access the net. so it passes the leak test. any way it is good product if you are really concerned about files on your system.
User Rating: 10/10
Norton Personal Firewall 2002 is The Bestby - March 8, 2002
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Norton pesonal firewall 2002 is the best firewall you can buy with updates allmost twice a week keeps your pc up to date and protected and it blocks all spyware and trogens. i tryed ZONEALARM for a while but ZONEALARM lacks the options you need to stay protected. I recommend Norton Personal Firewall 2002 to anybody home or work
User Rating: 10/10
Very easy to install and to use.by - March 7, 2002
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Automatic up-date while you work. AV scan runs whilst working with Norton Internet Security packaged together with the firewall. Logs all transmissions and then you can use Visualware's VisualRoute tracker to track down the hacker or eMailTracker to track down the emailer or spammer. Given some of the comments on speed I thought to check mine and right NOW it is 839.2Kbps (104.9 KBps) which loaded a 150.005 KB file in 1.43 seconds. (McAfee) But don't take any notice of the speedo dial, check the calculation instead. I can get over 1000 Kbps so I ask, "What's the problem." Usually it lies somewhere in computer tuning and most would do themselves a favour to check out tune-ups with the OS maker. I just wish that everyone would do disk maintenance BEFORE loading a new program so it loads in one place. i.e. clean, scan (with repair) and DEFRAG!
User Rating: 10/10
The BEST of ALL.by - March 7, 2002
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But BETTER STILL is the complete NORTON INTERNET SECURITY (NIS) Anti-Virus and firewall all-in-one. But if you have already got spyware on your computer you need to get rid of it FIRST. Stuff like Comet Cursor, etc. So check out Lavasoft Ad-Aware and be also aware of the .dll files that ARE tracking you and everything you do. e.g. rstrlog.dll and rstrmap.dll. Why pay good money to have lunatics ruin YOUR life ?!
User Rating: 1/10
What a nightmare!by - March 1, 2002
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The first time I installed NPF 2002, I lost my cable modem internet connection. I tried to uninstall NPF 2002, but it wouldn't go away. And my cable wouldn't come back. After some tech help from my internet service provider, I managed to get NPF totally uninstalled and my cable internet back online. I had used the free version of Zone Alert previously and it worked fine. (and yes, I had uninstalled it before installing NPF) But...I thought symantec would be a better quality product. And I thought some stray Zone Alert files had interfered with NPF. So I spent over an hour manually deleting Zone Alert files. And I tried installing NPF again. Zone Alert was all gone. This time NPT wouldn't load. I followed instructions from symantec tech support website to fix it, and ended up crashing my cable modem configurations...again. This time I was lucky and system restore got my cable modem working again. But I'm very skeptical about trying NPF again. Take a look at symantec's help website for NPF. Hundreds of others are trying to figure out this software--and their problems sound even worse then mine. http://servicenews.symantec.com/cgi-bin/browse.cgi?group=symantec.support.win9x.npf2002.general& I wish I could get my money back. It was just a total nightmare trying to get NPF either to work or to undo the damage it caused. I will not put it back onto my computer. I think I'll go back to Zone Alert.
User Rating: 3/10
disasterby - February 27, 2002
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I struggled with this for over a month with e-mails to support every few days. They take about 5-6 days to reply. Each problem resolved lead to a new one ending with an update that caused me to give up and uninbstall the program. I spent more time fighting the thing than actually doing any thing else on the PC. I have moved back to Zonealarm Pro
User Rating: 5/10
I got hackedby - February 27, 2002
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I have charter pipeline and was running norton utilities 2002, firewall and virus scan always on, I recieved a trojan horse and had to format. The name of the trojan horse was backdoor subseven. I am now running zonealarm and norton together. But I may end up with Mcaffee so I can block specific IP's.
User Rating: 2/10
Solid Contolable and Stable Firewallby - February 21, 2002
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Norton is excellent, its combined protection gives assured piece of mind. Ive been using norton for years and have never had problems. If your technical minded then its a good bet, if not then you may be a little confused
User Rating: 8/10
Provides for excellent control of your computing environment.by - February 21, 2002
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Just what I need. It features detailed configuration options, which I much prefer over a simplistic interface.
User Rating: 8/10
great firewall good optionsby - February 18, 2002
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very stable platform. after initial setup, it stays "out of the way" unless something severe comes up.
User Rating: 8/10
"I no problems here"by - January 25, 2002
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Great if you want control over what programs you want to access the internet. Configuration is simple if you start with giving no programs access to the internet. As your programs try to access the internet you choose if you want to give them access. After a while all your programs will be configured.
User Rating: 2/10
Major configuration problemsby - January 19, 2002
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This was a major disappointment. NPF has known configuration problems, yet Norton apparently has not issued a patch to fix them. I find it horribly ironic that Norton, a company that has built its brand on resolving Microsoft's bugs, has released a known buggy product and then charges for support to address those bugs. Example: There's a bug that appears after you install, that installs a .dat file which locks up your firewall unless you're a "supervisor." Well, that's nuts on a personal system, and there's no prompt for you to log on as a supervisor anywhere. Of course, it's a but. The site tells you how to find and delete the offending .dat file, but guess what, it regenerates on the next boot. You are then instructed to use an unsupported uninstall utility, and reinstall either in safe mode or on clean reboot, but the problem persists. Other problems: apparently, a known loading issue where the program loads on startup in such a way as to conflict with other common windows programs, causing the system to load in disabled form, and preventing you from "enabling" it. I'd say that's a crippled system, by definition. The directions for solving this error do not work. There are other examples. Just browse their support site and see the recurring configuration and installation problems posted. I realize these issues vary by PC based on what you have loaded, but if you run the system in a "clean boot" mode as I tried, and still ahve the problem, indicates to me that even given system variances, there are some basic bugs here that affect a large number of users, that Norton did not fix even after it knew about them. That's a confidence destroyer.
User Rating: 10/10
Great Firewall--Easy To Useby - January 15, 2002
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I've been using NPF 2002 for about three months now with no problems. Although I haven't noticed any drops in speed, there must be a few out there who have because Symantec has a solution for it. All you have to do is go to the Symantec site and their tech support page. I think their support is great. I have sent a couple of e-mails describing problems and received help that same day or early the next day. Their phone help is a little pricey, but I haven't had to use that. I used Zone Alarm Free before NPF, and their tech help is non-excistent unless you use ZAP. I always thought NAV was a great product, now I feel the same way about NPF.
User Rating: 1/10
McAfee needs to change or foldby - January 5, 2002
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On my 1Ghz/265mb/40Gb system running Win98SE it constantly lost my i-net connection. Their tech support is useless simply saying "you must have something wrong with your computer" even though there are tons of complaints. I'm a techy and narrowed it down to that one program and they refused to even acknowledge that it could be problematic. McAfee has gone the way of the phone and cable companies.
User Rating: 7/10
better than zone alarmby - December 13, 2001
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Tried saving some $$ and installed zone alarm...what a headache..can't tell you how many times I had to alt/ctrl/del, and reboot. Finally broke down and bought Norton firewall. Still slows down the DSL line but it is hands down better than zone alarm.Haven't had to reboot yet. Easy to use for a novice user as well .Like my mama always told me..."you get what you pay for"
User Rating: 7/10
Relatively Simple for the Experienced Userby - December 12, 2001
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I have a network administration background, but zero knowledge of firewalls. I have found Norton's product to be effective and relatively easy to configure. However, I would like it if Norton provided more info about the types of attempted access into my system.
User Rating: 1/10
Beats Zone Alarm hands downby - November 28, 2001
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I use the reviews of products here on CNet all the time to help determine what product to purchase so I really wanted to share my opinion about Norton Personal Firewall 2002. I used to use ZoneAlarm free and I also purchased ZoneAlarm Pro. I have a laptop and a dual processor machine, both from Dell. Only the free ZoneAlarm 2.144 would work on the dual, not the latest free one or the pro version that I bought because they cause dual processor machines to hang. I used the Pro on the laptop though and I had to keep the the protection settings at Medium to allow Internet Connection Sharing to work between them. Anyway, I purchased NPF 2002 so that I could get an up to date firewall. Wow. What a difference. I am an experienced user and I am in love with the configurability and features of this software. I can see everything that comes and goes from every single program or programs "in question". I can allow programs to only get internet access on port 80 (web traffic) which defeats a lot of "phone home" applications. With Zone Alarm, the little popup warnings were too often and you have to turn them off. With NPF2002, I only get the ones I really need which are ones that tell me recently that someone has been trying to gain access to my machine through the backdoor program "SubSeven". I was able to send a complaint to the Cable Provider and tell them of their user who was trying to hack my machine and they were very receptive. I am now able to keep both the laptop and the dual machine on "high" internet security protection and still work with Internet Connection Sharing. NPF2002 has a little wizard that automatically detects the ip addresses of your local network between your machines if you have more than one and configure them to be in the "trusted" zone. Another thing, love the liveupdate. I know that I have the latest protections against trojans and other malicious scripts within the day of their release and they are updated automatically, very nice. So, take it from a former ZoneAlarm customer, this proggie is the bomb. Rick
User Rating: 5/10
Doesn't work with Intel Anypointby - November 23, 2001
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Mix Windows XP, Norton Firewall (or Internet Security) with Intel Anypoint Phoneline network and you will have a system that moves in such slow motion, you would want to return to DOS 1.0. I had to uninstall manually to get free. Now I am shopping for a firewall that will work in my setup.
User Rating: 5/10
Not Worth the Money (for AOL users)by - November 5, 2001
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NPF was easy to install, and the interface looked good. But it totally blocked my AOL 7.0, and though tech support responded to my emails quickly, each of their suggestions failed to remedy the problem. This firewall is not worth getting if you are an AOL user connecting via a cable modem. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.
User Rating: 5/10
errors?by - November 2, 2001
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OK, I'm a little new to Firewalls. But I keep getting non-stop "connect" messages for sites ... which is OK ... but while I am not even signed on? After uninstalling and reinstalling, the same happens. I had to disable Personal Firewall.
User Rating: 1/10
Don't Get Hoodwinkedby - November 2, 2001
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After a very unsatisfactory run around with McAfee I decided to try Norton again. I knew they had always had a highly rated antivirus program. Norton Systemworks is too memory intensive. I bought Internet Security 2002. What a mess! It doesn't work with Adobe Acrobat 5. Steganos Security becomes non workable. Slows internet to a minus crawl. Web pages won't load. Norton Parental Monitor refuses to upload its updates. I could name quite a few programs that won't work with it but you get the idea.Customer service is a joke. Unless you want to pay more money?After they already have stung you for $59-$69. It Shows where their priorities are. Get them and fleece them.They will keep coming back! Just ship it as it is, they can do the updates. I just don't get why we let them get away with it. We scream about Microsoft and then let every one else make garbage. My suggestion is keep Norton Antivirus. Look at Tiny firewall as a replacement. It is free and and the only software firewall that is approved by ICSA. As for Zonealarm I think it is okay but go to www.grcsucks.com you might come away with a different opinion.I hope this helps for some of the neophtyes. Don't learn the hard way. Sometimes free is best.
User Rating: 8/10
no virus problemsby - November 1, 2001
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it will slow your start,but the internet slow down is part of it's operational usage.
User Rating: 1/10
BEWARE!! Slows down your system!by - October 18, 2001
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This product made my cable modem feel like a 14.4 dial-up connection. i had to uninstall it right away! Web pages were loading halfway or not at all. They should have called this product 'Norton Internet Block'.
User Rating: 1/10
What happen to my Internet?by - October 18, 2001
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Hay what happen to the Internet? I couldn't get on the net, and all the program that try's to access the internet has access to the internet without me knowing it. Hummm..... What if I had a spy-wear on my system and it trys to get onto the Internet? I'll go with McAfee Firewall, it was blocking all outgoing and incoming traffic. Norton, well they have to do some more work to fix there firewall.
User Rating: 10/10
Great Firewallby - October 17, 2001
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I have used other products, but I found that Norton stands behind there products with very good support. With a little reading this software is easy to setup. I would recommend this product to anyone interested in a complete personal firewall.
User Rating: 10/10
Expensive,but worksby - October 14, 2001
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I used to have the old version installed in my pc. I bought the upgrade now. For home users like I am,the best thing is make a correct configuration on it. I recomend to everyone.
User Rating: 6/10
Cut my cable speed in half.by - October 12, 2001
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Norton Firewall 2002 seemed like a great product until I discovered that it literally cut my cable data transfer speed in half or more. I intalled and uninstalled this program several times to verify that it was indeed the firewall and not the net and every time it was installed my speed rate dropped by half or more according to various online speed testing services. There was a noticeable difference in my web browsing. After following Norton's troubleshooting "fix" for this I just ended up uninstalling it and reinstalling ZoneAlarm which has not given me any problems at all. Norton Firewall is a great program if you don't mind giving up precious internet speed.
User Rating: 9/10
Still the most effective that I have used..by - October 11, 2001
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I've had a Trojan operating outbound from behind Zone Alarm Pro on one of my machines; it was only discovered on a Norton Antivirus Scan, so Nortons' Firewall with its' bi-directional protection has made a believer out of me. I run it on a Win2000 machine behind a router/switch on a cable connection and you can tighten its' protection to the Nth degree Although admittedly it is NOT simple to configure, it has gotten better with this release, but you MUST learn to use it. Buy the package deal Norton Internet Security if you don't have Norton Antivirus (or haven't upgraded in a while) the email protection has intercepted 12 emailed worms/trojans on my system in the last 43 days, so they didn't get the opportunity to spread. it's well worth the money if you are worried about protecting your files.
User Rating: 8/10
NPF gets better every year!by - October 11, 2001
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NPF is the best. It scans your computer on install and knows which programs will access the internet. Blocks ALL port scans. Has a new feature this year called called "Alert Tracker". When your ports are under scan, alert tracker jumps up on the right hand side of your screen and notifyies you. There is no need to stop what you are doing to open up firewall, all the info you need is right there and you can easily view or delete the alert. It offers seamless integration with Systemworks 2002. Both are #1 for me.
User Rating: 1/10
CRASHED AND BURNEDby - October 11, 2001
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Lets just say I threw my computer out the window after I installed this product. Oh well I'll get a new Dell without the build in Norton Antivirus.
User Rating: 8/10
Getting better and betterby - October 9, 2001
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The new version is as secure as ever, and has some other new technical improvements. I have no problems with it on Windows 98 or Windows 2000. It integrates into Norton Antivirus and SystemWorks very well.
User Rating: 6/10
CNET is all wet about the badby - October 8, 2001
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You can block and allow specific computers in this version. CNET did not do much of a review here. If that is all they thought they found, then this IS the firewall to buy. Support is lacking however as the only way to get assistance short of paying an arm and a leg is via email and then you get stock answers and may never get program fixes. Problems I had from the first day 2001 was released were never fixed and the problems were code related.
User Rating: 3/10
major hassle!by - October 8, 2001
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User Friendly--NOT! This firewall was such a hassle I uninstalled it. It interfered with too, too many sites to make it valuable (for a simple home-user that I am). It would constantly screw up sites utilizing Java and also constantly filtered images from sites. Support Stinks as well.
User Rating: 1/10
Used it since it's inceptionby - October 8, 2001
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I have never been hacked or have had a virus on my machine using Norton products. Iuse both Norton and a hardware firewall router.
User Rating: 1/10
Pay and you get the bestby - October 5, 2001
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Way to many people take your Zone Alarm pick because it is free. You pay for Norton Firewall and you get the best. The over all best is Norton Internet Security 2002 It give you everything you need to protect your computer from the outside World.
User Rating: 8/10
Norton Personal Firewallby - October 4, 2001
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Norton Personal Firewall works great for me, and integrates into Norton Systen Works without hassle. I read that CNET thought that it was a "bear" to set up, but I had absolutely no problem doing so. If anything, the pop-up warning window gets annoying at times, but this just shows that the firewall is doing its job, doing what it's supposed to do. ZoneAlarm may have more features, but it can't integrate into Norton Systemworks the way Norton Personal Firewall does. In combination with the "Pro" package (Norton Utilities, Norton AntiVirus, Norton CleanSweep, Norton Ghost, and Norton Personal Firewall), Norton Personal Firewall can't be beat. My single gripe with Norton (Symantec) is that they have gone to an E-mail or pay-per-call help system for installation problems. Although usually easy to fix, I generally have at least one problem that requires assistance when I upgrade Norton every year, facilitating a call to Symantec. While I expect some problems on installation (Norton IS powerful, feature laden software), I don't expect to have to pay for a telephone call for assistance. All-in all though, I upgrade every year and will continue to do so. Norton just can't be beat!
