Symantec--Get Out of My Face!

WHAT????? you STILL have Symantec software on your computer???!!!!!!! Get rid of it - UNINSTALL IT and try to clean up the MESS that Symantec leaves behind. Talk about "invasion of privacy" - Symantec TAKES over your computer. There are many security suites programs available that do not TAKE OVER YOUR COMPUTER and seem to manage to actually protect your system AT LEAST as well as Symantec does without INFESTING your computer. In my opinion SYMANTEC is the BIGGEST VIRUS, WORM, TROJAN AND KEYLOGGER out there in cyberworld. Sure, they protect your computer - but be prepared, that your computer will no longer be YOURS! I think their software should be called "CANTGETRIDOFITEVER-WARE".

I have to agree with "Greg"; Symantec has to go. It's bloated, intrusuve, resource-intensive to a highly unnecessary degree, and they stick claws in your back until you pay and pay and pay. You can get more than adequate protection from malware with products that are far less a pain to endure.
Believe this or not, I have actually seen the Personal Firewall block users' entire internet connection once its subscription expires, and I have seen this many, many times. I consistently recommend that people stay away from it (and McAfee too, for that matter), and use a product that respects you and your computer!

I used and recommended Norton Antivirus to all my friends, but no more. I was very happy with the job that the program did, but when it came time to renew my subscription and found out that they had raised the price again (to $29.95) I had just said no more and uninstalled the program and quit recommending it to my firends. I think that is a rediculous proce for them to charge per year and to force you to upgrade to the newer versions of their software is also rediculous. I for one have found alternate sources to protect my computer and will do so as long as Symantec continues their policies of forcing their customers to do their will and fleece their pockets.

AVG free, all the way! never had a problem with it, no virii either.

Yes everything that symantec makes SUCKS. I agree with all comments above me. Uninstalling pc anywhere destroyed a server. Norton has low virus detection rates, AVG free is the way to go. Worked on a brand new hp laptop, internet wouldn't connect. I hope they don't break veritas, which they recently aquired.

I tried to remove the partially installed version of internet security that came with a brand new hp laptop. No icon in system tray to show firewall was running. internet wouldn't work but i could ping from dos. Internet security wouldn't uninstall because it hadn't been completely installed. OKAY, let me screw up this laptop and install it, so that I can UNINSTALL IT! So I did that. Now internet wouldn't even connect. hmm. Did some looking around, internet security has about 6 services that run. It removed them, but not all from the registry. It wouldn't let the critical networking services start because it modified their dependencies so they wouldn't start with out norton internet security starting. So i went thru the reg (with the help of google) and modified dependencies. Now everything works. Thanks Norton. I'll stick with AVG Free and winXP sp2 firewall. I tested for viruses with someone who had a brand new 2005 nav fully updated, it found no viruses. Uninstalled, installed avg free and found about 100 viruses. Mostly trojan downloaders, but a few major worms, etc. that brand new norton had no excuses to miss. I think they do more marketing than pc protection. I don't know how they got to be considered ok?

I had exactly the same problem. They told me that the virus definitions wiill NOT download during the last month of the subscription. In other words, they're commiting fraud by giving me only 11 months. I deleted everything using SymNRT.exe and switched to Zonelabs.I couldn't be happier!

I had almost the same problem with McAffee --- compounded by having a subscription for a desktop & laptop, each with its own email address. They were purchased a month apart. Somehow, after a month of advertising terrorism (renew or expire...) McAffee expired the wrong subscription as well as the right one on the same date. Needless to say, it's no longer on either machine.

Symantec is crap. They have the worst uninstall in the world. I had all sorts of problems with it breaking, and it is a CPU hog. I now use AVG free, and Microsoft Anti Spyware and that is what I reccomend to everyone I know.

I wouldn't recommend McAfee either. I used Internet Security v6 & liked it very well. I tried the new IS v8 & it's a piece of crap. The Privacy Service aspect of the program has been dumbed down & gutted compared to version 6 & different features are no longer available or you have far less control over the settings. People we trust to review these things really need to speak out & not be afraid to say when something is s**t - like dual core CPU's infected with DRM, but thats another story. Anyway after not feeling secure with IS v8, I ripped it out & reinstalled v6. I have time to look for an as good or better replacement in the coming months, but it won't be Symantec or McAfee.

AMEN!! Symantec is so damn annoying. They pretty much use strong arm tactics.

I couldn't agree more with everyone about Symantec; it has to be the worst out there. I have also switched to defender pro after all the annoying popups time & time again. I even asked them how to turn it off but they told me that it couldn’t be turned off because it was part of the program, so I said ok its time to uninstall it then!

Probably one of the best decisions I've ever made about my PC was to dump the entire Norton suite and move to Trend Micro's PC-cillin. Overall performance on my machine was greater, much more user friendly product, their support is great, price is great, etc.

Well seems there are several people with problems with Norton. I have used norton since Windows 3.1 and have purchased it every year since. I have never had a virus that has crippled my system to do a reinstall. Sure I have had viruses that Norton catches but again nothing that has crippled my system. As far as renewing the subscription I have not done this but i know for a fact it adds to your subscription and you will not loose your 5 days. lol wow. As far as resources I run over a gig of ram and have had no problems running any programs or even worse that slows my system down. I do however believe that many enjoy installing or not reading the windows that popup while exploring the internet and are left with countless toolbars and adware. They are left with blaming their av utility.. go figure. I will continue to uninstall the old one and purchase new, as lets see now ... it works!

I've also been running symantec products for a number of years (although not all the way back to 3.1 lol) and have never had any of the problems described above. I love how people who clearly don't know what they're doing will blame the software.

I brought Norton System Works 2000 thru AOL in 2001. After about 1 year, I started getting popups and some of the services stopped working. Now I use Avast, with Zone Zlarm, Spybot search and Destroy. I've brought others, but after they expire, you got problems. I know that these companys have to pay for R&D, but they hogtie you with the renewals.

Well some know what they are doing and still have problems. I have used Norton for many years then started having problems with the computer. Everytime I removed Norton products the problems would go away. Then the next year got a deal on Norton and would reinstall and eventually would have problems, would uninstall and no more problems. Have reloaded Windows, then Notron then all my other programs and evenutally ended up with problems running programs. Remove Norton and problems would go away. Seems like it did not matter if I used Norton Anit-virus, or Internet Security, or Firewall. Removing all Norton products seems to have removed any problems; which leads me to believe that Norton products caused the problems.

Well some know what they are doing and still have problems. I have used Symantec for many years then started having problems with the computer. Everytime I removed Symantec products the problems would go away. Then the next year got a deal on Symantec and would reinstall and eventually would have problems, would uninstall and no more problems. Have reloaded Windows, then Symantec then all my other programs and evenutally ended up with problems running programs. Remove Norton and problems would go away. Seems like it did not matter if I used Symantec Anit-virus, or Internet Security, or Firewall. Removing all Symantec products seems to have removed any problems; which leads me to believe that Symantec products caused the problems.

Ex-Norton AV user here, too. I now use AVG Free on my home desktop, but had trouble finding it when my laptop's Norton AV finally expired. So I found freebies Avast and AntiVir - I went with AntiVir and have been pretty happy. In conjunction with ZoneAlarm, SpyBot S&D, and Ad-Aware SE I think I have a pretty good line of defense. Oh yeah, that Norton reminder kept popping up even AFTER I unistalled the program - I forget now what I had to do to finally kill it.

These comments are GREAT!!! For years I had to endure putting up with it. I was only able to disable all Norton junk, but when I do a system scan, I see its still there. Repeatedly I tried unistalling only to be confronted with a pop up window telling me it is unable to proceed. How do I finally get rid of Norton once and for all?
Thanks

I have been using Norton System Works including Firewall, for about 3 years. Other than the price getting higher I have no complaints. Works great for me. I like the auto updates and the even renewal popup is a good reminder for me.

"I love how people who clearly don't know what they're doing will blame the software."

I love how people that only use their computers for browsing and email make blanket statements about users that are pushing their systems to the edge.

Tried to renew my subscription to Norton on the web and it didn't work. After a week of trying to get support from Norton to solve the problem I gave up and then attempted to remove Norton. I wound up having to reinstall Windows XP because of the unremoveable tentacles Norton planted throughout the system. Now 2 years with AVG and no problems whatsoever.

I have used Norton for many years. It definitely seemed to be more of a resource hog than the Micro Trend PC-Cillin I put on my wife's laptop, but my system was fast enough that it did not bother me (and I never did have a problem with a virus). When I bought Norton Internet Security 2006, however, I found the numerous (and I do mean beyond count) notifications so annoying that I uninstalled and put on Zone Alarms Security Suite (which was free after rebate). In the end I have to say that in my opinion Micro Trend PC-Cillin is the best of the bunch.

I had Norton internet security 2004. After about 5 months it would not update. Symantec also says it's products are made so they uninstall easily. Nothing could be further from the truth. No thank you, Symantec. I'll use FREE products. They work better than yours!

If I had to choose between using Norton Products or being infected with a mild payload virus, I would choose the virus. I have found Norton to be crippling to the approximately 100 PCs that I service, more crippling than most viruses. Examples of Norton's payload :) are loss of file and print sharing, incomplete web page loading, mind bogglingly slow computer performance, corrupt installs/uninstalls, programs that stop working correctly or stop working at all, etc. Norton used to be such a good company. What happened?

If I had to choose between using Norton Products or being infected with a mild payload virus, I would choose the virus. I have found Norton to be crippling to the approximately 100 PCs that I service, more crippling than most viruses. Examples of Norton's payload :) are loss of file and print sharing, incomplete web page loading, mind bogglingly slow computer performance, corrupt installs/uninstalls, programs that stop working correctly or stop working at all, etc. Like the commenter above, uninstalling Norton always fixes the problem. Norton used to be a killer company. What happened?

You know I used to be an avid Norton fan, I would recomend it to anyone since I have been a PC Tech for a number of years. I also would try any other AV, Firewall that I could.Since Norton AV 2001 the uninstall has been a nightmare for sure. I then used ZoneAlarm for awhile and was happy until I upgraded to Time Warner Cable Premium and it slowed my connection down big time. I started using PC-cillin Internet Security in and have never looked back. Actually I am fixing a laptop this weekend that has problems and go figure it has Norton IS!!!!

I used Norton products for probably five years. I really wasn't that concerned about it. Now that i am in the IT field i realize how much of a resource hog Norton products are. I only recommend AVG or Avast because they use little to no system resources. I recommend everyone to dump Norton!!!!!

I'll never use their products again. Not because of the problems all mention here (which I agree with)... but because of their rebate policy. Symantec, yes, you got to keep that $30 rebate I sent in for (Grrr!) But I'll never send you one cent again. And I'll let everyone know about the bad pratcices. Whatever happaned to earning an honest buck. Nickle and dime your customers will only lead to failure... As you can already read by everone elses comments.

I have used Systemworks for several years. The Systemworks 2003 was the killer. I ordered and received Systemworks 2004 and when I started to install found that the uninstall of the 2003 was incomplete and 2004 could not be installed. I went to the Symantec web site and got a 10 page set of instructions which included 2 pages of modifying and deleting in the Regestry. I did it and everything worked, but it ain't what should happen. If it was not the same companies software I could perhaps understand. But an inability to uninstall one to replace with the updated product. Unacceptable!!

Boy, touched a nerve there, huh?

I currently use McAfee. I didn't like the previous versions of McAfee and warned others to stay away from both Norton and McAfee but since the release of their VirusScan 10.0 I have found McAfee to be quite awsome! It has performed better and protected me in real time than any other antivirus product I have use and I've tried alot! I guess this is why PC Mag choose McAfee 10.0 as their editor's choice for antivirus protection but I know there are more than enough of you who will disagree. LOL!

I currently use McAfee. I didn't like the previous versions of McAfee and warned others to stay away from both Norton and McAfee but since the release of their VirusScan 10.0 I have found McAfee to be quite awsome! It has performed better and protected me in real time than any other antivirus product I have used and I've tried alot! I guess this is why PC Mag choose McAfee 10.0 as their editor's choice for antivirus protection but I know there are more than enough of you who will disagree. LOL!

Sorry about the double post! That was an accident. :)

I don't understand why anyone would pay for a anti-virus program with the quality free ones available.

**** I REMOVED MY INTERNET SECURITY SUIT ****

... because it was the source of numerous problems with my computer.

For those reasons I build my own FREE Security Suit with:
****************************************
1. Firewall: ZoneAlarm (zonelabs.com)
2. Antivirus: AVG (grisoft.com)
3. Spyware: Spybot S&D (safer-networking.org)
4. Spyware: SpywareBlaster (javacoolsoftware.com)
5. Pop-up adds: Ad-Aware SE Personal edition (lavasoft.com)
****************************************

Hope this help,
Cheers everyone!

Has been a frustration for years that you couldn't renew like a magazine adding to your subscription for 12 additional months...but for one year from when you renew. Somewhere you get screwed. I have however usually purchased the System Works Premier program with AV/Utilities/Ghost toward mid summer from Staples with essentially a 100% rebate....that helps keep the cost reasonable, though it doesn't solve the intrusive notices or program features.

Has been a frustration for years that you couldn't renew like a magazine adding to your subscription for 12 additional months...but for one year from when you renew. Somewhere you get screwed. I have however usually purchased the System Works Premier program with AV/Utilities/Ghost toward mid summer from Staples with essentially a 100% rebate....that helps keep the cost reasonable, though it doesn't solve the intrusive notices or program features.

Has been a frustration for years that you couldn't renew like a magazine adding to your subscription for 12 additional months...but for one year from when you renew. Somewhere you get screwed. In recent years, I usually purchased the System Works Premier program with AV/Utilities/Ghost toward mid summer from Staples with essentially a 100% rebate....that helps keep the cost reasonable, though it doesn't solve the intrusive notices or program features. Also will

WOW! I sure opened up some flood gate here! GREAT! I can see that I wasn't the only one with the "SYMANTECGOAWAY" dream! Right off the bat, I do not like that that Symantec seems to be part of every new computer. ...exactly WHO decides that??????
The next time I buy a computer, and it comes with Norton pre-installed, I will NOT buy that computer and will let the computer manufacturer know about it! Secondly for the "knowitall" (Rich) with the comment "I love how people who clearly don't know what they're doing will blame the software." YOU OBVIOUSLY WORK FOR SYMANTEC!!!! How dare you make a judgement like that!!!! Are you saying that people who only do "internetting and emailing" deserve to get "screwed" by Symantec??????? Neither I nor the unhappy Symantec customers need to justify to YOU nor anyone else how they spend their time on the computer!

*************** B O O M *****************

... I JUST BLASTED OFF MY INTERNET SECURITY SUIT 2005...
****************************************

... and I build my own FREE Security Suit with:
****************************************
1. Firewall: ZoneAlarm (zonelabs.com)
2. Antivirus: AVG (grisoft.com)
3. Spyware: Spybot S&D (safer-networking.org)
4. Spyware: SpywareBlaster (javacoolsoftware.com)
5. Pop-up adds: Ad-Aware SE Personal edition (lavasoft.com)
****************************************

This setup requires some extra work since their is no automated scan and updates. However I gain a lot with a more snappy computer and I get rid of all the interferences the security suite was creating on my computer. Moreover - I have the best of the best in security software - based on major PC publication's review.

Hope this help,
Cheers everyone!

Sorry "Rich"; I apologize. I believe the original comment about "I love how people who clearly don't know what they're doing will blame the software" came from "ANONYMOUS"! Well - there you go! ANONYMOUS - really!!!! Let me repeat - OBVIOUSLY "anonymous" WORKS FOR SYMANTEC!

Wow....There sure are a lot of Symantic haters......

I love it....It has the highest % of catching viruses and used with Systemworks Pro it keeps me running fast and clean......

How can so many hate such a good product!!

I recently had to uninstall all of my Norton products in order to get the newest versions to install and there were major issues costing many hours of my time. Bottom line--DO NOT use the control panel applet to uninstall Norton Products--download SymNRT from the Symantec web site which IS their special removal tool for versions 2004+ and it seemed to work OK. No more Norton products for me after my subscription to updates expires.

I do not find it better than other programs. This is a typical case of personal infringement where the software is imposing itself over the owner of the computer. It should be law that any software installed, when uninstalled should leave the computer as if the software was never installed in the fisrt place. Is this difficult to understand? I'm about to go through the unavoidable mess.

after much work, i found an uninstaller that rid me of my norton "ball and chain" it's symNTR Symantec Removal Utility.cleared my registry editor and i installed mcafee,free with Comcast.
i will never touch norton again!
also have sptbot,ad-aware,spy sweeper(sweet), micro soft anti spyware beta 1, boost XP.

CA's EZ-Armor, Symantec and Norton all give you those d*#@d pop ups.
I now use:
AVG Free
Zone Alarm Pro
Ad-Aware SE
CCleaner
and haven't had a virus yet! Hope I'm not speaking too soon!!

I have a built in Norton Anti-virus and Fire wall, for my hp pavillion a710e, is there possibly a way that i can remove these programs so each time I do recovery, I wouldn't have to put up with this? If there is an answer to my question please write to me at the e-address provided below

to clean nortons go to start run type in nortons right click on each of the 15 0r 20 different places and then delelt.work for me i use AVG free zone alarm spy bolt add aware ms spy ware spy ware blaster no trouble yet

Symantec today is surely not what Peter Norton envisioned for his programs. I, too, have sworn off Symantec software. For years I had purchased SystemWorks, but I gave it up last year. It is intrusive and doesn't easily uninstall. (I still have Live Update on this machine, although everything else is gone. I'm afraid to take it out.) I use AVG Pro, Webroot Spy Sweeper, Sunbelt Counterspy, and Zone Alarm Pro. No problems. I gave up on free protection programs--you get what you pay for.

Good ole Norton, used since the DOSdays...great programs....but now, SystemWorks...a big SEE YA LATER...a real ditch-digging effort to rid the putter of the lines of codes it sneaks in!

Use McAffee, free from Comcast, and Spy Sweeper, no problems, no more resource hogs and I am not a slave to Symantec anymore with their annoying renewal reminders (and cost)!

Peter Norton, come on back and give the suits over at Symantec the three fingered salute...Ctrl-Alt-Delete!

Norton products splash all over one's hard drive; and it impossible to even pay for their tech suppport to try to get out of the troubles their software causes; and it is imossible to clean up and out of their files of hard drives.. Norton/Symantec products are to be avoided like the plague--FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have used Norton since the DOS times and one day I said enough is enough of Symantec for all the reasons of previous posters. With the renewal fee of the Security Suite I purchased a discounted Zone Alarm Security Suite subscription and a Trend Micro Security Suite subscription. One would do mainly firewall and the other antivirus. After the first year, I decided to keep only the Zone Alarm Security Suite. The people at Symantec still did not realize they are not Microsoft that can afford not to listen to their clients and have a love/hate relatioship with them.

I finally swicthed to AVG this past fall, after years of being a Norton user... for the very same reason! This past fall, when my 2005 Norton's System Work Premere subscription was 11 month old, I started getting those same messages to renew when I still had 30 days left and thoses messages were so annoying. I was planning to renew it as soon as it really expired. However by the end of 30 day of being annoyed by those message, I decide to try out the free personal AVG. I'm so GLAD I did try AVG. I've been so happy with AVG (smaller foot print) that I now recommend AVG instead of to Norton to all my friends.

I hate Norton Anti-virus and Symantec too.
I hate disk doctor and clean sweep too.
The computer slows down, the error messages are mean.
The support reps are stupid and the website ain't clean.
And the virus's ain't rid of off, the situation get's worse, you ask for a refund and it ain't gonna work - It's NORTONNN ... SYSTEM WORKS!

HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT SYMANTEC THIS WAY!!!!!

NOTE: I want all these negative comments removed you hear!

Wow, alot of posts here, most of them on the offense against. Can't say I'm a computer protection guru but I've been using Norton Internet Security for about three months and I somewhat agree with both sides here. Previously I had used Antivirus alone and it was wonderful, had been using for about three years, no problems whatsoever, saved my computer several times. Yet when I installed IS problems arose. Online games wouldn't run, S&D wouldn't upgrade, and my internet connection was generally nonexistant even though it was connected. Granted this was probably because my firewall was improperly setup, but after playing with it for an hour and setting app rules, reloading, rebooting and not having any luck I must admit that I began to wonder how the heck the thing ran. I expected IS to be slightly more intuitive, more like Sygate. Finally decided to turn the firewall off after deciding that it wasn't worth the effort. Understandably if you have a computer on the lower end the resources Norton takes up can noticably downgrade performance but I've not run into any such problems on mine (1.8ghz, 1 gig) From my experience all parts of IS are good excepting the Firewall, which is problematic.

Get Avast! instead or AVG. These are good ones and best of all, free.

Easy to "trick" Norton Anti-Virus into giving you another year of support. For example, uninstall Norton Anti-Virus 2005 and then reinstall it. One then gets another year without the reminder warnings. The same worked for me before with a copy of Norton Anti-Virus 2004. I imagine if one uses too old of a version, this "trick" may not work.

Symantec's Norton infested my computer damaged my registry and I had to re install windows. That is really not a good software, it is a nightmare. Go Mcafee. I think the PC World people should re review it again. It took me more than a month to return the Norton software and get my money back. never to look back at Norton again

I have had similar problems with this software, but I've persisted with it based on its company rep from 5 years ago.

It really irks that they don't appear to honor their subscriptions (with the reset of the anniversary date on renewal), let alone taking your money before they've completed the original service paid for (how hard would it be to post-date?). The intrusive recurring subscription pop-ups are the mark of a company that doesn't respect its customer in my view (heard of e-mail? Its a kinda neat way to communicate with people...)

We bought a new HP computer recently and beyond similar pop-up-itis advising gloom and doom and danger all around, found out that the "free" 30 day subscription for Norton runs from the day you first boot, not the day you enroll - how chintzy is that?

Then, I've had occastion to try their online support...well its a trial all on its own.

I am a customer today, but a pretty unhappy one...interesting topic. Thanks all.

I picked up a copy of Internet Protction 2006 because it was almost free after rebates. It ran fine (although the system response did slow down a bit) until late Dec. 2005, when an update was installed. Shortly afterwords I had problems shutting down the PC, also had problems accessing my work email from home. I uninstalled it a couple of weeks ago, I can now access my work email again, and pc shuts down when I tell it to. This is not the first time I've had to uninstall Norton/Symnatec products. Note that I've used Norton Utilities going back to DOS.

Ever try to deal with the obtuse and rude "customer service" people at symantec? I finally had to resort to calling random phone numbers of secretaries etc. at Symantec corp., begging them for SOME contact information. Rediculous. I swore a year ago I would NEVER use them again. Go AVG. Tim

Free alternatives:
Antivirus: Avast
Firewall:sygate personal

Both free and light on hardware resourses.

P.S.: Security Suits only existe if the virus keep apearing! Anyone else note the conection?

Several years ago I made an online purchase of Norton AV and was only a few months into my subscription when my PC caught a virus that forced me to reformat my hard drive. Since my PC was set back to a time prior to installing Norton AV I went ahead and installed the trial version with the idea that I could simply notify Symantec and get my lock code to continue my origional subscription. Despite my being able to provide proof of purchase with a credit card receipt I never got that lock code from them and as a result they've never gotten another penny from me.

Several years ago I made an online purchase of Norton AV and was only a few months into my subscription when my PC caught a virus that forced me to reformat my hard drive. Since my PC was set back to a time prior to installing Norton AV I went ahead and installed the trial version with the idea that I could simply notify Symantec and get my lock code to continue my origional subscription. Despite my being able to provide proof of purchase with a credit card receipt I never got that lock code from them and as a result they've never gotten another penny from me.

Just try out AVG or BitDefender and add MS AntiSpy, your problems are over, I never had any problems ever since and updates you get about every 2 days automatically without interverring with you work.
I must say that I don't use my 3 computers in a professional envirement

Sorry for the bad spellings in the previous message.

Symantec's Norton infested my computer damaged my registry and I had to re install windows.It is pure adultered antivirus filth and it gets you too screwed...Dear NORTON, please do us all a favor and flush yourself down the toilet. If you don`t go down, cut yourself in half. We`re tired of f***ing around with a double flusher...

Everything about Norton sucks. GoBack doesn't work ... computer won't reboot with it. NAV is a system hog. My Ghost image wouldn't work when restored. Use Acronis for disk iimaging now. Disk Doctor couldn't finish, fix or report on anything. Switched to System Mechanic. Acronis Disk Director works great (partition management). Etc.

To youngsters too young to remember, once you bought Symantec's lovely suite of aging tools, its NAV updates were supposed to be good (free) forever. That is, NO subscription FEE!
Their rep, market predominence and product developement kept you coming back (once upon a time).
ThenPOOF, out of the blue my PC began nag screening me to death about MY "subscription" was about to expire !! Whaaaaat? That wasn't the deal. But Symantec decided to f*** it existing customer base out of greed. Not a company I want to deal with; and POOF Symantec vanished from my PC & my life; as did any future purchases of any of their products.

To youngsters too young to remember, once you bought Symantec's lovely suite of aging tools, its NAV updates were supposed to be good (free) forever. That is, NO subscription FEE!
Their rep, market predominence and product developement kept you coming back (once upon a time).
ThenPOOF, out of the blue my PC began nag screening me to death about MY "subscription" was about to expire !! Whaaaaat? That wasn't the deal. But Symantec decided to f*** it existing customer base out of greed. Not a company I want to deal with; and POOF Symantec vanished from my PC & my life; as did any future purchases of any of their products.

To youngsters too young to remember, once you bought Symantec's lovely suite of aging tools, its NAV updates were supposed to be good (free) forever. That is, NO subscription FEE!
Their rep, market predominence and product developement kept you coming back (once upon a time).
ThenPOOF, out of the blue my PC began nag screening me to death about MY "subscription" was about to expire !! Whaaaaat? That wasn't the deal. But Symantec decided to f*** it existing customer base out of greed. Not a company I want to deal with; and POOF Symantec vanished from my PC & my life; as did any future purchases of any of their products.

I am not saying symantec is the best, but I have been using Norton since 3.1, and I have never ever had any of the problems you people are having. Installs nice, has a nice GUI, and protects my pc well.

I've been through the Norton BS issues when I got sucked-in by the zero cost after the rebates. Then I switched to Trend. Guess what, Trend has learned from Norton. I've already had the pop-up to renew, however I cannot access the site to upgrade, customer service only replies with platitudes and seems more geared to respond to my e-mails within a specified turn-around time. Maybe their customer service should be measured by how much they help and not how fast they reply. I cannot have my forgotten password to their site e-mailed to me since I've changed my e-mail address since. I knew something was wrong when Trend only honoured the rebate after sending my rebate claim multiple times and calling many times. Currently, I'm looking to replace Trend's suite with BitDefender or ZoneAlarm.

Norton sucks. Honestly, some of these commercial software are as intrusive as adware programs. The answer is to use free programs, like AVG, which don't BS you with popups every minute.

Norton is one of the problems with custom pcs that mess up hardware badly makes you reinstall windows xp a lot of times.

hi, i had a problem with 2004 symantec, when i uninstalled it the firewall was still there in the on position.symantic sent me two of their cleanup programs but the bloody symantec firewall is still there in the on position. i am at my wits end as to how to get rid of this bloody firewall.can anybody help me,otherwise i might have to reinstall windows. as for symantes, you can stick it.

Norton AV is the worst software I ever seen . I use that for 4 year and now I gonna use Kaspersky AV . Norton is the fucking one

In response to Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 27, 2006, 09:34 AM (PST),
I'm a system administrator with a global company. Your remark is inaccurate. No software company has the right to proliferate their product to the point that the end user does not have control of said product. Norton is indeed a very good product, but blaming the user is not the answer. You stated, 'I love how people who clearly don't know what they're doing will blame the software’. The software developers are the professionals, not the users. Make a user friendly, unobtrusive product, and you will minimize this type of issue. I personally use AVG pro, however, our corporation tests and uses software from most av companies, (to test compatibility with new driver releases) and to some degree or another, they predominately are good products. Again, be more educated when addressing the user community, they are not the experts.

Being a Computer Tech and seeing the day to day software issues on regular basis, what seems to kill a systems performance quicker than anything is to add Norton onto your computer.It sucks up your resources,doesn't find viruses and if it does ,does not delete them!!!Pease folks do yourself a favor and download a copy of AVG from Cnet.com.Never pay for protection again!!!

My SO recently purchased a Dell from QVC (I was notified after the fact); it was shipped with a 6 month trial version of Norton Security Suite and 90 days worth of AOL, both of which are a bitch to remove (personal experience). What really hacks me is that Dell did not provide a WinXP backup disk, if I have to do a reinstall because Norton or AOL hoses up her system, I am really screwed. Why do manufacturers insist on installing crappy products -- are they getting a cut? Why not just install free products and let the consumer put in what he/she wants?

A man, or in this case, (company) is only as good as it's word. Enough said!

I was once a die-hard user of Norton Utilities/Antivirus. However, my computer hard drive became infected with a trojan that sapped the resources of my computer...making it unusable. The frustrating part was that while Norton recognized the infection, it was unable to quartantine or remove it. I used this as an opportunity to buy a larger hard drive and reinstalled my software (sans Norton), using Avast! as my anti-virus of choice. When I put the old drive into an external drive and had Avast scan it...it not only detected the trojan but removed it completely. It was baffling to me that a free program could do what a paid program could not. Like many others here, I use Spybot S&D, Ad Aware SE and Microsoft Anti-Spyware to keep spyware off of my computer. So far, so good. My system has been running much better without Norton running int he background. The only other item I had missed from the SystemWorks program was Speed Disk, but I've found Diskeeper to more than make up for that. Bottom line, I'm not paying $70 for a program that doesn't help keep my system running at peak performance, charges me half as much again to keep the virus definitions up to date and taxes my systems resources. Both Norton and McAfee need to greatly improve the performance of their product if (and cut the prices) if they hope to keep and attract customers.

Ive had bad experiences with Norton, and used it for several years. I'm guessing a lot of the people who have few problems with the software, don't use the internet much, and certainly never delve into P2P downloaging, because if you did, you'd soon realise that Norton is woefully inadequate. Malware can easily disable it, even if you follow all their safety protocols. I had major problems with Live! also, my software almost always failed to update key services. And then a few months ago I decide to follow the advice of some tech boffins on a tech site, and uninstall. Of course its not as easy as all that, why would it be? It clings to your harddrive like a demon possessed. Anyway, eventually my PC succumbed to the flood of malware skipping gleefully around Norton's wicker-like defenses. I reinstalled XP, and this time went for a XP firewall/AVG free combo...no annoying resubscription pop ups, no virus problems, no internet connection issues, no unauthorised blocks.....ah, bliss it is, in a Norton Free world!

Iagree with most ex-users of sysmantec,s products.I,ve used norton IS,system works,norton really does slow down yous pc& it doednt really remove all the trojan & stuff,switched to Avg,Zone Alarm & Ewido-Antimaleware smooth sailing ever since. Ewido removed lots that spybot,adware 6se,spywareblaster did not detect.

Yep most of the alternative programs suggested on here, have worked for me. AVG free, Ad-aware SE, Zone Alarm, Ewido (agree with above poster, this seems to pick up some malware the others fail to)...also CCleaner, great utility...add to that a routine disk maintainence, and I've have SOOOOO fewer prolems than when I naively thought Norton could do it all.

I used McAfee for 3 years and was very unhappy with it. It wouldn't block infected E-mails from getting into my inbox and their firewall was a joke. Now, I use NIS and have had zero probs with it since 2004. It does what it says it'll do and more. Yes, the price is a bit much but so is McAfee's suite. I've found new boxed versions of NIS at E-bay for $45 the past 2 years.

Norton likes to think that the only program you have on your computer is Norton AV and it would probably work great if that was the case, perhaps they do not realise some people have Microsoft Office and graphics programs also. I have found that Norton & Roxio both like to alter system files for the sake of their own software and totaly disregard the effect on other programs. Better to have a mild virus or use free AV programs

No matter what you use, you need to read the product documentation and educate yourself about it, or it won't do the job you expect. Also, if the program you use doesn't work right, or interferes with something else, email the company that wrote the software, chances are you're not the first nor alone...and they can help you tweak it back into shape etc.

What are you guys talking about??
What Subscription reminder?
What is Norton Anti virus and What is Norton Systemworks? .. are they the same?

Even without symantec or virus etc. Windows itself is intrusive and resource hogs, not to mention stealing HD space.

Whatever program/software you use, you always get a headache.

Computer is dangerous for your health, it can make you headache, increase your blood pressure, ruin your eye sight, and hurts your bones.

Symantec, are you listening?? Formerly a loyal customer, I've sworn off Symantec products for over a year now, and thanks to the several stand-alones, haven't had any problems with any unwanted I-net hazards. I'm not going back; the constant nagging was unprofessional, unnecessary, unwanted, and completely unappreciated. Good riddance.

I'm happy to see that the news I discovered for myself is finally getting out. Symantic sucks....your system and your money. There are so many better options out there that I was able to say goodbye to them years ago and still remain virus free.

I'm happy to see that the news I discovered for myself is finally getting out. Symantic sucks....your system and your money. There are so many better options out there that I was able to say goodbye to them years ago and still remain virus free.

I've also used System Works for a long time. But it took Tech. Support more than 10 months and the two most recent versions (2005/2006) to figure out that Speed Disk no longer works by optimizing files according to the legend (Files First, Files Last, Files Placed at End, Etc.). It seams that they now use per Tech Support "Microsoft MoveFile API. This results in less functionality and less thoroughness for Speed Disk, though moves are now handled in a 'Microsoft-approved' manner. ".

The rest of the software has been watered down year by year also to a point were it is near useless.

I'm happy to see that the news I discovered for myself is finally getting out. Symantic sucks....your system and your money. There are so many better options out there that I was able to say goodbye to them years ago and still remain virus free.

I work as tech support for an ISP. Everyday I expect to hear from several people complaining how either their e-mail doesn't work or their Web Pages will not load. I don't mind getting calls about stuff like that. What I do mind is what seems to be the endless amount of calls I get where turning off either NIS or NAV seems to fix this problem. I have gone throught he entire program with them, and had them set up every single option that the software allows. Still it blocks things that it doesn't need to block, in the end I usually have to tell them to uninstall it and put a different anti-virus program.

I am really glad to see this thread. I used to use Norton Systemworks. And it seems that as long as you keep paying Norton everything is fine. I let the virus subscript lapse and then nothing would work and I was having all kinds of system problems. I finally uninstalled the whole mess and also had to go in and change system settings to get it out completly.

I now use AVG and I am very happy and glad to hear others are as well.

Also I know 2 people that Norton Firewall crashed their systems to the point of unrecoverabilty.

Please note that I an the others with these problems are very experienced computer professionals. If we are having this much trouble, heaven help regular users.

Get a copy of Nonav to remove Norton.

Try ANTIVIR the free antivirus from germany that has the umbrella. It's very good and free.

Another formerly loyal Symantec customer here. After repeatedly being told that I had to uninstall and reinstall NAV and having it take forever, only to break again a couple of weeks later (using Outlook 2003) and force me to have to reboot to get my mail because if the NAV process isn't there, Outlook can't get at the mail server - I uninstalled it on all 4 machines I have running.

I'm using free software now and my machines run faster and not a single crash.

Sorry, Norton - but now at 5 machines, I can't afford you anymore. I can't afford the crashes, the constant annoyances and the cryptic error messages.

I've used Norton AV and IS in the past but no more. It causes more problems than fixes them. I've encountered almost every problem mentioned above and then some. i've now used free products which work better than Norton products.

garbage in garbage out
lousy codes in lousy products out

it's all about the money. They rush the products out so they can make money fast. the consumers are the ones who pay the price.

The Norton AV came with my Dell laptop and I used ZoneAlarm PRO for a Firewall. I renewed NAV at least once but comments like these got me to wondering and so I trialed several other AV's.

I now use NOD32 and Agnitums' Outpost Firewall.

NOD32 has been great. Caught stuff NAV missed and I like the frequent updates. I used to see an update from Norton on average every 2 to 4 days and NOD32 is usually twice a day and occassionally more often.

ZoneAlarm got turfed after they billed me twice for a renewal and then sent me a multi-page legal document that I had to sign before they'd issue a credit. I didn't and wrote off the extra renewal as a business expense. Outpost works better and it has an excellent b/i spyware scanner.

To fully remove Norton AntiVirus and related Norton prograns after uninstalling the program, download and run Microsoft's Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. Select any Norton programs that may still be listed. After that, run regedit. Search for "Norton" without quotes, delete all keys that have the word Norton in it. This may take about 30 minutes, as there can be hundreds of instances of garbage keys left behind by the poor quality uninstaller. If you are not familiar with registry editing make a back up first.

Since I didn't renew my Norton/Symantec subscription, their "protection" software now won't let me access any secure web site, like a bank site. I had originally created Norton accounts on my machine mirroring my Windows XP accounts, but now it won't let me log onto the Norton account (the log-on popup comes up with the log-on button disabled), and it won't let me uninstall because it says I don't have proper permissions. Is running symNRT.exe going to work for me, or am I going to have to reinstall Windows XP?

hi martin, i have used synNRT and a couple other programs sent to me by symantec and they did not work for me and i still have their firewall in my pc in the on position and i cannot get rid of this bloody firewall,i am at my wits end facing the prospect of having to re-install windows, nortons sucks.

I have found people bringing in their PC's to the shop and the first thing I do now is ask what virus scanner they are running.....if norton I automatically scan their drive for viruses...others come in and say their programs are not working, uninstall Norton, presto programs all work again ...norton = trouble...like many here before have stated I use AVG and have been since 2001 .....norton went down the drain after I had a virus and the norton files themselves were attacked by the virus....great stuff for the garden norton is ......bury it

AVG is the way to go, I run it on over 300 computers and have never had a problem. Symantec is nothing but problems. You might have to use regedit to completely rid your system of it. Good luck!

I use Norton Systemworks and all that comes with it; I have never had any problems whatsoever it,

My firewall & antivirus work very well and I am quite pleased.

GO SYMANTEC

Yeah, It gave me greif for the last month, and when I downloaded the new one, it didn't work! I hated it! I wonder if I could get a refund...

Has anyone thought of copying this entire post and emailing it to Symantec...? ;)

I agree with the start of this thread. I used Norton's products and renewed after being nagged to death. My period of 'renewal' started from my renewal date, NOT from the expiration date of my original purchase. 'RIP-OFF' - you bet...

Didn't have all day to read all of the previous comments but certainly agree with the first dozen. Had the same irrating renewal reminder in the last month with my Norton Internet Security suite. And oddly enough, the spam filter stopped working during that time...which was kind of a blessing since it was more of a pain than it was worth. And their tech support people of course, answer questions you DON'T ask rather than the one you do. I've switched to PC World's recommended PC-cillin Internet Security from Trend Micro...much less intrusive. But we'll see at year's end how they handle renewals.

Didn't have all day to read all of the previous comments but certainly agree with the first dozen. Had the same pesky renewal reminder in the last month with my Norton Internet Security suite. And oddly enough, the spam filter stopped working during that time...which was kind of a blessing since it was more of a pain than it was worth. Their tech support people of course, answer questions you DON'T ask rather than the one you do. Uninstall seemed to go ok and I've switched to PC World's recommended PC-cillin Internet Security from Trend Micro...much less intrusive. I guess we'll see at year's end how they handle renewals. In any case, no more Norton for me.

I agree with most of ideas.I have used norton for 4 years but it had some problems.Now i use bitdefender and my computer is happy now.Norton use ram and cpu so much.

If you have messed around with your clock on your computer, that will affect the update status for norton.

I've never had to pay for a NEW Symantec subscription. Why do I need to ??? When my NAV 2005 expired, I simply replaced it with NAV 2006. I avoid paying $20+ dollars by looking out for sales+rebates from places like Staples, Office Depot which will allow me to get the software for free or under $10. Symantec always has a $20 upgrade rebate available. All you need is to send a manual cover and the proof of purchase.

I've been happy with Symantec products and I have been using their products probably long before many of you know what computers are. I've never had an infected computer that is unusable for almost 20 years.

I agree with you EsCee, I just went out a got 2006 on the first day of the new year and I plan on getting in 2007 as well.

well there are supporters, and of course, "haters" of norton, i am a "hater"....symantec is just a money ripping company.....n for info, supporters, it does not remove ALL virus.....i uninstalled norton, and tried out kaspersky...55 dangerous items detected, and norton certified it safe.....for people who say their pc are never infected with norton...that is because you never tried out other AV products...norton just have the brand name perhaps...but tht's abt it......

I hate norton system works, go back chrased my
computer every time. And that for 89 euro.
I swithed to avg free, and safety. net, non com,
for firewall, and i am relaxed again.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!!!!

This is the very reason I quit using Symantec's product. If you should try to contact them they will, after 50 emails and calls telling you only that it's for your own good and to renew immediately, that the warning can't be delayed for a convenient time period. I personally have no problem using the AV and firewall, it's getting the 12 months of service I pay for instead of 11 months + 1 month of nagware. Unacceptable.

There is an online Better Business Bureau online. I have used BBB to resolve several problems with Software Companies. They respond rather quickly after a complaint. If all here would file with the BBB, just maybe Symandevil would be forced to make a change. I had a problem with Go-Daddy, Domain Seller about a refund. They refused and stopped answering my emails. I filed a complaint with the BBB, in less than a week I had a call from Go-Daddy. I got my refund in less than a week. Go after Norton all.

I remember at my old job we used Norton and the install became corrupt on our main file server. Removing and reinstalling was a hellish couple of hours, luckily we just nearly made our service window. My new company uses Trend and it's great.

I quit using Norton/Symantec software in 1998/99 when I uninstalled their AV that came on a new computer. A reg scan after uninstalling found 64 references/traces left in the register. They may have gotten better at removal, but I call anything that leaves that much behind "Litterware."

There is no mention of SymNTR.exe on symantec.com I searched out "SymNTR" and got this:

"Search Results for: SymNTR.exe produced zero results"

I use to use McAfee until the online scanners started to appear and then decided to switch to Norton. I never used the suites and always stuck to both the individual AV & FW products. For me it seems that in the past 2-3 years both products (including the suites my customers use) have been plagued with problems. The badgering only drives customers away and in my current situation I had uninstalled both Norton 2005 AV & FW 1 month prior to expiration then installed 2006 versions. Both show expired subscriptions even with the new products installed and the FW blocks norton from updating even if always permit is selected. I will no longer use or recommend Symantec products even to my enemys.

Just bought a new laptop with 90 day McAfee. Spent over an hour trying to update it. I removed it and installes CA.

get the patch for the update

get the patch for the update... subscription patch

Ahh...stop spamming anonymous...

avast.com is a free anti virus and works great. Blah to Norton!

avg is awesome

I'm using ZA Anti-virus for my firewall and AV combo, and Spysweeper, Ad-aware, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, CCleaner, and no problems, whereas I had been a big Norton (Symantec) devotee from Win 3.11 thru WinME. Had so much trouble with Norton tentacles interwoven throughout the registry I just gave up and quit renewing/using it. Still have Norton SystemWorks 2005, but I'll probably dump it too (only reason I keep it now is for WinDoctor program). Bye-Bye Norton, McAfee, and CA! Don't plan on using any of them again.

By the way, I'm a retired IT'er after 36 years, and never thought I'd see the day Norton would become something to be avoided!!!

I had Norton Systemworks 2004 on my personal computer, it slowed it down quite a bit. Removing Norton is a nightmare. The program damages Windows XP upon uninstalling. I could not update Windows after uninstalling Norton.
I finally had to reinstall Xp. I have since worked on other computers that are messed up, and every one had a messed up Norton program on it! Uninstalling Norton is very messy. It doesn't remove all of it's pieces and it will damage something upon uninstalling it. Be prepared to reinstall Windows. I recommend Trend Micro Antivirus.