I just tried to install the version of Norton av supplied by my isp... for the 3rd time.

The first failure hosed my os and convinced me to get rid of my old 386.

After the second failure (on my new pc) I did a live chat with the isp tech support. His suggestion? uninstall, re-boot, reinstall. Gee thanks, I woulda never thought of that. :rolleyes:

If I wasn't so stubborn I would just go out and buy someone elses av. Sigh...

AGV=free no prblems

Sorry, 3-80-what??
My friend, you deserve an award for your devotion to the old school.

Good luck at any rate!!

What did you replace your old system with ?

I replaced my old system with cheap. Its a dual core celeron with one gig of ram and a power supply that sounds like a 767 taking off! For $250 I figure I can't go too far wrong and its not too hard to improve on the performance of my 386.

The fix turned out to be both simple and stupid. There is a script error in the install (I think). The registration window was waiting for a carriage return. I tried mouse clicks and gave up, trying to use the norton repair tool to fix things. Looks like the Norton tool was breaking the ISP version.

Wid. Last time i checked, AVG free didn't do very well in detection testing. The last two versions of Norton are much improved.

Anyway, it seems to be fixed now.

Fred, Norton antivirus is a very resource demanding program, and for that reason alone I would also recommend AVG. I had Norton antivirus installed on my computer, but uninstalled it many months ago as recommended by many people. I have a Q6600 quad core 2.6 GHz Pentium with 2 GB of RAM, and since I've uninstalled it, even my wickedly fast computer has improved immensely, and I've gained about 300 MB of RAM. I would recommend AVG with Zone Alarm Pro, which is what I have and not only will your system be faster but it will also be more secure IMO.

I used to be a huge advocate of Norton, not it causes me nothing but headaches because my sister's computer and my parents' 2 computers all have Norton and they have regular internet browsing issues, and general system performance issues. When I visit any of them, I am often bombarded with computer problems to solve. I keep taking Norton and turning settings off and all sorts of things to get them to work better. Seems pointless to have such a "complete" system that seems to "protect" your computer by slowing it down and stopping even general internet and email enough to make you not even want to use your computers.

After 2 years of dealing with their issues, I've had them move on and uninstalled Norton.

Now, on my work computer we have Symantec AV (same company) and it is just the basic Corporate edition and it works fine. I think that they just crammed too much into the Norton line.

I hear you on the bloatware stuff. I will probably start turning stuff off as I figure out what it does or dosn't do.

It may be a moot point as now it is refusing to register properly. Sigh...

I alway remove Norton or Mcafee from new computers, they just want another $50 bucks every year, take up to much proccessing time, and really don't get any better ratings than free programs like AVG (personal use). AVG is widely used in schools, law offices, etc. I've always had great luck with it, along with spybot and a few other free programs.

I use Avast at home. I hate Norton products. Happily, Symantec hasn't screwed up BackupExec too much yet... but Brightmail's a joke now.

We use McAfee Enterprise at work. It's ok, other than the fact their HIPS program breaks random things every 2 months or so...

Try this Fred, open "control panel" and then go to "add remove programs" and select Norton AntiVirus. Worked for me

Loose IPs sink HIPS?

No, no, HIPS sinks loose IPs. And everything else, apparently.

Umm... What??

Are you sure?

We use AVG at work to protect our user PC's and it's been great. I personally like Avast, which is also free for home users. They both do what they're supposed to do, I just like Avast a bit better because it seems to have almost no impact on system performance.

But Norton, no, I'm not a fan. I won't have anything Norton on my machines. I've experienced more problems caused by Norton than solved. I've had the exact same experience as the OP. I've had to rebuild several PC's due to Norton's attempts at fixing/speeding up a machine.

I'm running NIS 2009 on 3 computers at the moment with zero problems and a minimal footprint in terms of resources. Tests run by CNET indicate that the latest version of Norton Antivirus runs as fast or faster on a number of tasks including boot time in comparison to the competition.

Symantec has received a lot of bitter well deserved criticism over the years but to their credit they have listened and corrected the resource hog problem and the intrusive popups problem. I have been running NIS since 2006 with no problems.

Norton's strength and weakness is the same: it's a big company. At times it has been slow to correct problems and the software has been bloated; however, with a big company you also have a lot of people working on product development and especially advanced malware protection. Currently the protectiveness of their product is generally excellent and definitions are updated every 4 minutes to make sure that you always stay ahead of the bad guys.

Of course with all the money being spent by criminals to come up with more sophisticated attacks nothing is certain but there is an argument to be made for having a company with lots of resources to work on new strategies to counter new threats.

I've tried McAffee and Zone Alarm in the past, the first had a lousy (unintegrated) interface whereas the second was buggy; that was years ago though so they've almost certainly improved.

One problem with Norton is that if you have a problem it's pretty hard to get it resolved; you're usually better off with googling error messages or problem descriptions than calling tech support, if that doesn't work you may end up having to switch to a different product.

I'll have to remember that the next time I use Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish versions of the AGV

Sat - I've read a lot of good reviews about the latest Norton as well, but I've been through at least 2 experiences like Fred's (completely trashed a computer) that make me highly reluctant to go back.

I've been using Avast as well for the last four years and have had it save my butt a few times when I've clicked on something I shouldn't have.

I swore off Symantec's products when it blocked nickjr. and I was unable to unblock it. I even added it to the safe list and did everything possible, including uninstalling it, I re-installed to no avail. I am running AVG now.

Yes I swore off NAV long ago too, but I have only one question:

Are we not scientists?

We are NEVO!

Don't be shakin' your HIPS around me or I'll get Norton to send you to the moon!

Now tell me, whatever happened to punk rock? Nobody shook their hips, just the plungers on their heads!

Go for it ... Move ahead ... It's not too late ...

Well, I didn't expect this to spark such lively debate. I was just blowing off a little steam.

It worked out in the end as I was having a hard time admitting that my 386 was well past its prime. The new PC is blingingly fast (for browsing that is) and stupid cheap. I just need to do something now to make it stop sounding like a 767 on takeoff. I've found a couple of quiet 300w power supplies one of which should take care of that.

You are priceless Fred, since you posted this thread I have been trying to think how many years it has been since I even THOUGHT ABOUT 386 CPU technology, much less questioned the BURNING NEED to UPGRADE. I have come to detest the technology creep as you and I once discussed (yes walking the puppy is still the only truly enjoyable part of my day), due to the intentional progression of obsolescence; however you clearly are a virtual prince of voluntary simplicity. My hat's off to you, and I'm envious as well: you have clearly evaded the creep of Nowhere Man Land.

Please enjoy your time off,
SK

We have Symantec required for our school network. It's a pain in my butt.

Man, people have the weirdest euphemisms for sex around here!

Sometimes the big dog really needs to take a leak.

Shock the monkey!

I grew up in a household where throwing something that worked away was a sin. I learned to buy based on need, not want. The only reason I ended up with a 50" screen is because the ex got the TV.

I am quite happy not to be running on the endless consumer/credit treadmill. It helps me sleep at night.

Sleep is such a waste of time, though!

I wish! I need my 8 hours. I once met a guy who did fine on 4. He had time for two hobbies while the rest of the family slept.

He sounds like me! Although 4 is pushing it, I currently get 4-5hrs/day 6 days a week the I need to get at least 6-7 for that 7th day.

Lucky bastard! I have run on 5 hours for as many as 5 days, but then I crashed and had to sleep a lot for the next week.

I have no choice in the matter. My kids get me up to make sure they get off to school, then I look after my 5 yr old till he goes to school in the afternoon. Then I workout or do house chores etc. till they get home around 3:30PM. I sometimes toss a 1 hr nap into the fray in the afternnon to catch up a little. I am then off to work myself at 5PM-2:30AM asleep around 3:30 - 4AM and up around 8AM, to another joyous day. Getting to spend all that time in the mornigs with my kids has been worth the sleep deprivation, although my wife says my hair is turning grey at an alarming rate these days. I think I've earned it.

I hear you on that one. I got to spend some extended time with my kids when they were younger.

Damn, I don't think I could keep up with that schedule though. I tried to live on 6 hours a night once when I was commuting. I was useless after about 5 months.

Coming up on 9 yrs in a couple of weeks for me. I think there are times when I resemble my avatar a little too closely.