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(More customer reviews)I have used Norton (AntiVirus, Firewall, Systemworks Professional) for years without a problem; and I have not had to deal with viruses, breakins or stability problems. They all previously installed in minutes without a problem. I did Not upgrade my 2003 products last year but did renew my subscriptions. I'm using a P4 computer running WinXP, with 612 of RAM and 80 Gig HD. I do not consider myself beyond a computer newbie, so perhaps my experience is a function of inexperience. That said, I have reformatted hard drives, upgraded WinME to XP, flashed the BIOS, installed graphics cards, audio cards,upgraded to USB 2, regularly download and install new software, hardware, etc. all without incident (or only a brief glich).
I have NEVER experienced the BUGGY, UNSTABLE, system wide problems that I have been trying to deal with since attempting to install this product.
(1)..The first problem was that it successfully prevented my Norton 2003 Firewall from starting (i.e., it just freezes on refreshing and after about 10 minutes indicates that all firewall features are disabled (will not permit them to be enabled); knocks out registration, while acknowledging the registration is still current for a few more months).
(2)..It causes Norton SystemWorks 2003 to crash...indicating problems with Symantec Integrator, etc. so SystemWorks is also unusable.
(3).. Antivirus 2005 has yet to be sucessfully installed. As per the Symantec site, I've updated "Liveupdate", and tried to remove and reinstall the product.(I've tried both upgrade/download and full product CD, trying the typical install> restart>delete> restart...) Although it was activated at install, it crashed at the computer's restart. My experience is that once AntiVirus 2005 is installed it CANNOT BE COMPLETELY REMOVED, there are literally dozens of folders and files that remain (even working in Safe Mode with full Administrator priviledges, many of the left-overs cannot be deleted, moved or renamed, at least not without a lot of effort). A computer scan also revealed over 60 Activex\COM errors specifically relating to Norton/Symantec, missing Norton\Symantec files, etc. Unfortunately, these items seem to prevent reinstall, as Norton 2005 sees even a few of these as evidence that it is already installed and aborts the reinstall. There is no option to repair/modify. Some of the problem also seems to strongly suggests that Product Activation/Validation is at least a partial contributing factor.
(4)..It should be noted that thinking that the Norton 2003 Firewall and/or Systemworks might be contributing factors, and since Norton 2005 AntiVirus made them un-usable, I eventually removed them from the computer....and attempted to install Norton SystemWorks 2005.
(5)..To date, although I have been able to get SystemWorks 2005 to install (it refuses to install Antivirus 2005), the Symantec Integrator causes it crashe constantly. And finally had to laboriously, manually remove the various SystemWorks leftovers as well.
(6)..Being without a usable AntiVirus program or a functioning Firewall, I have spent the better part of the past week attempting to remedy these problems since I'm using a cable modem with a fiber optic connection. I have been offline for almost a week (thankfully I have a laptop that has not been touched by any Norton 2005 product).Currently it seems the only possible solution is to manually change/ remove files from the registry (Symantec does provide information on the dozens of registry entries that will need to be removed (at least from the previous version of AntiVirus),if one cannot delete Antivirus using Add/Remove Programs.
(7)..Did I mention that prior to any Norton 2005 product install attempts I could press the power button on my computer and be on a working desktop typically in less than a minute; after the first attempted install of AntiVirus 2005 the start time is now over 4 minutes. Checking some log files seems to reveal a lot of the computer's time directed to verifying product activation/ownership info.
(8)..ADDITIONALLY, AFTER INSTALL (and before restart) AntiVirus 2005 provides information relating to product activation stating: "Antivirus 2005 may cause system problems if new users are added after Antivirus 2005 is installed."
Frankly, it's begun to feel like I'm an unknowing beta tester for Norton's activation process and upgrades. It's a bit like buying an elegant new car with a history of stability, reliability, safety, that has previously offered ease of use for its owner. Except the manufacturer has upgraded the vehicle to a keyless system that now uses only the owner's fingerprint to open the door locks or start the ignition. Unfortunately, there's a glitch and one is left with a vehicle that cannot be opened and will not start. No matter how attractive, no matter the previous history of safety, reliability and stability one is forced to junk the vehicle, as even a less known vehicle that will let do what you need to is better than one that sits there occupying space.It is unfortunate that seemingly such can now be said of Norton...
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