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journal: win
20 Reasons The World despises Norton Anti-Virus
Do i have a virus or is my computer just gooey???
In the beginning… well, I’ll stay away from that mess of evolution vs. intelligent design. Let’s start back when the Internet began. So there Al Gore was; supposedly he invented this thing called the Internet. Then some other college kid got bored and decided “Hey! I’m going to delete crucial code from a program until it crashes my computer!” Thus, the first virus was born. Ever since then, more and more Windows users have been placing viruses on the Internet, and every person with a PC is running around like a chicken with its head cut off in fear. Then came the good guys; yes, anti-virus software. Until one day a company named Symantec made Norton. Then the good became the bad. Norton turned the tide for PC users… until after it was installed on their computer. At that point they wondered, “Do I have a virus or is my computer just gooey?” Unbeknownst to them, their computer was infected, infected by the disinfector. Norton anti-virus sucks, and the world despises it. Why is it around? Because Compaq bundles it with their PCs. Geek Squad at Best Buy hands it out to old ladies who can’t even get their monitors on, and Al Gore used it to make his slide show of idiocy (look, I apologize for the Gore jokes. From now on, I’ll only make fun of the French.) With the history laid, here are the top twenty reasons why the world despises Norton.
20. Having to type in your serial number while installing and then activating it within 20 days of installation.
19. When Norton corrupts downloading files.
18. When Norton uninstalls its self because a virus threatened it.
17. The stupid task bar tool bar thing that has pop-ups the size of greater Atlanta.
16. The live update reminders.
15. The CPU and RAM consuming virus scans.
14. Its inability to delete any virus, even ones that a three-year-old wrote.
13. How it re-adds its self to your computers start up list.
12. When it says you have spyware on your computer, then does nothing.
11. How when it quarantines a virus, it copies it to the folder.
10. If you use it to delete adware it changes your homepage and locks it.
9. After using Norton to delete spyware it tells you that you have to re-install it to open Microsoft Word.
8. The virus definitions in a Haitian health clinic are more up to date than Norton’s.
7. Norton is over hyped and over-priced.
6. Requires a subscription every year.
5. On any operating system other than XP if your computer gets a virus Norton’s only defense is to initiate “the blue screen of doom”
4. If it comes bundled with a computer and you don’t run thorough set up it will pop back up every time you log in.
3. It tried to tell me that dtgeeks was giving me a virus.
2. The latest version blocks ports that are critical to 99.9% of Internet gaming connections.
And now for the number one reason why Norton is despised worldwide:
1. Because after you realize Norton is crap. You will also find the folder is missing the uninstaller, just like many kinds of adware.
Please feel free to correct me about any of these. As always I’m open to suggestion, and will correct any major mistakes.
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81 | 48143 |
| Jay | comments | views |
thinkback
Agreed! I would never put that rubbish near my PC thes days. the last time I tried it out was a trial of version 2005 I think it was.
No one has mentioned the absolutely horrible interface that seems to be built entirely in HTML! Or has that changed now? Either way it used to take ages to render itself on any low powered PC, yet it claimed to be able to run easily.
I never saw it actually remove or clean any virus. Just report it and claim it could do nothing. Most times it would just miss them anyway. I was trying out some virus just for curiosity and it wouldn’t even recognise the files in the folder I kept them in!
Get it off the shelves now!
where can i get free antivirus software that does not suck. ONLINE with out telling everything about me to the web provider. By the way. My norton software is not bad. it has blocked a ton of viruses and alereted me about them. I think it is good to have on a virus free computer that is online alot because it blocks viruses and spyware from coming in but it does suck when it comes to deleting viruses and spyware, and adware.
I think it is good to have on a virus free computer that is online alot because it blocks viruses and spyware from coming in but it does suck when it comes to deleting viruses and spyware, and adware.
Um, then what is the point of having it? If it’s only good on a virus-free computer, that makes it useless on one with viruses, no?
It’s not like you choose to have viruses or not. They download and install themselves, that’s the whole point. If it can’t delete stuff that’s already there, or might come in the future (because nothing’s 100%), then why bother?
| Oct. 02, 2006 | |
| Arden | 10:15 am |
NAV used to be pretty good. I got it free from Google Pack and manually updated after the trial expired. I quit using it because I realized I couldn’t schedule scans myself. Now I use PC-Cillin, I think it’s a shitheap but I get it free from my university and it does run scheduled scans. (I scan every night) McAfee is worse than Norton, expecially in terms of CPU usage. (Sometimes 100% CPU if it detects a virus and tries (and fails) to fight it off).
| Oct. 02, 2006 | |
| 10:45 am |
Pay for AV?????
I personally LOVE Norton. Users install it on their computers...have problems....and call me so I can charge them to uninstall that poc software and put Avast on their home boxes.
My .02:
Ditch Norton and go with Avast.
Put K9 Web protection on the pc and block what you don’t want (e.g. spyware).
Get an old pc and make it into a firewall (e.g. http://m0n0.ch/wall).
Get a host based firewall like Zone Alarm free version (but they are not the only game in town).
So in the end you will have a host with a solid AV and host based firewall with web content filtering and a second box acting as you in line firewall and you will spend NOTHING on software.
Peace Out,
Kyle
Kyle,
It appears that , unlike some, you actually have a clue.
Thanks for the info on M0n0wall.
Frank
I used Norton for many years...so I can say that yes, once it was ok, now it is crap. I use Avast and have not been infected using it.
I have Symantec Corp AV on my work computer...everyday it pops up a virus alert but shows “leave alone” status. I think it has been compromised, but who knows. I have not been able to “un-enable” the “leave alone” feature…
Since there has been alot of talk about firewalls, I use ZoneAlarm free version with good results...but if anyone has a better firewall suggestion, let me know.
Even if the uninstaller works, it leaves a lot of shit on the boxes.
Johnson,
You were countering Jay’s arguments and had this:
10. If you use it to delete adware it changes your homepage and locks it.
A. rtfm
I guess my only thought is should they have to rtfm? If this were an enterprise software deployment where it reports to a central management box then I would definitely agree that you should rtfm.
This product, however, is being marketed and sold to home end users as a background service to protect their windows OS. In that scenario is it logical to expect every home user that purchases this product to read the “flipping” manual or should the manufacturer configure their product well enough where the end user does not have to rtfm?
Open for sound arguments,
Kyle
hi Kyle, thats a good point, but still, most of these things are in the settings.
Considering how everyone used to bash microsoft products for being so insecure, i.e. in initial configuration, most products now come locked down. i.e. with windows update enabled, norton with most of its blocking enabled.
Its because “most” users are so naive and stupid that they run with default configurations and never bother changing them.
I think its better for software to come out of the box all configured than for it to be “open” allowing users to lock it down.
consider the blaster worm, i think you would EXPECT your AV to block the ports and defend you against it, but if the same port blocks you from some gaming activity, then you would be seriously vexed why norton is “interfering with your gaming experience”.
Johnson,
You make a good argument. I guess that is why I like IDP packages like Proventia Desktop (aka Blackice in the user market). It will not blindly block the port in question. It instead analyzes the traffic and initiates a block if it recognizes a pattern. On some pcs I do not even run AV. I just “drive safe” and have ISS turned to paranoid and really monitor what kind of traffic is coming into my box as well as leaving it.
On my main box at home I have it set up as mentioned above because my wife and kids use it. I, and only i, have the password to the M0n0wall box and I do the NAT and firewall rules with an anal retentive method.
Peace out,
Kyle
PS- I wish Bill Oreilly had not edited my email so much last night.
Kyle,
So let me get this straight. You’d hug Jessica Simpson???
Just kidding. As a straight male I would too.
Bob
Just get a linux people, you wouldn’t have a problem with virus then!!
Norton/Symantec pay scriptkiddies to write the virii in the first place ...helps them with their scaremongering to trick [stupid] people into buying their bloatware…
I’m always fixing and optimizing peoples PCs and the first thing i do is uninstall Norton and install one of the many free AV apps and a free firewall. i’ve never been hacked or caught a virus useing the free apps and my PC’s runing smooth without anoying popups telling me “your being hacked and there nothing you can do about it(by the way, your subscriptions running out give us more money)”
linux. ‘nuf said
Why do people post comments like ‘Getinux’ or ‘use Firefox’ and then you have no problems...etc, etc. bla bla bla.
If people want to use a linux OS then don’t you think they would look into it and wouldn’t be looking up or reading about Norton, a windows product, and how crap it is
The ‘solution’ of using linux or firefox to ‘fix windows or IE problems’ is just completely stupid.
Of course, if you follow the advice then yes, you really would have no more windows or IE troubles.
But then you’d have no more windows full stop.
I doubt that is what people want or they wouldn’t be interested in an av for windows.
Hey, got a recurring rash on your leg?
Cut your leg off, works wonders. Never need to get that rash cream again!
Durrr
But, is Norton’s grammar, spelling and punctuation quite as bad as yours? 
You fucking idiot.
You prove how intellectual you are by your comment.
If all this is true why doesnt NortonAV reduce its price? or is it bent on ritual self-sacrifice so that maybe Microsoft Can sell its own Av software!
Kaspersky all the way baby!
Actually, Norton’s firewall is excellent.
However, besides their software being code-heavy, using up RAM and CPU cycles, and the fact that it hardly ever finds anything, what really angers me is their activation scheme. It doesn’t stick! I installed their latest version last week, and it keeps locking up. My account says my subscription is valad, but the software says it expired. And, it interferes with my Zone Alarm firewall.
It also seems to me that they are more concerned with people trying to steal their software than making a product that actually works without hassle.
I went all through with their tech support from India, patches and online tools that don’t work, and non-responsiveness from email support. I’ve had it! I’m contemplating switching over to AVG or Trend Micro. Norton has lost me as a customer.
The only thing I will give them is that their new 2007 antivirus is less of a recource hog, but the scans are still slow as molasses, and it never finds anything.
try opensource OS’s - no need for norton-like crap :^)
26.
Johnson wrote: “1. Because after you realize Norton is crap. You will also find the folder is missing the uninstaller, just like many kinds of adware.
A. get a legal copy”
I call BS. We have (make that “had") NAV site license. All our PC’s in our company ran Norton AV in 2004. We faced so many problems that we moved en masse to Trend Micro. Uninstalling NAV was one of the most infuriating and painful tasks we’ve faced till date. It simply wouldn’t uninstall on many machines.
We also had a sygate subscription but after Symantec took over and screwed it down to hell, we finally moved to another solution.
Johnson is a Symantec shill.