I have a specific recommendation against Norton Anti-Virus. I just looked at Grisoft AVI-Free and will use that product next time.
I got Norton Anti-Virus four years ago with a claim of $5 per year for updates. I also installed Norton Firewall also with $5 per year updates. Well, that lasted two years and then no more $5/year updates. Not wanting to go bare and seeing how difficult MacAfee was to manage at work, I decided to stick with Norton. I bought a new boxed software package and installed both Works (with Anti-Virus) and the Firewall. They made no claims about what the renewal price would be.
Some really annoying and stupid decisions by Symantec/Norton about the renewal process got me so mad, I swear I'll never buy another Norton product.
1) The darn thing started reminding me 30 days before the expiration date to renew the %&#* thing, not once, but twice, every time I turned on the computer. The reminder is a stop everything and either buy the upgrade or skip. You have to choose one to continue. I have a lap top and only have it on when I'm using it--this was a major PITA. Now-SYMANTEC, LISTEN UP HERE-this isn't a mail in, where you need to worry about delivery turn around time, it's an on-line give 'em your credit card number done with in short order (short order--a mistaken belief on my part). This is an out and out grab to have free use of your money for an extra 30 days.
2) This irritated me enough so that I waited an extra week after the expiration to run the upgrade. Only to get the price shocker for the renewal. Almost the same price as a new installation.
3) Now you'd think a big company like Symantec/Norton would continue their policy of click here, enter your credit card number there and have the renewal automatically done. Well, you be mistaken to think so. Incredibly, the upgrade process which is run from inside the Norton tool couldn't even figure out what product it was. You have to stop in the middle of the order, run the anti-virus and look at the "About XYZ," pull down and choose that product name from a long list of nearly identical product names! If you didn't write it down or have a corner of the window peeking out from the desk top, you got to do this two times. It took me two or three hours to figure out how to do the order and then get it installed. Including a trip to their obscure help web-site for an incomplete tech order explaining how to install the update. I had finally given up trying to install the update to a point where I got a "done" notice from the installer. I had mentally given up and written off the upgrade price as an expensive lesson to never again use a Norton product. I powered down the computer and then re-started it and lo and behold it had been successfully installed.
I was so mad I couldn't see straight. Never again.
All this for a product that adds a minute to the start-up time of the computer and noticeably delays running almost everything else too.
Even if the firewall has detected and stopped some intrusions. And the Anti-virus has found some infected attachments, I am going to find a better product next time. It looks like Grisoft may the choice.
