Norton 2009 has changed my view of Norton!

Well, after reading all the good comments from fellow posters about how great Norton 2009 is, I finally broke down and installed a Norton product. I vowed never to install anything from Norton back in 2001. And I have to say that Norton Internet Security 2009 has made me a believer again.

I'm just amazed how fast it is, bootup is way faster than Avira (and I love Avira, I'm not bashing them!!) and definitely a lot lighter than Avira. So in the performance department Norton is second to none. As for the detection rate and cleaning power, based on recent tests, they're good enough for me (Avira wins in this department).


There is one more reason that made me a believer again, Norton's support!!!! Holy Cow!!! What an improvement!!! I was skeptical at first when I saw a text chat appear for support. I was like, "oh boy here we go another outsourced helpdesk". Well, I was proven a bigot. By Norton using chat (or phone) and using LogMeIn's Rescue remote desktop app, Norton's support staff was able to solve my age long problem with software firewalls blocking access to my Netgear StorageCentral 101 (network storage device). They fixed it and they knew what they were doing!!!! Wow.. this has to be the best online support experience I've ever experienced!!!! period!!!

I just hope Norton keeps it going!!! and doesn't ignore it's home consumers.

 

Symantec support is much improved. I installed the trial of NIS 2009, and it found my key from NIS 2008. I purchased another copy of NIS 2008 cheaply on Amazon, and contacted Symantec support to see if I need to wait until the remaining days of my previous subscription had expired before activating with the new key. Support told me it would add the remaining days to my new subscription, so when it didn't, I contacted chat support again. The support tech took control of the computer, and fixed the situation. I ended up with an extra three months added to my subscription. I have to say I was pleased with the way support handled my issue.

 

~Quote removed. No longer applies. - Ron~
I have been using Symantec on a new PC and decided to purchase, glad I did, it's been 100% trouble free so far after 3 months. I think they are improving their products immensely and it's good to see the new direction they are taking.

I guess you could pretty much bash any tech support nowadays. Sometimes they are good, and sometimes they suck. I don't see the distinction between a paying corporate customer and a paying home user, both pay, and both deserve support.

I generally don't use tech support unless I have no other choices. And when I do use them, I don't expect them to know everything or even be helpful. That's the chance you take. If they are good, then that's a bonus, but I would not expect it from any of them.... Generally speaking, I think it's just tough to diagnose a problem remotely, given the wild variety of hardware that software is installed on, and software conflicts, and on and on.

 

I have to agree.
I was one of those Norton,No Way people myself for alot of years.
Their lack of support, the bloat and alot of problems seem to be gone now.
I was leery but I tried it after hearing all the good reviews here.
I did the trial and was very surprised.
It's almost worth buying, which I won't at this time because of other licenses I already have.
But hey, in the future, if someones suggests Norton, I won't be so fast to give the mid finger salute.

 

Hi all,

I was considering NIS2009, but I went over to their community forum, and, after reading the problems that users were having, I lost my appetite. Again, I think the product has been over-engineered and a bit too cute**2. I think I will stick with Avira + DeviceSentry as my replacement set for KAV. This pair seems to be simple, effective, and quite stable.

Rich

 

There is a support forum. Did you have a look there?

 

I wouldn't let what you see in their forums, or indeed anywhere else, put you off. That's the trouble with support forums as you often only see the negative side and not many reports from those customers who are happy with the product.

The best test is to try it yourself.

 

While true that support forums have a plurality of people with problems, that does not diminish the reality that there are problems with a lot of software. I just had an instance of NIS 2009 LU not updating properly. When I first posted in their forum I got the typical flack from members and Symantec employees that such a problem was likely something I had done on my end. Of course, now Symantec admits there is indeed a problem with LU, and a hotfix will be forthcoming. My view having used computers for decades, is that often where there is smoke- there is fire.

 

I trialed NIS 2009 and agree that Norton seems to have improved considerably, but still I am not convinced enough to give them my money. They have damaged their reputation with some previous versions and I am not so quick to forget that. If Symantec Norton a/v and NIS prove to do well for the next couple of years then maybe I would be willing to switch back to Norton products again.