Customer Reviews

CA Etrust Internet Security Suite r2

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I've been doing computer stuff since the days of time-shared systems and paper tape backups (disk drives the size of a refrig. too!). In all that time this is the single worst piece of software I have ever - EVER - tried to install. Online support, no telephone mind you unless you want to pay $25+, wanted me to try a reboot. Now, I may not be the sharpest guy but after waiting 40 minutes to get someone, and 10 minutes of "Tried that" & "already answered that" over and over - to reboot would have lost me that lovely connection to that so ever helpful online support person!?!?!

1) Software would not install (and yes, I followed their instructions to the letter)
2) Finding access to the support on their website was a nightmare of its own
3) online support took downloading a proprietary piece of .exe software????? Who does that when there are already so many options on your computer?
4) 40 minute wait to get someone
5) they had not even read the detailed description of the problem REQUIRED to log in for help and asked me the same questions I had a) already answered and b) already tried
6) Tried to get me to reboot in the middle of the support session
and 7) sent me to a link about a product I was NOT trying to install?!?!?

Stay away from this software - FAR away! Back to Norton I go!

I've been a big fan of CA security products for years. This is the third or fourth time I have used a disk to download their software. It will probably be the last time, too.

Unlike all the other times where everything downloaded and installed easily in minutes, this version will not properly install the anti-virus/firewall, regardless of how many times you install, uninstall and reinstall. An e-mail from a tech, with improper punctuation and capitalization, gave me a web page that suggested there were still traces of my 2005 EZ Armor in my PC that had to be manually removed. The directions for doing so were complex, and I e-mailed them back telling them I saw no sane reason why I should have to do all that, when they should have known there would be a problem, and should have included that uninstallation task on the 2006 disk. I sent that e-mail to the click-on address they included in the first e-mail if I still had problems. My e-mail came back. The address did not work!

As I stated, I see no sane reason why I should have to go through all sorts of installation tasks to install a newer version of a software I already have on my PC. If the "remove program" on the control panel does not remove everything, and I can't install the new software, I'm going to get security software from another company.

I installed this last week. After installation the program would not open up, deactivated my firewall, would not let me connect to the internet, and would not let me uninstall.

I called customer service at Computer Associates... the woman I talked to barely knew what she was talking about and said that a tech person would call me within the hour. I called back 3 times telling them nobody had called me back. The suggestion they gave me was to go to the online support. Which since their product prevented me from having internet access, was very ironic. It's been 3 days, nobody has called me back, and I was forced to reintall the entire Windows system to get rid of this awful software.

Definitely save yourself the trouble and get a different antivirus software.

This software is the worst I ever had! When I try to install the software, I had entered a wrong option & try to get back to the last page and correct my mistake. Turn out, it hung my session & I have to power off my computer. Then after I re-logoned, the software continue & completed the installation. Then my nightmare begin. Everytime, I turn on my computer, within 3 minutes, my whole computer will be hung & got no response. Trying to uninstall the software, & there is no entry exists on Add/remove program on control panel. Then trying to contact CA support, they said I can only login with the id that is provided when the installation is completed. Since I never successfully install at the first time, I never got the id to log in CA suppost web site. Of course, I can spend $29.99 for a call on the phone line support, but I decided I will reformat my computer & never use another CA product again!

Every year I load new software, do software upgrades, and uninstall software I no longer use. Routine activities for any computer user. But, then the dreaded notice pops up saying my eTrust firewall/antivirus subscription is about to expire. I've only had eTrust for a couple years, but I already learned that renewing is going to be an ordeal, so I'm sure not to start it unless I have several hours when I don't have anything else important going on.

The latest update was no exception. Everything was working fine for the last year, but after the eTrust update, my Internet Connection Sharing would no longer work. After exhausting all the obvious possibilities, I finally tried their on-line support, which consists mostly of waiting in a queue, followed by waiting for a "tech" (and I use the term loosely) to hunt-and-peck a message to you, followed by sitting in the queue again after you are mysteriously disconnected. The on-line help was useless and if you want to talk to someone on the phone, they will charge you as much as the cost of the software. I finally gave up and decided to disable it and just use the firewall that comes with Windows XP.

No more Computer Associates products for me. I don't like feeling like a sucker.

I have CA's ISS r2 installed and running. Very happy with it. It does NOT hog my resources unlike my prior Norton ISS product.

I bought it recently after a little research. According to CNET (just published a few weeks ago) CA's ISS r2 has more features and is easier to use than Norton's and McAfee's ISS.

Quite surprising for CA in my experience but they do appear by many accounts to have a winner with ISS r2. Most impressed by the size of the foot print, not a drain on resources and ease of use while having the features I need.

Was a bit of a challenge de-installing the poorly behaved Norton ISS (check out the registry guys) but happy I replaced with CA's ISS product.

Please know that this is written by someone who loves software and admires the skilled craft of those bright individuals who turn out great works. It is almost a fetish to see what human minds can do. In this case it is what some human minds cannot do and then promise to do so. This is not a review from someone who just opened the box and thinks that it was just a great product because of its sweet going installation. This is by someone who used and trusted the product for a few months and has for the first time in many years been infected by something beyond this software this software's abilities. Now infected beyond belief, crappy support staff who is ready to press the "good-bye button" after seemingly solving one of the infections (there is no free telephone support and if you are blocked from the net you are screwed) this updated software (virus protection, spyware protection, etc.) failed to complete as promised. Computer Associates was once a fine company. After the disgraceful way its executives squeezed profits several years ago, I made the lethal assumption that they would be turning out good products. THIS PRODUCT DOES NOT WORK. Symantec/McAfee/PCillen/Virus Freeware (from a reputable download site), hands down, are preferable to this crippled product. I think the company could have a great product, but as my experience shows, they, currently, do not. Best stay with other company's with a better virus protection record. Goodluck CA.

I think it has trouble with XP Media Center, I have heard that elsewhere as well.

I work for CA, but not on this product. But I got a free copy for home, so I tried it. I prefer the McAfee free stuff from Comcast, but the CA one is fine for the second PC.

Found the registration number difficult to read. Had to have customer service tell me that they run into this all the time! The I's look like 1's. Tried it again! I got it to load. My computer slowed down significantly! Certain sites I could not access anymore without re-configuring the software. I have used Norton. MCaffee or whatever, and other suite type security software. This one was the worst. I would not recommend it. I got a well deserved refund.

I was lured to this product by a rebate which made it free. The manufacturer Computer Associates burned me for the rebate and will likely do it to you too. As for how it works no trouble installing like others have mentioned but it slows my computer to a crawl. After a while you will shut it down and then you can resume surfing the net at normal speed.