Norton Internet Security 2006 [OLD VERSION]

by Symantec

Product Features

• Includes Norton AntiVirus, Norton Personal Firewall, Norton AntiSpam, and Norton Parental Control.
• Includes 12 months of protection updates and new product features as available throughout the year; annual subscriptions available for subsequent renewal
• Enjoy your computer with confidence, knowing you have automatically updated protection against viruses, Trojan horses, and worms
• Surf the Web without being watched by dangerous spyware and without getting hijacked and redirected to spyware download sites
• Ease your mind at the click of a button, checking your entire system for security holes whenever you want

Product Details

Product Manual [412kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000B5NS2G
• Item model number: 10433312
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 26, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (226 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,539 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #18 in Software > Networking > Security

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Enjoy your connection to the world. Norton Internet Security 2006 gives you the confidence to travel the Internet like never before. A comprehensive set of award-winning tools, Norton Internet Security automatically blocks hackers, viruses, and spyware. It filters out dangerous phishing email and annoying spam, while its powerful firewall gives you full control over incoming and outgoing Internet traffic.

Which Norton Security product is right for you? Check this handy chart.

Privacy controls protect your personal information and parental controls give you the power to block unsavory Web sites and shield your children from harm on the Internet. And should your operating system or browser have a security hole, Norton Internet Security is there to handle resulting attacks.

Check and clean your system with just one click.

More powerful than ever, Norton Internet Security 2006 is also faster, smarter, and easier to use. With Norton Protection Center—a one-look control panel for all your security tools—you can review your security situation and lock down your system with an optimal security configuration. You can also run a system-wide security scan at any time with the click of a button. With all these tools working for you, you’re free to get connected, stay connected, and use the Internet however you want.

Benefits to you:

• Now includes 12 months of protection updates and new product features as available throughout the year; annual subscriptions available for subsequent renewal.
• Enjoy your computer with confidence, knowing you have automatically updated protection against viruses, Trojan horses, and worms.
• Surf the Web without being watched by dangerous spyware and without getting hijacked and redirected to spyware download sites.
• Ease your mind at the click of a button, checking your entire system for security holes whenever you want.
• Keep spam and phishing email out of your inbox and keep deceptive pop-up windows and banner ads off your screen.
• Open email and IM attachments without worry, knowing they’ve been scoured for threats.
• Stay connected all the time—with hackers and identity thieves locked out and private information locked in.
• Protect your kids from unsafe and unsavory Web sites.

Product Description

Enjoy your connection to the world. Norton Internet Security 2006 gives you the confidence to travel the Internet like never before. A comprehensive set of award-winning tools, Norton Internet Security automatically blocks hackers, viruses, and spyware. It filters out dangerous phishing email and annoying spam, while its powerful firewall gives you full control over incoming and outgoing Internet traffic. Privacy controls protect your personal information and parental controls give you the power to block unsavory Web sites and shield your children from harm on the Internet. And should your operating system or browser have a security hole, Norton Internet Security is there to handle resulting attacks. More powerful than ever, Norton Internet Security 2006 is also faster, smarter, and easier to use. With Norton Protection Center—a one-look control panel for all your security tools—you can review your security situation and lock down your system with an optimal security configuration. You can also run a system-wide security scan at any time with the click of a button. With all these tools working for you, you’re free to get connected, stay connected, and use the Internet however you want.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Poorly Tested, Unstable & Unreliable Piece of Bloatware, April 16, 2006

By 

M. Hart "Sci-Fi Fan" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Norton Internet Security 2006 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

Late last year when my subscription for updating "Norton Antivirus 2005" was about to expire, I decided to update my software to the more complete "Norton Internet Security 2006" in the belief that this would be a superior overall product with the addition of a personal firewall and a spam-blocker bundled with the latest version of NAV (Norton Antivirus). For many years, I had been using ZoneAlarm (ZA) for a personal firewall, so before NIS (Norton Internet Security) could be installed, ZA had to be uninstalled. Once installed, NIS appeared to work very well for about two and half months. Then, I started to notice several problems: other applications were running more slowly and it was taking an increasing amount of time to turn my PC off. Then, not long thereafter, I started to notice more troubling issues with NIS: namely, I had scheduled it to run NAV once a week to do a complete virus scan on all of the files on my PC. When this scheduled task would begin, it would stop functioning after checking about 25% of the files on my PC. The window that would appear during the weekly-scheduled virus scan would remain open, but there was no update to the number of files being scanned and the hard-drive on my PC was not in use indicating that NAV had frozen. If I attempted to shut down the weekly scan, the window would close, but it would then become impossible to start a manual virus scan without rebooting because NAV would report that a scan was already in progress. After rebooting the PC, which was also highly problematic as several NIS files would not shut down (including one called "ccApp.exe"), I could start a manual virus scan, but it would result in exactly the same frozen result as with the automatic weekly virus scan. The PC shutdown problem always occurred whether or not a scheduled or manual virus scan had been initiated. It would take at least 5 minutes for my PC to shutdown. The first file that would not shutdown was Symantec's file "ccApp.exe". After the shutdown window was acknowledged to end the locked file, the PC would remain in a frozen, pre-shutdown state for several minutes before several other frozen files also finally shutdown.

Having previously installed the 2003 version of "Norton Systemworks" (NSW) several years ago, I attempted to use that application to repair the problems that I was observing with NIS. However, this had no affect. I then considered upgrading NSW to the 2006 version, but when I saw the number of negative reviews describing numerous problems associated with that product, I decided against it. I then also decided to see what others had written for reviews for NIS 2006 and NAV 2006. For both of these products, the reviews are predominantly negative as well.

Being a software engineer myself, it is my opinion that Symantec is no longer sufficiently testing its software products before releasing them for sale to consumers. Many people (myself included) have maintained a high opinion of Symantec's NAV application because previous years' versions have been highly stable and reliable. However, the obvious lack of sufficient testing by Symantec for the 2006 versions of NAV, NIS and NSW have changed that opinion. It is clear from my own adverse experience with the 2006 versions of NAV and NIS, as well as many other people who have had bad experiences with these products, that the 2006 versions of NAV, NIS and NSW are unstable and unreliable. Given the fact that NAV 2006 would always freeze when attempting all of PC's files, there is no actual guarantee that it was actually scanning live internet activity to ensure that no virus, worm or trojan horse could infect my PC.

Finally, after attempting to improve the situation by shutting down other automatically loaded applications upon boot-up to no avail, I decided that the only solution was to uninstall NIS, including its bundled NAV. Upon doing so, my PC no longer operates at a snails pace and it shuts down within a few seconds (as it had always done prior to installing NIS 2006). I then installed McAfee's antivirus software (not the bundled version) and reinstalled the latest free version of the ZA firewall. It is obvious that Symantec has transformed its once very reliable and stable NAV into an unstable & unreliable piece of bloatware that will greatly diminish system performance and integrity. For this reason, I have no choice but to rate "Norton Internet Security 2006" with 1 star. If you are considering purchase of this product, I would highly advise that you first investigate other vendors' similar products. I would also advise that you don't necessarily purchase a bundled application, which may have similar bloatware problems as Symantec's "Norton Internet Security 2006".

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Norton Internet Security 2006, A 5-Time Loser, April 17, 2006

By 

Jim Powell (Westport, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Norton Internet Security 2006 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I had great experience with Norton Anti-Virus 2003 for 3 years -- zero viruses on my Dell with XP. I looked forward to installing Norton Internet Security 2006 ($69.95), since it combined anti-virus capability with anti-spyware and a firewall, the security features most important to me.

But 4 times I installed Norton Internet Security 2006, and all 4 times I got nothing. 5 times, I talked with Symantec techs in India and spent about 12 hours of my time on the project, until I gave up. I've had operating system problems in the past, but this is by far the worst experience I've ever had trying to install an application.

The first time I tried to install and activate Norton Anti-Virus 2006 (from a disc purchased directly from Symantec), after having uninstalled Norton Anti-Virus 2003 and my ZoneAlarm firewall, my system locked up. I still had an internet connection, but I couldn't get into email or any other program like Word, Excel, Photoshop or iTunes. Nada.

A Symantec tech explained how to shut off Norton Internet Security 2006 and remove it. The functionality of my computer was restored. I was told that maybe installation was impeded by remnant Norton Anti-Virus 2003 and/or ZoneAlarm files not removed by the Windows Add/Remove Software utility. I was told to go to Symantec's website and use their tool which supposedly removes all Norton files. I did that and again tried to install Norton Internet Security 2006, but it couldn't be activated. Each time I got to the Activation screen, the cursor froze into an hourglass. I got rid of it by hitting control-alt-delete. I repeatedly tried the Activation screen, only to see the cursor freeze into an hourglass.

I called technical support again and was told that the activation failure was probably due to the presence of viruses on my system. I was told to go to Symantec's website and have my system scanned. I did, and the scan revealed 9 viruses that turned out to be adware (no actual viruses, presumably thanks to Norton Anti-Virus 2003). I paid $69.95 to another Symantec tech who guided me through the process of manually removing the 9 adware files. I was told to again use the Symantec website virus scanner to see whether my computer was clean. The scanner declared my system to be clean. Yet again, I tried to install Norton Internet Security 2006. It couldn't be activated.

Back on the phone, I reached a Symantec tech who showed me how to display Symantec files installed on my system. Apparently I was missing one -- SymantecCORE which, I gather, is a communication file. The tech remarked that the failure to install SymantecCORE was probably because of a problem with my operating system (XP), although Norton Internet Security 2006 is the only program I'm having a problem with. Until the fateful moment when I began trying to install Norton Internet Security 2006, I didn't have a problem with any of the several dozen programs on my computer, so I was skeptical about the operating system theory.

I called technical support again, repeating my saga. After putting me on hold for a while, so my issue could be "researched," the tech told me that maybe the Norton Internet Security 2006 disc was defective. I asked about a refund and was told I would be emailed a form to fill out, which I should send to Symantec with the disc I had bought from Symantec. Then my refund request would be processed. Since my "priority" order had taken 10 days to 2 weeks to deliver the disc after I ordered it, I anticipated that if I didn't do anything else, I would be without protection against viruses for another 2 weeks.

Symantec's miserly refund policy reminded me of Dell's practice: a customer returns defective hardware only after Dell's replacement hardware arrives, and you return it with a Dell-paid Fedex label in the box used to ship the replacement.

Hoping against hope, I paid $108 for a download version of Norton Internet Security 2006 plus a 2-year subscription to updates. Guess what! After installing the program, I couldn't activate it! I again called technical support, and a tech had me view Symantec files on my system, and the download version, like the disc version, lacked the SymantecCORE file. The tech promised to have my issue researched and get back to me within 48 hours.

That was a while ago, and I went to Staples and bought a McAfee Internet Security Suite. It has 3 components: anti-virus/spyware, firewall and privacy (such as porn blocking). I got error messages when trying to install the privacy component (hence, it's "disabled"), but the other 2 components (the ones most important to me) installed easily and appear to be functioning properly. Time will tell!

Overall, I must say I reached the Symantec techs within a few minutes (excellent response time, once you have a case number), and they all tried to be helpful. I think they were foiled by a defective product.

Next time around, I will pay closer heed to product reviews and only buy a Symantec product if reviews are overwhelmingly favorable.

Disasters like Norton Internet Security 2006 drive away loyal customers and can trigger the decline if not the demise of a brand. Heady with success, many companies have succumbed to arrogance and complacency. If once-mighty Fortune 500 companies like Penn Central, AT&T, IBM and General Motors can fall on hard times, can Symantec be far behind?

128 of 152 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Does not identify virus; no way to notify Symantec of viruses it cannot identify, November 8, 2005

By 

Robert Beckmann (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Norton Internet Security 2006 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I have had an adware virus (Virtumondo)(creator Virtumonde) on my pc for over a month. Symantec can not detect it or remove it. Microsoft AntiSpyware detects it, but is unable to successfully remove it. Symantec has a removal tool for adware.VirtuMonde, but it also cannot detect it to remove this variant. There used to be a means to report (new) virus problems to Symantec, but apparently no more. Their only option is to pay them $39.95 to $69.95 (again) to help you find and remove a virus. I don't have a problem with a solution for a new variant of a virus not being available immediately, but I do after a month and I do with them assuming they know everything and do not need to provide a means to report viruses Symantec cannot detect. I've been a Norton customer for many years; not anymore.