Customer Reviews

Norton Internet Security 2008 Premier Edition

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love the drop down menu for password selection although I learned that this was done with a later version of Norton Internet Security later version. I hope that this product eliminate spamware but I do not like the update of ASK Search included in the Norton tool bar, that is something I can do without and if I knew how to delete it I would.

I recently bought a new computer that came with Norton Internet Security. This is the first time that I have used a product that contains an antivirus and a firewall together as one product. I am convinced that an integrated security solution is the way to go. Since the product came installed on my computer I cannot comment on the installation process however configuration for the most part was a snap. I have a network of wired and wireless computers. Defining which computers are trusted by the firewall was easy. Allowing or disallowing program access control is fairly easy also and you can customize the program access rules but this is not for the novice. The antivirus, spyware detection and automatic update features are all setup for safe computing. I really like the log viewer. Using the log viewer I can see separate reports on network or firewall activities, security or intrusion alerts, errors, etc. During normal operation I barely notice that itâ(tm)s running. That being said, I schedule full system scans to run off hours because the scans will compete with other programs for computer resources.

I was using the 2006 version up until about half a year ago. There were a few things I didn't like, the amount of time it took to download some of the updates and virus definitions using LiveUpdate was one. Trying to remember how long my subscription was going to last was another. They fixed those issues in the 2008 version. It's great, no complaints now. Rating should have been 5 stars, not 3 stars. Can't seem to change it now.

I've been a long time user of Norton Products (10+ years) and NIS is probably the best version yet. Easy to install and easy to keep up to date are big pluses with the program. It seems to run alot smoother that previous versions of the program, I haven't seen it "bog down" my system, like previous versions seem to have done. The newer features, like Norton Insight and the Home Network settings seem to be easier to use. It's worth the money to keep your ssytem up to date...get it!

After purchasing and installing Norton Internet Security, all intrusions are blocked successfully. Recent info-stealer viruses which infect especially USB drives are also successfully located and killed. Online help is also designed efficiently for solving user problems. I highly recommend this product as an anti-virus and internet security tool.

If you are having problems with your system getting bogged down by Norton Antivirus (whatever version), I think I have a good tip for you. Try to reduce hard drive activity on your PC. Your software (especially Windows) read/writes more stuff to disk than you think and they all have to wait for that mechanical arm to move around. It's an incredible bottleneck and if your PC is already pretty busy, the nature of Norton Antivirus probably pushes it way over the edge.

First off, I turn of any kind of (disk) auto-scan I can find in Norton. It will remind you anyway when it is time for a full system scan and I prefer to pick my time when I let it take over. Until then it is running in memory inspecting files being created anyway and should catch anything evil. The monthly(?) full scan should catch anything that slipped by for whatever reason.

Then, try to reduce disk activity in Windows. I'm currently running Vista and it indexes and caches and prefetches so much that there is very little left for what I'm actually doing.
You may have to fine tune it for your particular use, but personally I turned of disk indexing, prefetching, various other caching and since I have 3 Gigs of memory I actually turned of virtual memory as well (even if you have lots of memory, Windows will swap things to virtual memory and that disk activity is usually what makes your PC slow down). I also use Hibernate when I shut down my PC. That eliminates a lot of the disk activity that happens when Windows (especially Vista) starts up again. Hybernate actually powers your PC off, so I only use Shutdown every couple of weeks to let it get a fresh start.
My Norton 2007 went from making me literally scream at the computer to being virtually unnoticeable and the full system scan never turned up anything (the program running in the background on the other hand caught several viruses and unauthorized access attempts).

Now I upgraded to Norton Internet Security 2008 and it zooms along just as 2007 did after my tweaks. So technically, I don't know if 2008 is any faster than 2007, but other reviewers have said they have observed it to be much faster.
However what I can say is that I like its interface A LOT MORE than 2007.
The numerous attributes (Virus, Spyware, Firewall, eMail, Phishing etc) are listed separately on the Home screen and even though there is a Fix Now button that will fix all of them for you, you have the option to individually configure and update each attribute. I have my Windows Automatic Updates set to inform me of updates, but not to download or install them until I choose. What bugged me in Norton 2007 was that it considered that a threat and would not give me the green checkmark in the taskbar even though everything else was up to par. So since I had a permanent warning icon down there, I would not notice if anything else had gone critical. In 2008 I am now able to tell it to ignore the Windows Updates when determining to give me a green checkmark and will notice when something I actually care about goes critical.

2008 removed the ad-block feature which I miss and added a password and forms filler, which a lot of browsers and tools provide. Personally I use RoboForm, which I like a lot.
There is also a Network Map, which looks interesting, but to which I can't speak since I don't have a network.

Another tip: If you have a previous version of Norton, use the Norton uninstaller before installing 2008. It's easy and may avoid problems. You can find it by searching for "Norton uninstaller" in Google.

Not worth it. I thought I was buying some good stuff here, but it slowed my computer down to a crawl. A computer tech friend of mine told me the only thing necessary is the anti-virus. Anything else is a waste of money.

Norton Internet Security is unusable when run on a computer with Windows Vista. It doesn't work with the security model of the operating system and blocks application at random.

Norton was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in Columbia, Maryland. His mother Robin, an English teacher, died of a brain tumor in 1997; his father, Edward Sr. is an attorney and former federal prosecutor under the Carter administration who now works for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Norton Jr. is the grandson of developer James W. Rouse (also see The Rouse Company), who designed the city of Columbia, Maryland (where Norton grew up) and who also helped develop Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Boston's Quincy Market. He has two younger siblings; his sister Molly Norton, who attended Washington and Lee University and his brother Jim with whom he has collaborated professionally.

I haven't purchased this product because after speaking directly with Symantec, there is no such product as Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 "Premier Edition". Buyer beware!!!!