Customer Reviews

Norton Online Backup 2.0 1User/25GB [Old Version]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

The initial backup failed repeatedly with code A2222. After many support requests and hours on chat/phone/etc, the "case manager" (Level 4 support?) stated that Norton Online Backup supports a maximum of approximately 1.5 - 3.0GB per backup. Mmmm. This won't meet my needs.

Also, beware of exorbitant costs for additional storage ($69.99 for 25GB of additional storage beyond the initial 25GB).

Maybe I'll re-try this product in a couple of years. For now, I'm going to try another service.

This isn't my first experience with on-line backup, but it is my best. The web-based interface is simple and intuitive. It took me no more than 20 minutes to download and install the software agent on each of three PCs (you can install on up to four with a single license) and to customize each to backup daily. The program selects files for backup based on the file extensions you choose. There is a long list available and you can add your own. By default, the software chose everything I needed to protect and required minimal intervention from me. Within 24 hours the program reported that each of my PCs had been backed-up to Norton's remote servers, and the core backups have been updated daily to represent changes to files. I backed up a total of 18gbs without issue, and I didn't experience the problems to which another reviewer has referred.

Because the software operates through a web-browser you can see the status of each of your backups on a single page. I haven't restored anything yet, but according to the restore options offered by Norton, you can restore files from any backup to any of your PCs. This appears to offer the very useful option of being able to access any file when away from home from any of one's machines. If, like me, you use less than the four licenses, this appears to permit you to install the agent on a fourth machine anywhere in the world, restore what you need, and then remove that machine from your list freeing up the license to use elsewhere.

This leads me to my only complaint: you log into your Norton account using a single password, and then have access to all of your files. I would prefer to assign a different password to each backup, using the strongest to protect the backup containing my financial and other sensitive data. The page on which you create your account and password does not warn users of the importance of using a strong password and of changing it regularly.

I have had unhappy experiences with Norton's software in the past, but this product seems to work well and I recommend it.

Some frame of reference on this review... I have used many, many PC back up programs starting with tapes in the early 90's. I have never been as frustrated as I am right now with Norton Backup. I also have quite a bit of (positive) experience with Norton products - NIS, AV, Utilities, etc. So I did not go into this with an axe to grind.

A little more background, I have been backing up my Quicken data for years on-line. The Quicken service (actually a 3rd party) was a very effective backup with great statuses, low failure rate and very fast. The 3rd party was bought out by Symantec so you would think Norton backup would have a good model on which to base their product. Apparently, not so much.

Here are the issues (so far):
* When I ran up against my original allocation of space (25Gb), reaching the boundary was anything but graceful. The tool basically became unusable. Although it said I should purge some files or buy more space, the only thing it would let me do was buy more space. So I bought an additional 25Gb.
* The additional space showed up immediately in the top right status bar... 24.88 of 50Gb used. Still could not do a thing. Backups would not run and file actions (including purge) did not work. So I opened my 1st service ticket with Norton. After several days, Norton's solution was to reinstall the program. That suddenly allowed me to run backups again.
* The new problem was that not only did "file actions" not work; I could not even select any of them anymore. I felt like I was in a Seinfeld bit (remember the car reservations?) - Norton could back my data up, they just would not let me access it (download, restore, purge, etc.) once they had it. Every time I clicked one of these links, the connection would time out about 85% of the time and the other 15% of the time Norton would give me a graphic that looks like a peanut in a hardhat (never did really figure that one out) and an "Oops!" message. This ticket was open for 2 weeks with Norton and every time I talked or chatted with them I was told to give it another 2 - 3 days.
* Well magically, I am now able to connect, but it still never lets me restore or download (without that, is there really any need to be backing up?). I have been able to successfully purge files. Since my ticket is still open, it's time to check in again.
* But here is the really amazing thing - for the parts that do work, it is the slowest product you will ever work with. I can understand the backup speed, large amounts of data restricted by your Internet upload speed. But navigating the file tree once everything is in their cloud storage is 30 - 120 seconds per click.
* And here's a little sidebar on Norton support. When you are waiting for a call back from a rep after 3 or 4 days, expect an e-mail saying they tried to reach you but could not. It will be timestamped at 5:18PM on a Thursday as they point out they work Sun - Thurs, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. I got two of these from the same rep a few days apart, with completely different work weeks. Only common link was that they were minutes from being off for a few days both times. The infuriating part is I know they did not call because I have Vonage and we have the calls simultaneously ring on my wife's cell. Neither call log showed a single attempt from Norton.

I am going to begin testing other cloud backup products. Norton's product and more importantly their support is unbelievably poor!

Ps - the entire time I was writing this, Norton backup has been trying to show me the 20 or so files I have in one branch of my file tree (I'm in the file Download action) and I just have a little spinning dial.

Norton (Symantec)has a well deserved reputation for creating strong anti-virus programs, so when they offered the opportunity to backup online my family's PC data, I thought the company would offer similar strength in its online backup program. It does not.

Unlike other users, I had no difficulty installing the program. The backup program works as advertised, the program took a substantial period of time to complete it's first upload of my data, but I expected that.

Where the program falls flat is it's tiny amount of storage space: 25GB. In today's world of photos, videos and accumulated data files, 25GB is insufficient. Of course, Norton offers you the opportunity to buy more space, but don't ever think about trying to purge files on the Norton server to give you more space. Today, I tried to delete a handful of files, to make more space available. So far, to delete one page of files on the Norton server, it's taken over 25 minutes. To recover files, is equally frustrating. Wars can be won in less time that it takes the Norton Backup search engine to locate the file you need recovered.

Idrive appears to be a much better service, with a real opportunity to recover files and store a meaningful amount of data for less money.

What they don't tell you is that if you need to actually get your data back you can't. The backup process is very slow and the recovery is even slower. 2-4 hours for one GB. I did a test file of 640kb and it took 15 minutes. This is slower than dial up used to be. If you want it on disk first you have to wait for it to error out and then it takes 3 weeks. This happened to be my work computer that I backed up and the hard drive has failed. I have sent my old hard drive out to see if they can recover. When you call for help they basically tell you that you are out of luck. Find another service!!

I bought this for my parents and myself. I opted for the Norton Backup Online because it allowed up to 5 PCs per account and 25 GB of storage. The amount of storage was not the issue for this setup but the # of PCs to keep cost down. The software works and backups up data online successfully. The problem is the online restore process is HORRIBLE. The website is very slow to respond and takes forever to navigate and is also confusing. Restoring data can take HOURS too. My mother's PC died and I started a restore of all of her data. It was not a large amount of data but it still took over 24 hours to get back because their data storage system takes forever to gather the data. This was not the only case of it being slow but every restore I've tried to do even if just a single recent file takes forever.

I installed this as per directions. It bombed every time I tried to back up. Worked with Norton Tech Support for three days and still no go. Finally gave up and returned it for refund. BTW I have a PC running Windows XP.

This is an absolutely terrible product. My old computer crashed, so I am using it to restore saved files onto my new computer, & it takes over an hour to restore even a single small word doc. (My bandwidth is more than adequate.) Restoring jpeg files (family photos), has been even worse. I've also never been able to purge (delete) saved files. I've experienced a problem almost ever single time I've used this product, & the error messages are vague at best & the Help website is one of the worst I've encountered. I've used the online chat help feature 3 times & been informed after having them remotely log onto my computer that Norton's site was down for maintenance, so I couldn't restore or purge any files at this time. Why Norton's own reps need to log onto my computer to determine that Norton's site is down for maintenance is beyond me. That Norton can't directly inform me in the first place via email or a notice on the website that the site is down for maintenance is ridiculous. For over a week I've been told that the site is down for maintenance & that it should be back up in the next few hours, but I continue to be unable to successfully use the product. This product is not at all worth the money.

For bring a well-respected name in the business, I am totally disappointed. The product does the back-ups but restoring, forget it. Trying to restore 1.06GB set of files takes forever and I am not sure it will ever be done, Response time on the site sucks terribly. Chat support - offshore and terrible. They don't understand context and are it takes forever. My opinion, it is most certainly not something I would ever recommend to a friend. They should be ashamed to have their name on it.

Realtively easy to use BUT - I have had this service for about six months. Seemed to be a good idea and product fit. Then my hard drive failed. At that point I found out that the automatic daily online back up had not been working at all for over two weeks and there were several failed backups before that - yet never did I get any notice that it wasn't working. Repeated efforts to restore even the older files were unsuccessful. Repeated tech calls to India to speak to persons with marginal English language skills were unsuccessful. During the last call, the Norton tech drove my computer, set up the restore sequence and told me to let it run all night (expected to take 10-12 hours) - except that Norton took their website down for "routine maintenance" about three hours later and it stayed down for over 12 hours and persons on Norton's online tech chat swore it wasn't down at all. At that point I took my old hard drive to my friendly computer geek and coughed up $175 to have him extract my files and transfer them to the new hard drive. DO NOT use this service. You are paying for a promise that they won't keep and it will be costly. This is a case where ratings above should include a zero or negative possibility.