Reliably crashy

Author's Rating:

Pros: Almost free with rebates

Cons: Still unreliable

The Bottom Line: 
Use this only if you have no other options

Author's Review
I bought a copy of Norton Antivirus 2008 this year, since my current antivirus ( McAfee ) had expired subscription time.
Norton had a special offer, with 3 rebates of gift cards returning the sticker price of the product.

I installed the program in February, then ran the updates; on the final step of updating there was an error, with the code LU1812 or some such thing. The support page for the error stated that a hotfix for the problem would be coming out soon, so I ran the update a few days later and apparently the hotfix was installed correctly.

Apparently.

A few days later I tried to scan the computer; when I clicked the link for the program to do it, something odd happened: the Help And Support window opened, instead of a menu giving me information on scan progress. After getting live support from a Symantec techie I was told that the program was probably corrupted, so I used the Norton Uninstaller program to remove the corrupted antivirus, then I reinstalled it from the CD.

Today I ran the live updates, which occurred smoothly, then I restarted the computer. After the Windows desktop loaded, the computer froze on me. Rebooting using the "last known good configuration" gave the same result, so I decided to remove NortAntVirus again.

This whole thing is strongly frustrating. The next time I need to replace the antivirus proggy I may try Kaspersky; it'll cost more, but if it's reliable it may be worth the extra cost.

Update, early April '08

The program was reinstalled in the second week of March, and mostly ran properly, though the computer would suffer a slowdown when a virus was blocked.

A few days ago the program was updated; since then the computer won't restart properly ( corrupted files again? )so I had to remove the program again.

Update, June '08

The program is stable now.

Your computer's memory is a thing with this program. When I installed the program I had about 384MB; this forced me to wait a few minutes after startup for the program to partly load before would login to a Windows user account, otherwise the computer would freeze up trying to load the program and all other taskbar programs at one time.

When I tried adding memory my new module didn't work ( wrong type ); during the swapping attempts only one memory module worked, causing a wait of over 12 minutes before the computer could be used.

My current setup has a 512MB module and 256MB module; I can login to a Windows user account without a waiting period and the Windows desktop doesn't freeze up. Oh joy for small favors!

Just in case you want know, my processor is a Celeron 1.8Ghz; perhaps with something faster the program will run decently quicker.

Frustrating frustrating frustrating

Documentation

The program comes with a small paper manual, and a more complete manual in cruddy PDF format on the CD.

Scanning speed

For a decently large hard drive ( 40 GB ) the program will need a few hours to perform a full scan.

Main menu of the program

The program has a nicely laid out main window; at the top are links to submit feedback to Norton, check your Norton account ( an online account that has details of your registered Norton programs ), and the Help And Support window.

On the left side are icons representing your security status and network map; there are links to run the update program ( downloads bits and pieces like new virus definitions or scan engines ), begin a virus scan, view product history, renew/restore the Antivirus subscription, and the options menu.

The middle of the screen has a submenu to run a scan, change your settings, or check the activity log or virus encyclopedia.

Scan options

Users can run a manual scan ( the scan begins the moment you demand it ), or schedule a scan, having the scan occur at a specific time/date every day, week, or month.

A scan can be of your whole computer ( floppy drives, hard drives, and CD/DVD players ), or the user can pick specific parts ( down to specific directories or files ).

Running updates and file info

When the LiveUpdate program runs it's very scarce on info; the user sees a progress bar showing that your system is being checked for current files, then there's a progress bar showing progress of downloaded updates, and a bar for updates being installed. Previous versions of Norton showed the types of files being downloaded/installed, and how large they were; the current version does none of that.

Program settings and options

The program can be setting for real time protection, attempting to detect malicious files downloaded by incoming e-mail or internet browsing. Outgoing e-mail can also be protected.

The program can be set to automatically download updated files when they are available.

Manual scanning has options to enable or disable scanning in the following areas:
Compressed files
Active programs and startup files
Keylog detection ( a keylog is a history of the keys being pressed )
Rootkits and other stealth items
Tracking cookies

Certain items can be excluded from being scanned:
Disks, files, or folders
Various subcategories of spyware ( hack tools, trackware, dialers, and other options )

Technical stuff

The program has a 60 day warranty.

The program needs an activation code ( printed on the CD sleeve ) to finish installation.

System requirements:
Windows XP with service pack 2, or Windows Vista
300Mhz processor or faster
256 MB Ram
300 MB of hard drive space

POP3 and SMTP email supported

Instant messengers supported:
AOL 4.7 to 5.9
Yahoo 4.x and 5.x
Microsoft 6
Trillan 3.1