After 10 years Norton Anti-Virus still does this...

[Jazmac]

And do it better than any anti-virus application on the market. Norton Anti-Virus came with my new laptop but I never activated it. One day, I decided, lets see if after over 10 years they've improved any at all.
Shortly afterwards, I couldn't keep a wifi network connection for longer than a few minutes. I had to reboot a few times until finally, it would stay connected. So I started to really take a look at this "new" problem to determine how and why this was happening. What did I install that could touch my network on a regular basis. "NORTON"!!
Add / Remove programs and uninstalled it. Wifi connection is hasn't dropped since. I don't know what it is about Norton Internet Security, Norton Anti-Virus put out by Symantec but after 10 years it seems, its still "s***s" like a Hoover.
What are you using for Windows 8.0 / 8.1 and how is it working for you?

 

[dznk]

I just use the built in Windows Defender. I think Norton have improved quite a bit on the performance of their software in recent years from what I've seen on other machines. I remember in the mid to late 2000's, if you had Norton installed, you really felt it and some PC's would nearly grind to a halt with it on.

I have definitely seen Norton screw up network connections on a number of occassions though like you've mentioned. In some cases uninstalling Norton wouldn't do the trick, you'd have to run the Norton Removal Tool to sort it out. Sounds like they still may be having problems in that area then.

 

[Laura Knotek]

View attachment 50445

And do it better than any anti-virus application on the market. Norton Anti-Virus came with my new laptop but I never activated it. One day, I decided, lets see if after over 10 years they've improved any at all.
Shortly afterwards, I couldn't keep a wifi network connection for longer than a few minutes. I had to reboot a few times until finally, it would stay connected. So I started to really take a look at this "new" problem to determine how and why this was happening. What did I install that could touch my network on a regular basis. "NORTON"!!
Add / Remove programs and uninstalled it. Wifi connection is hasn't dropped since. I don't know what it is about Norton Internet Security, Norton Anti-Virus put out by Symantec but after 10 years it seems, its still "s***s" like a Hoover.
What are you using for Windows 8.0 / 8.1 and how is it working for you?

At least add/remove programs got rid of it. Used to need Norton Removal Tools to cleanse PC of that pesky Norton.

 

[Dave Blake]

That's it Windows defender Microsoft has you covered on this one. For the post part just don't visit websites known for having issues. Don't open emails from people you don't know and don't follow links from website you don't trust. I never have any issues with attacks sense Windows 8. I still have Norton on my laptop but I don't use anything on my Surface Pro.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I do use antivirus on my 2 Windows machines, but I use NOD32 from ESET. It's not a resource hog.

 

[palandri]

That's it Windows defender Microsoft has you covered on this one. For the post part just don't visit websites known for having issues. Don't open emails from people you don't know and don't follow links from website you don't trust. I never have any issues with attacks sense Windows 8. I still have Norton on my laptop but I don't use anything on my Surface Pro.

+1 same here, just Windows Defender with Win 8.1

 

[stmav]

Use Defender on my Surface. Work computer use Microsoft Security Essentials. Have Norton internet security on Win 8 laptop, Win 7 laptop and desktop at home. No issues at all. Have had 3 computer subscription for years just fine. May go to Security Essentials for the home ones just to save money, not because of problems with Norton. One thing for sure, McAfee will never be on a home or work computer. Not after watching a satellite office go down for 3 days to recover. While we stayed up and running. Only difference was they ran McAfee , we ran Norton.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Use Defender on my Surface. Work computer use Microsoft Security Essentials. Have Norton internet security on Win 8 laptop, Win 7 laptop and desktop at home. No issues at all. Have had 3 computer subscription for years just fine. May go to Security Essentials for the home ones just to save money, not because of problems with Norton. One thing for sure, McAfee will never be on a home or work computer. Not after watching a satellite office go down for 3 days to recover. While we stayed up and running. Only difference was they ran McAfee , we ran Norton.

Was that when McAfee thought an essential element of the registry was malware? If so, I knew a bunch of people who experienced that bug where they worked.

 

[Jazmac]

At least add/remove programs got rid of it. Used to need Norton Removal Tools to cleanse PC of that pesky Norton.

I remember older versions of Norton this was something you had to do. It was yet another reason why I abandoned Norton. It placed an icon on every webpage as a reminder which I also did not like. Then you could not simply uninstall it. It treated the uninstall as an intrusion, even in safe mode.

 

[HeyCori]

Using tracking protection and turning off flash also helps.

 

[jmshub]

A few years ago, my cousin's PC suffered a glitch where Norton created temporary files that ate all of the free space on her hard drive, over 200 gb. That was my last experience with Norton...

 

[tgp]

Norton Antivirus is the least intrusive of Norton's products. Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 can and do mess with network connections. One time I was called out to a customer's office to diagnose their network connection issues, and the problem turned out to be Norton 360.

For Windows 8 I use the built in Windows Defender. For Windows 7 and down I used Microsoft Security Essentials. These products are generally good enough. The biggest security risk is between the keyboard and the office chair! The best antivirus program won't protect against a careless user.

 

[hopmedic]

the best antivirus program won't protect against a careless user.

this. 100%

 

[ttsoldier]

The best defense against computer viruses might not even be antivirus software, but a crafty combination of education and common sense

 

[TheJoester09]

I just use Windows Defender on my Surface Pro and I haven't run into any problems. I was only using Windows Defender on my wife's HP laptop when it started to act funny, so I thought that maybe it had become infected. I downloaded the free version of AVG to see if it could catch anything, but it turns out that the laptop just sucks. I should have known better than to buy an HP!

Anyway, Windows Defender does a great job, and I don't think there's any need for anything else.

 

[odin09]

The only two times that I have ever had a problem with virus' was when I was using Norton. I used to use avg free and now Microsoft security essentials and no problems whatsoever.

 

[SlingLaker9811]

Using Norton since 2003,faced absolutely none of the above mentioned issues.....dunno maybe just coincidence....

 

[Neusyn]

I use NIS on my Gaming rig and my laptop. And don't have any issues with either. When I went Win8 on the laptop I had WiFi issues but it turned out to be driver compatibility issues that were eventually fixed. NIS also has a silent mode that helps with performance, but I only use on my laptop to play games and do "safe" tasks. (It suppresses its background tasks)

 

[hopmedic]

I just use Windows Defender on my Surface Pro and I haven't run into any problems. I was only using Windows Defender on my wife's HP laptop when it started to act funny, so I thought that maybe it had become infected. I downloaded the free version of AVG to see if it could catch anything, but it turns out that the laptop just sucks. I should have known better than to buy an HP!

Anyway, Windows Defender does a great job, and I don't think there's any need for anything else.

Yeah.... I have one HP, and it is the first one I've owned. It will also be the last. Just plain poor design.

The only two times that I have ever had a problem with virus' was when I was using Norton. I used to use avg free and now Microsoft security essentials and no problems whatsoever.

Having worked for four years as the only IT guy in a manufacturing plant, I've had the distinct pleasure </sarcasm> of disinfecting many computers. All of which were running Norton's corporate version.

 

[TheJoester09]

Yeah.... I have one HP, and it is the first one I've owned. It will also be the last. Just plain poor design.

Ha, yeah. I had one a long time ago and it was crap, but that was so long ago and I was hoping they had gotten their act together by now. Apparently not...