norton internet security and live update what a joke

[Russ Smith]

So today I'm doing my usual web stuff when I get an error message symantec framework error followed by my antivirus shutting down, the icon goes away and won't restart. I reboot and it happens again, 5 times in a row, longest it stayed up is 3 minutes.

I google and find a message group on Symantecs site about this exact problem. Live Update today has been installing this on everyone's PC and they're all having the same problem. Symantec employees are on the group literally saying we had no idea of this bug, we're trying to stop it, we don't have a fix yet. By page 8 of the thread they were telling me to download the removal tool and reinstall.

By the time I got to that link there were at least 50 pages on that thread so we're talking thousands of people having the problem since most won't bother to go to that group.

I tried the online help tool they provide and it put me in a chat line for help. They give you an email link in case you get disconnect, that will reconnect you and keep your place in line. So I got the download tool, and removed my Norton, and of course it reboots the computer. Comes up, opens a window to download and reinstall. I open another tab to click on the email link for service just in case and... it doesn't work Clicked again, nothing.

Long story short I had to reinstall twice but it's now been stable for 20 minutes or so I think it's finally fixed. Can't believe the lack of service by Symantec they admitted on their message board that not only did they not have a fix, they hadn't yet turned off the auto live update of that buggy update so it was still installing itself on computers.

Unreal.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

I hate Symantec and Norton...I always un-install and use something else...However, sometimes their stuff is impossible to completely get rid of.

 

[Chaz]

Sorry to hear that Russ. I wish I could say I was surprised.

I would recommend finding something else to use next time you have to renew.

 

[Mathew81]

I used to have Norton. Then I started using Avast. I ran it and it found a virus on my computer that Norton had missed. I've used it ever since. The best part is that it's free.

 

[Russ Smith]

People have been telling me to try AVG. I just renewed on my girlfriend's laptop so thats another year, but my subscription on my PC runs out in a month and I'm really considering trying a free one like AVG.

The fix did work, it's now stable. A friend of mine actually works at Symantec, she forwarded my story to contacts there and she was told they had literally thousands of complaints. Some people were getting messages telling them their beta copy had failed and please contact their beta test representative. the only problem, they were NOT beta testers, they were using a paid copy of Norton Internet Security!

 

[Chaz]

People have been telling me to try AVG. I just renewed on my girlfriend's laptop so thats another year, but my subscription on my PC runs out in a month and I'm really considering trying a free one like AVG.

I would recommend AVG also but you should consider the paid version.

The free version is good in a pinch but it is pretty basic.
Long term I would prefer the Internet Security with the firewall and the new ID protection.

I have heard good things about BitDefender.
Also Avast and NOD32 would be good choices.

The fix did work, it's now stable. A friend of mine actually works at Symantec, she forwarded my story to contacts there and she was told they had literally thousands of complaints. Some people were getting messages telling them their beta copy had failed and please contact their beta test representative. the only problem, they were NOT beta testers, they were using a paid copy of Norton Internet Security!

This happens sometimes.

I not a big fan Symantec but they do have some good products.

 

[conraddobler]

I think Symantec was actually crashing my server over something like this.

It takes a lot to crash a 2003 server, and it locked it up pretty good.

A reboot fixed it, then a few days later it would crash again, but after a while it stopped happening, probably fixed it via live update.

It's astonishing how big companies can screw up, but then again, it's not all that surprising most times.

 

[Ryanwb]

I recommend Avast over AVG as far as free virus scanners go as it has a very small footprint on your system. Norton got so bloated it was routinely the most process heavy program on my computer.

I would also recommend Kaspersky if you are going to buy a program. They rate out the best in terms of virus recognition. I read a review that said out of 50,000 known viri Kaspersky picks up 99.9999% where Norton came in at like 76% or something ridiculous. I'll try to find it....

 

[Darth Llama]

Personally, I find Symantec products to be worse then most of the viruses you have the program to prevent. Symantec programs are intrusive, cumbersome, resource hungry, and generally ineffective in my experience.

I tried Avast for a while, it's a really good product that's much better then Norton. Ultimately though I went with AVG because it's so light on resources and non intrusive. I had the paid version for a year then went to the free version and honestly I don't see the big advantage of the paid one. The Free AVG does everything I need it to do and does it quietly without bothering me. I'm pretty sold on AVG, been using it for about 2 years now.

 

[BrandonAllen2010]

Should have read this about 4 days ago when I bought another year of Norton....

 

[CardFan67]

Personally, I find Symantec products to be worse then most of the viruses you have the program to prevent. Symantec programs are intrusive, cumbersome, resource hungry, and generally ineffective in my experience.

I totally agree with that statement... On some of the computers where the user will not let me uninstall Norton (a nightmare with in itself) the program will consume 30 to 40% of the computers available resources. Updates overlay and often cause multiple instances to run. Horrendous virus solution choice IMO.

I typically install AVG free on most of the computers I work on and the owners, more often than not, end up buying pro soon after.

 

[Sandan]

I use a Sonicwall firewall.

 

[Russ Smith]

I suspect I'll be trying out the free AVG version now. As mentioned in the other thread my girlfriends brother has the greenantivirus malware on his home PC. Not surprising given there are 5 teenagers in the house using the computer and downloading stuff all the time. Her brother wasn't sure if he even had an antivirus, I suspect he does and it's disabled by the Greenav but not sure.

Ironically we were using his computer because the one at her sisters house can't access gmail, damndest thing they have business class DSL so it's not a matter of speed at all, it tries to load but it never fully loads and then IE crashes, it only happens on gmail, no other sites.

So we went to her brothers house and discovered the other problem.