Symantec Norton Anti Virus Software - Aarrrghhh

cobster

Hi there. I've had my computer for about 2 years now and the chap that built it for me loaded Norton Antivirus software which appears to be working fine. In July last year I was prompted to renew my subscription which I duly did. Then about 3 weeks ago I had a message pop up to say that my Norton Antivirus software's "60 day free trial period had expired" which was news to me! As far as I know I had never been on a free trial period. So I tired to activate it but nothing doing. It asked for a product code which I don't have - I have the disk but not the code. I contacted their customer service department (sigh) and received an automated response that they would get back to me in 2-3 days time. A week later I chased up my original e-mail. I was given a new case number and someone actually responded to my query and gave me advice on what to do. I tried all these - nothing worked. Mails backwards and fowards and eventually the person said that it was a likely fault with the programme and that if the next thing didn't work then he would send me a fix through. The next thing didn't work - I e-mailed back and awaited the fix.

Then someone else took over the case and tried to start from point zero again (deep sigh). I explained the situation, gave both the case numbers and asked for the fix. But this person who appears to be quite inept just told me that I had to upgrade my software as the product I had was not adequate enough to protect my computer. I responded that it if this was the case why did they allow me to renew a subscription to a programme they treat as defunct (2005 version)??? No response to that question.

Whilst telling my brother of this problem he asked why I didn't use the free antivirus I get with my Virgin Media package - I didn't know about this (doh!). So this morning I downloaded the free package and deactivated the Norton Antivirus. I e-mailed them back this morning saying that this is what I had done and asking for a pro-rata refund on the subscription they sold me on a product they treat as defunct. The response is that I had 60 days to decide to cancel which has now passed and therefore I cannot get a refund. The person really just doesn't get that a) their progamme is not working as it has suddenly decided that I am on a free trial period, b) I am fairly cross that to get a fix I have to pay for an upgrade to their latest product and c) I am rather peeved off that they sold me a product that they do not believe is good enough to protect my machine.

Should I carry on with this fight for recompense (I have asked for the e-mail address of the Head of Customer Service rather than the hilariously named Customer Service Specialist I have had the misfortune of dealing with) or should I let it go? Anyone else had any experience of Symantec/Norton?

Thanks for listening!

jinkssick

get ZoneAlarm (firewall and antivirus) or NOD32 (best antivirus around).

jinkssick

btw any computer user will tell your Norton software are a hog and complete useless.

shammyjack

jinkssick wrote: »

btw any computer user will tell your Norton software are a hog and complete useless.

I second NOD32 for antivirus, £23 a year or less if you pay for a more than 1 years subscription, light on system resources and has consistantly been the top rated AV for many years !

shammy

skiddy2k

cobster wrote: »

Should I carry on with this fight for recompense (I have asked for the e-mail address of the Head of Customer Service rather than the hilariously named Customer Service Specialist I have had the misfortune of dealing with) or should I let it go? Anyone else had any experience of Symantec/Norton?

Fight for your money back, or to get the problem solved, no point letting them take your money... its like you getting robbed... them taking your money and not giving anything in return (your product/service you paid for).

Also, try not to call their 0870 lines (if they have them)... if you need to call them, try https://www.saynoto0870.com for cheaper rate numbers and speak to CS... if they cant help, speak to their supervisor. Personally, i used NAV years ago with no such issue and had it as a OEM software (pre-installed on my PC) for few weeks... didnt have any issues with it.


Also, dont be so hasty into purchasing NOD32 as users on this forum suggested... like all software, use the trial version of different software first, if you like any of them, purchase it (at the end of the trial period of course!)... or use free ones... they're not all as good as paid-for ones, but they're adequate for most users.

skiddy2k

jinkssick wrote: »

get ZoneAlarm (firewall and antivirus) or NOD32 (best antivirus around).

With the exception of Kaspersky :D
(only subjective opinion of course, there is no "best" antivirus as we all know )

Rjohnmatt

Used Norton , 2 years back on a trial basis and I think its just too much a hog on resources and slowed down the whole pc to a crawl so much so that i had to uninstall it after a day!

valli2

I agree Norton is a hog on rescources ive just uninstalled it recently off a friends PC he was sick of it, it was a nightmare to uninstall i eventually got rid of every trace of it in the registry too, installed AVG and Zone Alarm, scanned his pc with AVG it had 2 viruses and 12 trojans, Norton is a complete waste of time.

Regards

BritBrat

they do not believe is good enough to protect my machine.

I think thats a load of rubish I am sure the 2005 version would work fine so long as it still downloads the virus definition files.

Below is how to remove Norton.

I use Norton and I like it.

BACKUP THE REGISTRY FIRST

Unistall Norton (not that easy) and remove all references to Norton and Symantec in the registry if you know what you are doing. You also have to delete anything on your "C" drive that is related to Norton or Symantec, assuming that you installed it to the "C" drive.

They also have a programe to remove some extra bits that get left behind after doing a normall uninstall and that may work without the registry deletion.

Then after a reboot, reinstall Norton (if you have the disk and the product key) and you will find its all working again.

Supports the following versions of Symantec antivirus software:

Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional Edition
Norton AntiVirus 2003 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
Norton AntiVirus 2004 Professional Edition
Norton AntiVirus 2004 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
Norton AntiVirus 2005 for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Home/XP Pro
Norton AntiVirus 2006 for Windows 2000/XP Home/XP Pro
Norton AntiVirus 2007 for Windows XP Home/XP Pro/Vista
Norton AntiVirus for Microsoft Exchange (Intel)
Norton SystemWorks (all versions)
Norton Utilities for Windows 95/98 (all versions)
Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 for CacheFlow Security Gateway
Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 for Inktomi Traffic Edge
Symantec AntiVirus 3.0 for NetApp Filer/NetCache
Symantec AntiVirus 8.0 Corporate Edition Client
Symantec AntiVirus 8.1 Corporate Edition Client
Symantec AntiVirus 9.0 Corporate Edition Client
Symantec AntiVirus 10.0 Corporate Edition Client
Symantec AntiVirus 10.1 Corporate Edition Client
Symantec Mail Security for Domino v 4.0
Symantec Mail Security for Domino v 5.0

Download Virus Definitions

Norton Removal Tool

crazy_chick_573

uninstall it asap!!!! there are many good anti virus, i use avg free- edition