Norton AntiVirus SUCKS: Symantec has worst customer service of all time
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I have been a loyal customer with Norton Antivirus products for YEARS. Literally so many years I can’t recall how many. A decade? More? I have no idea. I am also one of those over-moral people who doesn’t believe in gaming the system or doing anything like that, so I pay for my subscription and do the same for my wife’s computer or my kids. So I pay. I pay full price. FULL price. I pay full price because I’m a lazy consumer who pays the going rate for what I need, when I need it. I never bitch about price. I just buy what I want, when I want it.
I’ve never complained to anyone about the fact that Norton doesn’t let me turn off the auto updates that pop up a popup window in the middle of my writing projects, even though I have looked around for a way to turn them off and found forums dedicated to how much it pisses people off to not be able to ignore crap that is just supposed to run in the background like they paid for. I just let it interrupt me and break my creative writing train of thought from time to time to time, just stop what I am doing, ignore the fragile whisper of the fickle muse, and click off the pop up message instead, letting whatever train of thought I had going derail in a metallic din of crashing ideas that can be lost forevermore. It's fine.
I never complained that it didn’t make auto-updating easy either, even though it just nags and nags and has multiple pop up screens that nag and nag and nag.
I admit I got tired of all that crap this last time and finally just thought, well, you know what, screw it. Money is tight, I haven’t had a virus or other infection in over six years (knock-on-wood), so I’m going to let that annoying thing expire. Maybe I’ll buy something else.
So my dead Norton antivirus pops up over and over to let me know that it’s expired and that my computer is vulnerable to viruses and that my identity is at stake and that little babies in third world countries are going to be sold into slavery because I haven’t renewed my subscription.
I tried to ignore all that, figuring it would just go away, but it won’t. And there is no way to turn that crap off without having a master’s degree in information technology from MIT, so, I had even resigned myself to spending the rest of my life being hounded by this unstoppable Norton antivirus renewal reminder.
But then I was paying my credit card bill today and saw that they had rammed through an “auto-update” despite my not wanting it.
At first I was annoyed, but I’m lazy and just want to drink beer. So I thought, “Fine, it’s worth $60 bucks just to get this crap out of my face.” Granted, it’s sort of extortion, but, you know, we are so victimized by big companies in this day and age, I’m kind of used to just rolling over and taking it. Usually they go fast and are done right away, and once I’m done crying and the pain subsides, I can get dressed and resume my citizenship.
So I opened up the renew screen and went to get my update that I was forced to buy. I saw this little message about how it auto-renews itself all magically or whatever, and was like, “Hmmm, that’s interesting. They took my money, but apparently forgot to deliver the product they jammed down my throat." Auto-money taking but not-so-auto-product delivery. That doesn’t seem fair.
So I poked around the program and their website a little, tried to make it auto-update manually, but, apparently even with assistance from me, the willing victim, auto-update will actually NOT-automatically update.
So, I decided to call them. I dialed up the phone number on my credit card bill. It answered with this long thing about auto update being, well, automatic, and some other crap, then started in with the jazz, country, pop, classical, big band… eclectic spasm that is their on hold music. That was 57:26 minutes ago.
I’m still on hold. The music is so garbled it is burning my brain like someone just beer-bonged an entire gallon of Clorox into my skull. I want to die. I want to give up and just let them have my sixty bucks and not even have to give me the service. I want to sell babies into slavery. Anything just to not hear it anymore.
But I can’t. To let them win now would be wrong.
So I decided to start writing this while I wait. I smile an ironic, hate-filled snarl at my phone sitting here on speaker lying between my arms as I type every time they break from the horrendous, tinny garble of music to say, “We appreciate your patience. Please don’t hang up; we take calls in the order they are received.”
Gee, why in the fuck do you have that in there, I wonder, Norton?
OMG I am so goddamn pissed I can’t even wrap my head around it.
How can ANY company exist with customer service this F-ing horrible? Really. How does “capitalism” get like this. Where the hell are the F-ing “market forces” that are supposed to mitigate this shit?
1:01:32 now.
That’s fantastic. I just got a second colon added to my wait time.
Apparently destroying my first colon is not good enough.
Goddamn Norton antivirus sucks so bad you can’t imagine!!!! Don’t ever buy it ever. If you have to choose between a virus that destroys your hard drive and costs you every photograph you ever took of your children growing up, all your videos and music, and the manuscripts to 50 best seller novels you just haven’t worked up the courage to send out yet…. DON’T choose Norton. Give up all the memories, music and manuscripts. No amount of sacrifice is worth the unbelievable contempt this company has for its customers. OMFG.
(P.S. Sorry to those who came to see my rebuttal to Christoph's hub, it's still in the works, I just couldn't help write this while I'm STILL on hold. 1:24:27)
More Rants by Shadesbreath
- Lowe's Customer Service - another horrible consumer experience
The age of the super-mega store has brought about a decline in customer service that is infuriating beyond belief. This article is a particularly sarcastic spew that is sure to amuse those who enjoy the absurdity of the American plight. - America Needs an Enema
School policies and bad implementation prove that America is a big dumb sissy and deserves what it gets. This hub takes a look at just how stupid people in the U.S. have become and why America needs a huge national enema in the worst way.
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Yeah, I've thought about Mac, SilverGenes. I only know three people who switched, but all three told me nightmare stories of how long the "learning curve" is to get to where you can do the day-to-day functions that PC users of the last two decades now take for granted as being easy.
I really don't want to start over. I hardly keep up with the upgrades where Microsoft keeps fixing things that aren't broken, or changing things just so they look different. Having to relearn everything but the rudimentary mouse movements and drop-down menu concept does not appeal to a lazy, semi-techno-phobe like me.
The bulls are lining up behind me, waiting for their turns as time goes by.
Amen Brother! The only way to get a decent human is to do a live whatever those are, but through my AT&T internet service we get Free McAfee! Norton bye-bye!
Absolutely agreed! I feel for you. I got rid of them two years ago.
I agree. I also hate the way most new PCs arrive with a 60 day free trial (followed by subscription of course) for one or other of the huge security outfits. I always remove all trace of it before doing any other configuration or installation and replace it with the free AV and Spyware programmes that I want to use.
Far out, Shades, Sorry to here about your experience but I switched to Norton antivirus and I've never looked back...seriously, it is the best antivirus I've used and I bought it after reading a review of a few different ones. One thing I am aware of is, for non-tech minded these things can seem very difficult to navigate around - but even our beloved Google the same. A tech headspace can be very different to that of an end-user and the difficulty (almost painful sometimes) lies in trying to communicate complex issues in layman's terms. Believe me that can be very hard. Have you been to this page: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/services/i
I have on a PC at work and a MAC at home. Work PC crashes every few weeks and we have Norton. MAC, no problem. Glad I have a MAC at home.
Sorry you've had such a long night Shades.
They all suck. Microsoft Security Essentials is free and is as good as the stuff you pay for.
But the real solution is a Mac. Really :-)
When you have paid full price for your Norton I think that it should then deal with all the trojans it lets loose in your system which gives birth to all those anoying pop ups.
At least you got an excellent hub out of this and you can see that you are not the only one frustrated by Norton.
I am voting you up and giving useful and funny a click I enjoyed this hub but I am sorry that you had to endure this treatment in the first place.
In Dante’s Inferno, there is a corner which is described as being out of bounds to all but a special selected few. It is the elite and private property of his Satanic Majesty, and it is reserved, I understand, exclusively for the management of Norton Anti Virus when its time comes. I begin to suspect, possibly for “psychicdog” as well as other loyal employees of that wonderful institution.
You are certainly not alone in your prejudice, and one feels that in your place, the Great Nebuchadnezzar would have handled the matter somewhat differently than your own restricted methods. But then I am only a poor peasant from Cyprus and I consider this liberality of yours to be simply a minor flaw in an otherwise perfectly admirable character.
One senses that “psychicdog” feels that you demand from Norton a higher standard of conduct than Norton is willing to supply, and “psychicdog” wonders whether your approach to the matter is a fair one and your negative reaction possibly premature. Could he be correct, one wonders?
Yeppers, Norton sucks and I also tried to call their support line. That music is so bad my ears started bleeding after 5 minutes and I had to hang up. Bob poked his head out of the bathroom door and said, "WTF is that?" I have learned that when calling any company support line to put the speaker on. I can't hold the phone to my ear that long.
LillyGrillzit: Free service would at least be worth it. Free at least has no value, which is what their customer service is at Norton.
Ecoggins: that's because you are smart. I'm getting there though.
Paraglider: I don't know how to remove all trace of it. That's the problem. I suppose if I were the Renaissance Man type, I'd learn how, but I'm too lazy for that. I like Renaissance faires, with all the boobies popping out of the corsets, but learning how to do all that techy stuff doesn't seem like as much fun.
Psychicdog: I'm not really complaining about its virus protection. I'm sure it works fine. My issue is that even if they have very good technology, they just can't crap on their customers and expect to keep them. I'd rather have the second or third best software than put up with this type of total disregard. (And I went to every page last night. I'm never going back there. Screw them to hell. My wife is finding a "human" phone number via some radio talk show she listens to, since I never did get through last night.) You're lucky you are a tech-head type. I seriously wish I had the discipline to learn that stuff. Count yourself lucky to have been born with the gene for that sort of thinking.
MPG Narratives: Thanks. I really was fuming last night, it was long. Still a little pissy this morning, honestly. But, I'll get over it. I'm not sure about the Mac thing though. I don't want to learn new stuff, although I hear from lots of people how much they like Mac. My PC doesn't crash though; I've really never had problems, so I can't really say I have reason to ditch what I know just yet. Norton on the other hand...
Thanks, Pcunix, I will go look at that today. I'd love to not have to pay. Although it's not really paying that is my issue; it's being forced to pay. But you understand that part.
Maggs224: I know, right? The irony of buying an antivirus program that trojans you is not lost on me. (Sigh). And you're right, I did get a hub out of it. I hope that the real irony is that I make my money back that they stole through adsense. :) Thanks for the clicks.
De Greek, yes, yes, you are correct. A little closet stuffed into a corner of that 9th circle, jammed to the rod with treacherous Norton executives too cheap to staff for customer service. As for Nebuchadnezzar, well, if I had his army, they'd be at Norton right now. (I'm picturing a scene where Babylonian warriors are fighting the old corporate warriors in the building from Monty Python's _Meaning of Life_ movie lol). As for Psychicdog suggesting I might be giving up on them too soon, it's possible he's right, but for me, after an hour and a half on hold, I don't care how good a company's product is. They suck; I'm out.
Austinstar: it's funny, my wife and daughter were just like Bob. I was walking around with my phone on speaker, and they were like, "WTF?" It wasn't even music, and it wasn't garbled from my speaker. It just WAS garble. And I love the decision to rotate musical genres so that every possible genre is included. Disco, hip hop, classical, big band, country, pop... really?
Amen, Shadesbreath. Norton is probably the most horrible anti virus program known to mankind.
I had to trawl the internet to find an uninstall tool to get rid of the pustulous, whoremongering, imbecilically useless excuse of a piece of software off my system. Eventually, a regedit had to be done as well, before an alternative could be installed!
Getting rid of it is definitely the very best thing you could ever do for the health of your pc.
I can picture you in front of your computer, growling, foot tapping, going crazy over the non-music pouring from your speaker phone. I HATE being kept on hold, even for just a few minutes. You have my sympathy!
Btw, the Ghirardelli squares each have 220 calories - ych!
Well, Shades, if you're still on hold after 15+ hours, then your laziness is legendary. Really though, laziness is a plus in this case-just sit back and f*** 'em.
Sorry about your butt.
As soon as I'm put on hold (which, luckily is rarely because I'm 99.99% sceptical of getting any real service from customer services) - but if I must go to them, I immediately put a wadded-up tissue between my ear and the phone to muffle the sound. When & if a person comes on - if ever - I can detect it because the distant muffled din of noise pauses and a slightly more singular sound is heard through the tissue.
As for Norton - yes - it sucks. And McAfee is not much better. I thought I'd resolved it and have been pleased for several years with Windows Live OneCare, which has taken care of virus & spyware protection, firewall, automatic tune-up, automatic back-up & a single subscription can be extended to include up to 3 other computers in my home. But of course - as with any product I'm totally happy with, it's now being retired and when my subscription runs out in 12 days - it will be GONE forever. For me to really like a product is like a death-knoll for it, it seems - from perfumes to virus protections!
So I've been hassling with trying to decide what other program to use for virus protection. I suppose I'll try the new free Microsoft Security Essentials. Then that gets me thinking about this dratted Vista OS on both my main computers and maybe I need to upgrade to Windows 7. That gets me to thinkiing about switching to a MAC!
I wonder if this all some sort of a set up to get people to change - buy - try - get out of a rut? What? I wasted one day looking at possible Virus protection alternatives. Another looking at Dell PCs. Today - at Macs. Main objection to Mac, though is - no PSP for it - or is there? - it sounds iffy. Aieeeeeeeeeeeee
Shades - move over. I'm just going to go nutso too.
Shona Venter, you have just described what I consider part of the undergraduate work done towards getting one's master's degree in information technology from MIT. (Sigh). THere is no possibility of me doing anything to my registry, and if I tried, I'm certain I would never see the destop or any of my novels and short stories again.
Mysterylady 89: THat is EXACTLY why you NEVER look at the calories on the back of something. Those numbers were invented by the guilt-mongering haters who spend long, miserable hours at the gym breathing each other's sweat and even longer hours running, which destroyes their knees, hips and ankles and makes them cranky haters who then look at those of us happily enjoying a beer or a tasty Ghirardelli square and think to themselves, "I can't have that or I won't look hawt in spandex, so how can I ruin their joy so that they will both not look hawt in spandex AND not be happy eating and drinking." It's a conspiracy to make only their life choices seem like good ones. So don't look at the numbers now that you know whose idea it was to put them there and why.
Nah, Lorlie, I confess to being so pissed off by the time I finished the hub (I mean, come on, if you can write, proofread and post a hub, including getting pictures for it in the time you are on hold writing about how horrible it is to be on hold... you're done.) I failed and I am now no better off than I was yesterday. I still have the charge on my bill and I still have no anti-virus. I hate that company so much.
Nellieanna, I sooooooooooooo know what you mean about getting something you actually like and having that ALWAYS be the think that gets cancelled, taken out of production, discontinued, "upgraded" to be no longer what you like. I've had shoe lines discontinued... even had a company go out of business (or stop selling in the U.S. or something), had TV shows cancelled, menu items removed at restaurants. I totally know what you mean. I think they make products targeted at this big androgynous "average" person who does not exist in actuality at all, therefore unless we are a statistical outlier, we'll never be happy with average. How fun is that math? And let me know how the Mac thing works out. Frankly, if you do switch, you should totally blog or write a serious of articles about the transition. I know I would if I switched. "How I become a Mac borg," by Shadesbreath.
:)
P.S. You know what's weird? My hubscore is up a point since I published this thing, but the hub itself keeps going down a point every few hours since I published it. LOL. I wonder if people are poo-pooing it for profanity or because they are Norton spies!
LOL, so funny, yet so annoying to most. A bit of advice that I reckon you might find useful. An IT expert friend of mine who designed our Fishing Lake Website told me that all anyone needs is is AVG Free Edition and Windows Defender. This is all he uses, and for the last 2 years this is all I now use without any problems. Both are free downloads, and the only other programme I ever use by choice is Malware Bytes, (also free), which consistently gets rid of any of those annoying pop ups that that try to tell you that your computer has been virused, when it hasn't, when they want you to pay for a solution you don't need.
I had Norton 360 for a year. It covered three pc's and auto updated on a regular basis for 69.99 dollars. I was recently charged a renewal fee but was not warned it was coming. My internet service provider is offering me free Mcafee and I like free so I decided to call and cancel my Norton subscription and get my money back (I had not started on the 365 days of the update yet.)
I spoke with a woman in another country. She was a little hard to understand but she was nice. I explained the situation and she gave me a case number and transferred me. I sat on the line for 20 minutes waiting for someone to pick up, but it was late so I figured maybe the person she was transferring me to be out of the office. I called back the next day and issued a refund for my money in under 10 minutes.
I went to the control panel and uninstalled Norton 360 without a problem. They do not seem like demons to me, just a little annoying.
ohhhh, I hate crap like this. I've had crap on my computer that you couldn't even uninstall. That should be illegal, and then they just help themselves to your back account and then point to the fine print which clearly states you give them the right to bugger you. Sometimes I wish I had an AK47, a Rambo get-up, and an accurate address!
Misty, that's what I'm thinking of doing almost exactly. I have this sort of natural reflex that assumes anything free is worth exactly what you pay for it... if you're LUCKY. It can often cost way more. But, I'm getting good reviews on that exact combo, so I think you are right on.
John B Badd; I hear what you're saying. Voice of reason and all that. But they can't take that evening I had back, and they can't take back the fact that the pop ups can't be controlled and that for years people have complained. So, I'm sure you're right, and when I'm done having my tantrum, it will probably work out in an okay way... but you know, consumers are treated so horribly it's hard to let it go, at least for me. Yes, we create this crappy service universe by continuing to patronize Walmart and Lowes and Norton and McDonalds and all the rest. When Main Street died, so did good service. We chose a low price over quality and service, but I DIDN'T. WE did. I pay more for better stuff. So when I don't get what I think I bought, it pisses me off.
Christoph, I'm taking a break from drawing humiliating sketches of you in compromised positions to tell you that I agree with you and totally wish I could really wreak the havok that this decline of our culture deserves. (sigh). I hate when they just do my account as they please. GoDaddy did the same thing. Told me "your credit card expired... there's nothing we can do... you must renew or your domain that you've never used or developed for eight years will be GONE!" Then, a month after the universe ended, they somehow managed to charge my credit card and call it 'auto renew' like the rest of them do. We have no rights.
Hey Shadesbreath, Man, I dumped Norton years ago, when it took them 30 minutes to answer one foolish question with regards to their prices. When I went through that garbage, I vowed I would never return. I had thought of writing a hub about the different experiences with Norton, because it was the latest and greatest protection on the market at the time, I dumped them a couple of time, but went back. It wasn't until the third time that I said Fuck it, I'm seriously done. And, I haven't returned to this day. I presently enjoy AVG as my protection and seems to be quite adequate. Not once have I had any reason to change. Again, you had me laughing to tears run down my face. Keep up the good job of writing out your complaints. They are always worth reading. Thank you for sharing. :)
oooo, watch it, buddy. I can draw too, you know.
PS: Love the Ebay ads!
Hey Cags, thanks for stopping by and bearing witness to my little meltdown. AVg is getting some good really good press here in comments so that's probably the way I'm going to go.
Christoph: Yeah, I thought that was a nice touch. :) Oh, and I definitely like the old avatar better. Glad you brought it back.
I lean toward Norton spies - LOL. That's so - commercial!
A Mac borg, hm? (Thinking - - more research is needed!!)
It wouldn't surprise me. Technology companies are like commercial big brothers. Scary, really. (I re-read my response to you from yesterday... wow, could I get more typos jammed in there? Sheesh).
I'm so glad I have McAfee instead of Norton!!! This really sounds like a special PC hell I'm very sorry to find you in, and very happy to have missed, myself. There are other PC moments (or hours) that have nailed me but NOT this one!! Thank the G.
Yep. It was bad. I think in my next fantasy novel, I'm going to set up a pantheon of gods in which the god of carelessness, inconsideration and inefficiecy is named Norton.
Shadesbreath, I know this scenario all so well. There are many uninstall tools listed for Norton, I am not sure what would be the best. As for the recurring billing, I had a similar ordeal that started with a prank phone caller so as to find out who and where these calls originated, I gave my credit card number out to a company that promised to expose the address and name of the prankster all for a one time charge of $9.99 that they did, but then the company kept billing my card 27.00 every month. This went on for 3 months until I finally was able to get the blood suckers off my neck. So Intellius do smellious! Cyber poop sucking vampires.
I see how you feel the pain. once trial day expires. we have to buy full version and update it regularly. That is the trick to get customer. I have McAfee, never buy and always update regularly. free from virus.
Hi Lightning John. I had the same kind of thing on a credit card for a vitamin, metabolism thing my wife bought. She tried it and didn't like it, so we tried to cancel it and it took about six months before they finally stopped charging me. I was pissed, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I guess that's the price we pay for "convenience." Although I personally think we are an insane society that allows merchants to essentially "hold our wallets for us" when we leave credit card numbers on file. I'm pretty sure the aliens looking down watching us just scratch their heads and think, WTF is wrong with those people?
Nbatt.com, you are quite correct. And the real pisser is that they have to resort to TRICKS to get you buy something. Whatever happened to making a product that is so good people just want to buy it because it's, well, good? (sigh).
Yeah, I got rid of Norton and McFee years ago, too. Have used AVG at home for yonks now. Although I do have to suffer the pop ups at work (I've switched it off at work and loaded AVG too) but the company control the computer so I can't access the delete programs button. Plus I couldn't download AVG I had to take it in on memory stick.
Anyway, when you finally get through tell 'em to stick it where the sun don't shine and get your money back then get yourself over to AVG - you can download AVG free and/or upgrade to something better (at a cost)
PS - if you go to start, control panel, add or remove programmes and locate Norton in there you should be able to remove it.
Good luck!
Thanks Leni, I am totally convinced by you and the several others who are speaking so highly of AVG. I am going to get my money back before I delete Norton in case they screw me and say, "too bad" and I'm stuck with it for another year (assuming I can ever figure out how to get it without paying twice). I can't wait till I'm done with this. Which I'm procrastinating now because I have no idea how to reach them. But, we'll see. Thanks for reading and commenting, and I'll need the luck I think. lol
AVG Free is a gem Shades, in general it protects your computer without you needing to do anything at all, (although periodically I click on the "update option" to be on the safe side). I am sure you won't regret it once you download it.
Yeah, it's definitely gotten a triumphant set of reviews in this hub. I will get it for sure. (I wonder how they make money.)
Not sure really, maybe because recommendations by people like me encourage people to look into them further and many people might go for the "paid version", especially if they have a business or a website to be concerned about. Other than that, no clue, but not complaining either way :)
Yeah i hate norton like a stupid antivirus all windows product now cannot solve the security issue its time to wake up. ronjersanhubpage
You should ask for a cut, Misty. Only seems fair. :)
Ronjersan, while I might mostly agree with you, I do suspect that as Mac continues to grow in popularity, it will be the target of more minds trying to break it too. One of the advantages of being the underdog is that nobody is taking shots at you. Everyone's too focused on the king of the hill.
interesting hub.
Thanks, Masumrana. I appreciate a man of few words. I too try to be a man of few words, often taking as little time to articulate a particular idea as possible because I believe that brevity is at the heart of short conversations, which is quite the opposite of... um... well, I'm not quite sure what the opposite word for brevity is--I would surmise maybe longevity, but that seems to smack more of lifetimes and endurance than of statements; I mean, you wouldn't really say, "The longevity of his prose was astounding" in the same way that you might say, "The brevity of his remarks were sublime," would you? I don't think I would, which is besides the point. My main point was that I, like you, am a man of few words, so I appreciate your kind remark and the precision with which you rendered it. So thank you. :)
LOL, brilliant comment Shades, although a little on the short side :)
Well, I'm happy now that at least one person has seen that. I figured as i was typing it I was really just typing it to amuse myself. :)
You think your last comment received (before mine) was short, I had one on a humorous hub of mine about the "Top 10 Passion Killers for Women" the other day that simply said "Interesting". If it had said "funny", "Hilarious", "Made me giggle" or something along those lines it might have made sense, but "Interesting" on a funny hub seemed a very out of place comment.
Maybe one of those supercilious, one eyebrow raised comments where they were letting you know they were amused by your antics, but still held themselves above you in terms of dignity and personal worth. ?
:)
LOL, I just felt like Dr Spock had commented on the hub, so you might be right :)
IT's funny, I was actually thinking of MISTER Spock reading and making that comment when I said that. lol.
Yep, we switched to Kaspersky. Cost us $189 to get our daughter's laptop in condition for college, it was so virus ridden. Great hub; you make me laugh even as I empathize.
Oops, guess I should have simply said, Sucks to be you.
LOL yes, it does suck to be me. Worst part is, I still haven't tried to call them back and fix it. I just donated $60 bucks to a mega company. Dumb serf, I am.
Good Lord, I cannot believe I made such a glaring error as to call Mr Spock, 'Dr Spock' especially as I know so well he is a 'Mr'. Must have had one of my "blonde moments" LOL
I haven't used Norton in years. I jumped over to McAfee after getting a 12 month subscription in a competition and been using it ever since.
I have had issues in the past with not all viruses being removed. Oh McAfee will detect it and tell you that it has found something - but you will have to go out and find your own way to remove the really nasty ones.
Malwarebytes is a good free program (paid version also available) that I have used a few times to remove various malware and spyware from my PC in conjunction with McAfee. It kind-of beats the point of having an "all-in-one" security suite...
It sometimes really gets me pissed when you pay so much for a subscription and yet you don't get good service, you need other tools to do the job and you waste time and money if you have to uninstall programs or format (shudder) and re-install the OS.
LOL @ your blonde moment. The upside is that Spock has no emotions, so, were he to find out you confused him with the doctor, well, he wouldn't be upset. Probably just write you off as a typical human with yet another raised eyebrow.
Cemil, I gotta tell ya, that doesn't sound good. I think I would be more pissed at having to figure out how to get stuff off than I was about getting ripped off. I can't imagine the point of an anti-virus that doesn't actually do the ANTI part. That's more of a Hey-Look-You're-Infected-Virus than an Anti-virus. Like you wouldn't know if you had a virus once your system started taking a crap. I mean, you go to the doctor you expect a cure, not a "Wow, you look terrible. I reckon you're sick as hell. Go home and figure out what to do, because you're definitely infected." Sounds like Norton would be an upgrade for you lol. (Get the AVG thing everyone is talking about.)
Yep, AVG is the way to go, plus Malwarebytes and Windows Defender, (first two totally free, latter one included on most PC's as standard). This should avoid virtually all problems, (at least nothing I have encountered has beaten this combination in the last few years or so).
Sigh. I'm too lazy to deal with this. lol.
Despite the virus-like nature of norton, it is possible to get rid of it. I don't know if you've tried this or not, but go to your control panel and select add/remove programs. Then find every possible norton and symantec program and remove it. If the computer doesn't let you remove it, then reboot in safe mode and try the same process there. You can also go to the 'run' tool in your start menu and type in MSConfig then go to the startup tab and disable any norton or symantec programs from running at startup (I talked about both of those processes in my hubs about cleaning up your computer). I got fed up with my norton and finally got rid of it. I replaced it with Microsoft Security Essentials, a free download if you're running a windows machine. I've never looked back (it actually made my computer run faster without norton).
Well, I called them up to rip on them again (or to try to) and they said they'd fix it. I told them I didn't want to deal with it, but they said they could do it all for me, which they did. Literally. Took over my computer and did it. So, in the end, they still suck but my problem is fixed so, bleh. I would have had to spend the same amount of time to get my money back AND then I would have had to figure out A) what you just said for getting rid of it, and B) how to install the one up above everyone is talking about, which be learning from scratch, which means I wouldn't actually have done it at all, which means I would have gotten a virus and lost all my crap anyway. (sigh). I hate computers.
Thanks for the nice comment though. :D
https://forums.comodo.com/news-announcements-feedb
just go there and get a full free internet security suite for free and live peacefully.
Thanks for the tip, Bornfree. If nothing else, the comments on this thread are a good discussion of the topic.
Go to cnet, reviews of the free anti-virus and anti-malware are available. I personally believe that Avast is superior to AVG. I used AVG for several years, and then due to some slow moving inadequate scans, I switched to Avast. It is wonderful. Also, as mentioned, Malware Bytes is amazing. It does more than most paid versions of software. Both of these have free versions which are great.
I hate Norton and McAfee.
There is a way to get rid of Norton's. Some of the methods are a little complex, but there is a work around for lazy people. Back-up all of your documents, photos, manuscripts, etc. on disk or on an external hard drive. Make sure you have all of your programs on disk or easily downloaded. Format your hard drive, then copy all of your files back.
Or buy a Mac. I have a mac at work, and guess what? I run xp on it. I have a pc and a mac at home. The mac is from 1999, I upgraded the processor and replaced the hard drive once. My pc, which is new, has had the mother board replaced, and the ram. Two fans were replaced and I am just starting my 2nd year. It is a dual processor running at 2.6.
I love my mac at work, two complete OS's and I just switch between them....I can even save files back and forth. I use them both every day.
I've heard a lot of good things about Macs, but the one person I know who actually switched told me that the learning curve was terrible and that she felt lost for a long time, ... still does. I'm sure they are good, but sometimes Mac users seem like their trying to convert people to their religion LOL. My PCs have always been fine, it's the software companies that piss me off. Frankly it's the company part not the software part. The total commitment by U.S. companies to figuring out ways to just keep you locked in somehow, contracted or auto-deducting your cash rather than making awesome products that you WANT to buy and would go to the trouble to make damn good and sure you had the latest one.
Internet Security is a serious business for anyone going online and the importance of internet security suites' reviews cannot be over-emphasized.
I agree totally with this Hub. Norton Sucks. Apart from slowing down my pc to a halt, it had other issues when I was with them. Glad I said bye bye Norton.
I agree. You know, in my little meltdown up there, I was asking "where are the market forces that are supposed to mitigate this Sh--?" And, frankly, this is the market forces. The reviews, as you have pointed out, are, in theory, that. Maybe Norton will find this sort of thing (I noticed I'm getting traffic from a norton/symantec website) and will work on it. You just can't leave people on hold for an hour (plus the other stuff), and they know it, so if they know the word is getting out, they'll fix it and be a great company again. Then everyone wins.
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.
I can't really understand how they continue to get away with it year after year. There are a few pretty good free solutions, and better products to throw your money away on if you're intent on paying for virus protection.
Well, frankly, I was going to drop them and yet they managed to charge my credit card even though the one they had on file was expired. So, there you have it. Took me over an hour and a half to not get the problem solved, so, it's not as much a matter of me intent on paying as it was just trying to get what I got charged for. Anything approaching satisfaction was long, long gone before I picked up the phone. Us non-techy types really hate to be bothered with these things, and are less particular about the fancy stuff this product can do as we are can we get our computers to not die between now and the end of the subscription. But you are right, in the end. Clearly there are good free versions (which still baffles me. I tend to believe the only free cheese is in a mouse trap.)
In the case of this particular free cheese, what the anti-virus makers get in return is feedback from your machine about virus detection rates, new threats to their database, etc so they can improve their paid-for products and the protection it offers.
They also get to throw adverts at you every day begging you to switch to the paid versions!
Yeah, I figured it worked like that. Maybe even sell some of your information to marketers "anonymously" of course. I'm sure they make money giving it away or they wouldn't.
forget pc and norton..get ubuntu...its the best linux distro for those who want to get rid of windows/norton or any proprietary s/w...give it a try..you will not regret..
the best part is you need not even format you disk or buy anything...just download ubutun iso and install with wubi...it is so good!
Cracychrom, it sounds wonderful. And complicated. But wondeful. I don't know what wubi is, but, well, I have a few months left now, so we'll see what I do. Thanks for reading and leaving a great comment. Hopefully others will come through and have the benefit of yours and other valuable experience to make decisions with.
Hi Shadesbreath! Sorry could not reply soon enough.
Yes it is wonderful but not complicated. I used Windows for 5 years before I switched to Ubuntu (Linux). Wubi is - Ubuntu Installer for Windows! Just download the appropriate Ubuntu iso and Wubi.exe
Put both of them in a folder and run Wubi.exe. You just need to have free space more then 6GB I guess. Ubuntu will be installed as if it were another application on Windows..no formatting...no need to back up or worry about partitioning or searching for drivers...Just an Ubuntu folder will be created...and when you boot your system, you will be asked to choose between Win XP and Ubuntu...Voila...there you have a dual boot...hassle free...after trying Ubuntu for some time, you can dump Win XP in her own Recycle Bin!.... [:)]
I think you give me credit for being more cyber-adventurous than I am, but you do make it sound easy. They should put you on commission (which I suppose wouldn't be much given the nature of it and all... lol... you know, I think we just discovered why I'd never heard of it before).
I started out using Norton but then found McAfee cheaper but went back to Norton when it came with a laptop I got to replace a broken one. The only reason I don't use Norton is it's expensive whereas AVG is free and works.
Well, CollB, I count AVG as one of those "live and learn" scenarios, you know? Better late than never, and all that rot. Thanks for reading and adding to the conversation. :)
sorry I tried to better myself by using a computer try to
get help useless no one replies especially norton I,ve paid my money you still can,t get contact
I cannot distinguish between McAfee, Norton and the last 3 releases of AVG in terms of functionality and detection rates, but I can assure you that they are low and ill-equipped to protect against the sorts of threats that are emerging. Anything after AVG 8 sucks. The new windows 7 64 bit firewall blows away any antivirus built in firewall and since they all suck, they actually become a liability. I would recommend a lightweight antivirus like eset or microsoft security essentials, let windows handle it's built in safeguards instead of this crap software taking over what windows can do better, and browse all of your porn on a virtual machine.
If your AV says that it removed something but that something keeps coming back, rest assured you are infected with a rootkit virus and all your emails, passwords, credit card numbers, etc. is all compromised. Best thing for you personally to do at that point is bring it in. Or boot into windows PE, run a fixmbr and a2cmd.
Oh I forgot to mention, I don't recall in your hub whether or not norton is still on your computer, but you can go to their web site and download an uninstaller utility in their downloads section. That should solve your pop up issues.
Thanks Mike. I don't have any infections to speak of. The problem is fixed now too, but that Uninstaller advice will come in handy when this subscription runs out. I'm definitely done with this stuff.
I saw a post here where someone uninstalled it with no problem, and my jaw dropped. I had no such luck. When I did, it left a firewall behind that locked me off the internet. 5 hours and 3 technicians later I had it fixed. I called them and spent a long time on hold, gave up and then went on line and asked them to call me. They did at 4 minutes after midnight.....from the Philipines. After yelling at that guy, I told him to have a supervisor call me. I should get that call sometime really inconveniant too. There are no words to express how much I hate Norton.
Heh, heh, Diver Dan, I feel you, man. All we can do is keep screaming on the Internet, rate them down every way we can, until they put some money into listening to the consumer. It may be that we're just not the right kind of customer for them, and they only want to service highly technical people. And that's fine. More power to them. But they should start marketing their products to people of that niche, and warn off those of us who like more hands off products. Customer Service is going to have to make a comeback in the age of Yelp and Facebook and that sort of thing. Articles like mine show up, and begin to take their toll. Thanks for reading and commenting.
norton was brill 2010 but now it is like a virus and i am shure some one at norton is talking over my mouse and when ever the norton updates what ever im doing gets blocked and it ucks up the program or web page i am useing is shut off. face book and twitter and any thing forget it say by by to staying on line ! but mc fee ate ny hard drive! and avc put ten problems on ther and i could not do any thing with my pc till i bought an up grade so they are all crooks !
You know what, I totally agree. I think they are all crooks too. Nobody gives a crap about the customer. That's the big missing factor in modern business. I'm fine with making a profit. I think it's great, it's how the system works. But companies are supposed to make profit because they make products that kick ass and people want to buy them, not because they make products that seem good, but really are just a horrible trap that suck money out of customers-turned-victims. Just shows that companies don't have the ability or confidence to make a product that will stand on its own merits and succeed financially.
Use the norton removal tool it goes bye bye
We'll see when it runs out again.
Try "Immunet" antivirus software ad it will never let you and your PC down. The best part is it updates itself automatically you don't need to do virus updates and hence protect your PC 24*7 from all kinds of threats.
I went Mac a few years back with Norton being a corporate legal theft company that screws up everything I left. Virus protection is in one form or another a ram hog and conflict creator that locks up PC's. Some virus protection is better than others but why play the stupid game they have created. Just go Mac an operating system that is 10 fold less frustrating for average computer users. If your some computer geek fine use these PC's with virus protection you guys have learned to live with this stuck up your back sides. Im just not used to being butt screwed like PC users so I went Mac.
Well, it may come to that one of these days for me too, Bob. I mostly only resist the change because I am, well, resistant to change. I guess I hate learning new things more than I hate hating what I already know. It's dumb, but it's human.
Tried to contact them to manage my back ups, delete some old stuff and download some onto my new laptop, confusing and downright annoying as they are constantly trying to get me to buy more storage. I have been with Norton for many many years and every time I purchase a new computer( many of them) and buy a new subscription to Norton they open a new storage account and add all the previous bits again onto the new storage, confused, me too. Well I have about 10 storage account and cannot access any of them to manage them and download what I want onto my new laptop. \\\\Tried to contact Norton, impossible, only through that stupid annoying virtual agent. I am 54, did not grow up with computers and needed some help, tried today for 4 hours to no avail..Never again will I purchase a Norton product and I will go out of my way to warn others away from them...Allan
I feel your pain, Allan. For what it's worth, there's some good advice on how to get rid of it in the comments section of this article if you are willing to scroll through them. You are certainly not alone in your frustrations.
Immunet 24/7 online support is mind blowing. I have contacted many times and every time they satisfied me. Immunet antivirus works nicely and so far i didn't find any issue with this software. Personally i would recommend to everybody to try this software.
Thanks Adamss, I'll have to have a look at Immunet when the time comes. I appreciate you putting the name into the conversation.
I used to have Norton on my computer but I found that it really slowed down my computer. I have since switched to the Free Norton's Security Essentials and also use Malware Bytes. They seem to take up less of my computer's resources and have not had any problems with them.
Interesting... a free version of Norton. Wonder if they did that in response to the bashing they took over the last three years for their naggy product (it wasn't just me, to be sure). Thanks for that, Quotations.
I was so pissed at Norton's customer service, that I actually googled, "norton customer service sucks". Story is that my 4 year old got angry when playing the Incredible Hulk and died, banged the keys, and I wound up having to do a full computer restore, which lost my current PAID for subscription. I called Norton and they advised that the only way to fix the problem was to upgraded for $50 more to the new 2012 version, when I only just renewed in freakin' August. Anywhoo...while arguing with them on the phone, I figured out that I just needed to put my customer key code back in and it was restored. I told the "floor manager" how to fix this problem for future training of his employees and he was silenced. Ugh...he then offered a case code # "just in case I need to call back regarding this concern". Right. I told him I'll NEVER EVER EVER call back, nor will I renew my subscription next year. Thanks for listenting to me whine. Speaking of which, is it to early for a glass???
Yikes, Brendalinnia. What a rip-off... and they don't even realize it, or refuse to admit it. Not sure which is worse. I guess your testimony stands as firm evidence that nothing has changed in the year since I wrote this article. Not really surprising, but it's good to know. Too bad. Good luck trying to turn off the reminders that your account is expired next year when it runs out. LOL. Been there. Done that.
I agree my norton has failed 5 times in one year what can you get that works
Randolph, if you have a bit of time, scroll through the comments on this article. There are some really great suggestions by people who know a lot more about these things than I do. I think you'll see some programs get a rather democratic endorsement by the volume of testimonials that they get in the course of this conversation.
As far as customer service concerned I found Immunet antivirus customer service best. They deal with their clients very politely and try to satisfy them.
Adamss, if I didn't know better, I'd think you have a personal interest in Immunet. Is that your software, or do you work for the company that makes it?
I'd say, dump the Norton. Uninstall it completely. Run Revo uninstaller to get rid of all traces of Norton. I would suggest Eset smart security. It's small, light and bloody effective.
Roy, it's good timing you post that. The nice fix I finally got from them has expired, and here I am once again getting the warnings of death. I suppose I shall have to address this issue this time... or, get the horns. (sigh).
What makes it even more annoying now is that I bought the Adobe CSS 5 whatever suite thing... photoshop and all that other crap... and now I suddenly have Macafee that also searches my crap for viruses. They're all bastards. (Sigh). (Again).
Yeah, corporate tie ups look good on investor reports but it usually means more hassle for the consumer. On a related note, you should really uninstall Mcafee as having two anti virus programs on one machine never does any good. Rather, you might experience system instability or crashes even.
Through a lot of personal experimentation, I have arrived at what I think might be a reliable set of tools to keep a home PC secure and clean.
Antivirus: Eset Smart Security 5 (AV/firewall suite).
Malware: Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro.
System Maintenance: Auslogics BoostSpeed/ Piriform CCleaner.
There are other alternatives to be sure but these are seemingly the least intrusive and have a negligible system footprint.
Thanks Roy. On whatever day it is that I find myself finally too irritated for words, I may do just that. THe Revo uninstall tip is a good one. They make it hard to get rid of this stuff.
Do yourselves a favour and uninstall Norton. Conveniently enough, you need to download an "uninstaller" to do this. Trying to uninstall the "normal" way doesn't work. https://www-secure.symantec.com/norton-support/jsp
Once this garbage is off your computer you can install proper virus protection software like AVG (they have a free edition): http://free.avg.com/ca-en/homepage or ESET Nod32: http://www.eset.com/us/ (paid but really good, and lightweight, so it doesn't hog all of your PC's resources like Norton or McAfee..)
Good luck!
Thanks HateNorton. I was just thinking about how I would approach the uninstal after the last comment came in. Good timing. :)
Umm I don't know what you people are doing, but you obviously have no knowledge on antivirus software. Any and all freeware products like AVG, which by the way is the WORST thing to put on your computer. Putting AVG free on your computer actually puts you MORE at risk and not having anything at all. Norton and Macafee have always been flops and that's been well known for about a decade now, where have you people been? How you can you sit there and think that your actually getting a service for free? Your not, your just getting conned into thinking your getting a service when in reality they are just giving you fake software. And then you wonder why it never picks anything up.
2 Programs that, sorry are not free, and any half wit with a brain knows you don't get anything for free, will solve all your virus/malware problems
Vipre for your antivirus.
And Malware Bytes, as a backup. Just in case Vipre misses something, which it never has in my case.
Hi Skeet. I appreciate you reading and contributing to the conversation, although I must say that with all the "where have you people been?" and "any half wit with a brain knows" stuff suggests that, despite your knowledge of software, I'm thinking software sales or customer service might not be good career choices for you. Just a hunch. Thanks for commenting though, seriously. :)
Norton is horrible, use anything else! I used them for years, they have no support. I got a virus that attacked norton. After re-installing many times norton could not remove the virus, it would disable protection. Of all things i turned on window defender and it did the job. You can not uninstall norton thru windows and must use their uninstaller, even then they leave software (adware?) little pop-ups telling you that you are not protected even going so far as to interfere with your new antivirus. The remains of norton creates conflicts as two antivirus programs running at the same time. I had to manually remove all symetec files, not an easy task considering I don't know much about computers. Even after that I had to make a bold move and edit the registry, (scary) as some of their software was buried in window's programs. When all said and done the new antivirus worked perfectly finding over thirty viruses on the drive. I still had one registry error for symetec, could never find it to fix it. I am using system mechanic now works well for 3 years, they claim it's their software, but is actually a well known antivirus engine from a company in california that provides definitions for most of your antivirus programs you are using. How did I find this, that's another story. Lets say the new company was more than happy to help but denied using another another's software. I still had to fix it myself, after a install problem.
JCD74, welcome to a consumer world where demand actually outstripped supply by such a massive amount that people actually stopped caring about quality and service for almost 50 years. I think that's finally changing. It's started by the experience you and I have had. Etc. Sorry for your tough run, kudos to you for sucking it up and handling the solution, and thanks a ton for reading and commenting here. :)
I strongly disagree all the negative statements about norton.I have norton from last 6 years and my computer is protected.Customers blame norton but even customers should know how the technology works.If you are not tech savy then please dont tell anything to norton
Neal, how does being tech savvy have anything to do with the long wait times and bad service?
Furthermore, are you saying that people should only buy products and services they completely understand? If that were the case, no one could buy anything they couldn't already make or do for themselves. Do you know how to do brain surgery? Well, then don't get a tumor. Know how to fly a plane? Well, there goes air travel. How about how to write a beautiful novel? Okay, no reading for you. Every raised cattle, operated a restaurant, built a car, laid down a highway, manufactured a major appliance, devised a cure ............ If not, then never, ever complain or voice an opinion about anything, ever, that you do not have perfect understanding and mastery of every working part of it. Heck, try even having half-mastery of everything. Good luck with that. I think you've missed the entire point of creating human societies.
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SilverGenes Level 5 Commenter 17 months ago
Sorry - I feel your pain. I really do. I got so fed up with Norton a few years back I took everything out of my computer and then discovered it's like a trojan virus. Lurking, annoying, nagging. Their customer service is right up there with Microsoft. Finally I bought a Mac.