After using Norton Anti-Virus in past years, and more recently playing 'hit and miss' with my anti-spyware software, I decided to bite the bullet before it bit me. I bought Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2005 (NIS) in an effort to avoid any further hijack attempts, more junk mail, and to clean up the garbage running in the background of my system which was causing it to run slow and constipated.
After adding NIS 2005 to my computer in November 2005, here is my opinion on this all-in-one product.
WHAT YOU GET
NIS 2005 targets the common computing consumer - it combines the popular Norton Anti-Virus product with a complete 'Internet Security' package (ad-blocking, anti-spam and e-mail filtering, privacy control and personal firewall and parental controls to mention a few). In the box you will find an installation CD with product key and an abbreviated owners manual.
WHAT NIS 2005 REPLACES
For myself, NIS 2005 replaces other products (often free or shareware) such as Spybot and Adaware SE. I had been using these free programs (available from CNET downloads) in combination with a basic version of Norton Anti-Virus 2004. I was having some major difficulties with my registry values being altered, system performance slowing down, and unbearable pop-ups and spam e-mail, and decided to try another product in hopes of solving these problems.
EASE OF USE and PROBLEMS with NIS 2005
NIS 2005 is easy to install and get and and running. You simply put the CD into the drive, and it will start itself. Just follow the prompts and fill in the fields. You will be up immediately. Live Update is a component of the NIS 2005 package, and will launch itself to update your system with the latest definitions.
The first time I installed NIS 2005, I immediately had problems. NIS seemed to be blocking my every attempt to access the Internet. My Outlook Express E-mail program worked fine, but I could not surf or access ANY Internet sites whatsoever. After much correspondance with Symantec's customer support (more on this later), I eventually wound up uninstalling and reinstalling the program. The second installation worked fine, and it seemed that there must have been a corrupt file in the first download of Live Update files.
Just this week, after all had been running smoothly for a few months, a new Live Update download appeared to be interfering with my Outlook Express. I could now access the Internet, but Outlook Express was rendered useless. I again tried troubleshooting with Symantec, but wound up uninstalling and reinstalling the NIS 2005 product, and this seems to have so far solved my issues. Again, the reason seems to have been a corrupt file, this time in the Live Update download.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND TROUBLESHOOTING
Symantec seems to have many troubleshooting tools in place. If you click on 'help and support', you are taken to their site and given many options for help. You may choose their 'Automated Support Assistant' which will browse through your computer's files to see if something appears to be causing your problems. The ASA will also automatically fix the problems found, if you so choose. This option is easy as point and click.
The Symantec site also lets you enter an error code or type of problem, and search thru their database for answers by yourself. This can be frustrating and time consuming as they have a HUGE database of information.
Another customer support solution is to have 'Live Chat' or E-mail contact with one of Symantec's Customer Support Agents. The 'Live Chat' can take a while to connect due to user volume, but the E-mail support usually gets back to you with some answers within 24 hours.
Symantec's Client Services is competent and knowledgable. Unfortunately, if you are an experienced computer user, and you have already tried to trouble shoot problems on your own, it can be time consuming to go thru all the 'easy fix' steps with a customer service representative, and still not have them suggest any other possible solutions. Both times I encountered problems (as noted above in my 'PROBLEMS' section), the CSR could only suggest that I remove and then reinstall the NIS 2005 product. Quite frustrating.
PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY
NIS 2005 has a little pop-up window which tells you when your system has been attacked or threatened. You can run full or partial system scans on an as-needed or scheduled basis. I have not had ANY issues with pop-ups, spyware, or viruses since installing NIS 2005.
I tested my system by running Spybot and Adaware SE to see if they picked up anything that NIS 2005 had missed. Nope! I was clean.
My largest issue has been with NIS 2005 messing up my e-mail client, Outlook Express. I wound up turning off the spam-filtering component to allieviate these problems. As my ISP provides Spam filtering and e-mail virus checking, this option of NIS 2005 was not a big concern of mine anyway.
BOTTOM LINE
NIS 2005 is a good all-in-one security option for Internet users. Although I have experienced what I consider to be higher than average glitches in the program, to me it's value still outweighs it's problems. NIS 2005 means that I don't have to continuously run separate spyware, adblocking, pop-up stopping and anti-virus programs. That is a big time-saver for me. The price of the NIS 2005 package is very reasonable for what you get, and includes a full-year of updates and upgrades, regardless of when you activate the program. Although I purchased the NIS 2005 product at the end of 2005, I still get updates thru the end of 2006.
*NOTE* I just purchased and installed Norton Anti-Virus 2006 for my aunt's computer. Upon installation, the program tells you that you are now also getting free spyware protection included in the program. Many of the features of Norton Anti-Virus 2006 are the same as NIS 2005. I would recommend potential buyers compare the program features of these 2 products on the Symantec website before purchasing. Norton Anti-Virus costs a lot less than NIS 2005/2006, and may be better value for your money.