Norton has long been one of the most widely used internet security suites, following the antivirus software well before that. I used many versions of Norton over the years, up until 2004 when I decided I would quit paying the annual subscription/upgrade fee and start using free software such as AVG Antivirus and Zone Alarm firewall.

I bought my wife a new laptop a few months ago that came with a version of Norton Internet Security pre-installed, but it was only good for 90 days. After that, I had to pay for a year subscription or delete it and install the free software I have been using.

I decided I would try the new version of Norton Internet Security, particularly since it now includes 3 licenses – you can install it on 3 different computers (it used to only include one). We have 3 different computers in the house, so I figured it made sense.

I completely removed the “free” version that was included on the laptop using Symantec’s (the company that makes Norton products) removal tool. Apparently removing it with the Add/Remove Programs item in control panel doesn’t actually remove all of it. The version that came with the laptop was the 2007 product, so I figured it would be better to start from scratch with 2008.

After removing the old one, I ran the installation program for 2008. It got part way through and then spit out an extremely generic error message that didn’t really say what went wrong, canceled the install and restarted the computer.

So I tried again, thinking it could have been a random glitch.

Start the install again, same error message at the same point.

I figured I would check Symantec’s technical support to see if they had any information about this problem.

Nothing in the knowledgebase on their website, so off to Google I went. I found several other people with the same problem, but no solution.

Back to Symantec’s website to initiate a chat session with tech support. After several minutes of installing some ActiveX stuff for the chat software to work, I got connected and was put “on hold”.

After about 15 minutes, a tech support agent connected. After going through the explanation of what happened, he had me run the removal tool (again, apparently the installer doesn’t actually remove whatever has been installed when it cleans up after the error) and download a newer version of the software.

Because I would have to reboot the system, I would lose the connection to the tech support chat, but he assured me this would solve the problem.

I ran the new installer I downloaded and guess what? Same problem again.

Back to the tech support chat, but now it wouldn’t let me connect for some reason. So I fired off a support request through the contact form on their website with all the details.

According to the support website, I should expect a response within 48 hours. Well, that was on October 22. It’s now November 30, and I haven’t heard back from them, even with several follow up requests I’ve submitted.

I’ve tried to connect with the tech support chat several times, but the wait was over an hour every time I’ve tried, with over 60 people ahead of me in “line”.

I never did get the software installed and have since gone back to AVG Antivirus and Zone Alarm firewall (both free) which are working perfectly.

I recommend you stay away from Symantec’s Internet Security 2008 product, and anything else they make for that matter. Whether or not they work, it seems that you’re not going to get much, if any, support if you have a problem. They have a “premium” level support that costs more, but why would you pay them more money when you’ve already bought a product that isn’t working?

So here’s the bottom line.

Pros

  • Next time I need to let off some steam, I can shatter the Norton Internet Security CD into a thousand tiny pieces with a hammer. I don’t really think it was worth $40 for this though.

Cons

  • No explanation of what caused the error on installation
  • Couldn’t get the software installed
  • Technical support is practically non-existent, and has long wait times if you want to use the chat service

Filed under: Internet Security

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