Norton
From Mikeslab
Foreword: This applies to Norton for Home users. This does not apply to the corporate edition, since I have no experience with it. This also only applies to versions older than NIS 2009 since I also have no experience with it.
Simply, the best thing you can do for your computer is uninstall Norton Anti-Virus or Security Suite.
Norton could actually classify as Malware by definition itself. Why? There are 3 main, and large reasons.
1. It modifies some critical system files. There is no reason for a virus scanner to modify any system files period. This alone is enough to cause me to uninstall Norton from my customers machines (upon approval of course).
2. Second, and perhaps most important, it modifies your Windows TCP/IP stack. This can, and has, affected internet connectivity, and does not play well with Windows Updates. This is a serious problem. Why does it modify these system files that should NEVER be touched? To insert a proxy. This is supposedly for your your protection (why, I couldn't tell you). This means, if the Norton proxy service stops working, so does your internet. This also means, if Windows Update replaces one of the system files that Norton modified, it breaks your internet browsing ability.
3. It is very heavy on resources. It has been known (especially when corrupted) to bring entire computer systems down to non-usability, just because of the bad code that Norton was programmed with. It uses an unnecessary large amount of resources to perform a simple task of running in the background.
I have worked on many machines, personally and professionally. I have come across many issues ranging from simple to complex. Honestly, uninstalling Norton fixed many of the issues I have come across.
The only reason why this software is allowed to be installed (and unfortunately bundled) on machines is because people are not aware, and do not understand what is happening. Please, do yourself and your computer a favor and Uninstall Norton. Install a free Virus scanner, such as Avast! (my favorite) or AVG. Norton is not worth what it costs, and it costs more than money.
