Symantec has some serious issues with e-mails. I had attempted the download link several times from the Yahoo offer and never got an e-mail (that is until today). So weeks later they decided to send me the details of the offer, even after sending an e-mail to support as well that was never responded to.

I was able to get the software from another link to do the trial that I’ve posted about.

After the trial was over, I decided to go ahead and purchase it for the $49.99. If you’re interested in it, do a few searches and you should find a 10% off that apparently applies to already discounted software.

So now after using it even more and purchasing it, I’m not happy with it. It’s a nice package and would work great if I installed it on my mom’s PC or someone who doesn’t mind giving up all control of how it works. Yes, there’s settings you can change at an “overview” or “high level” but no detailed changes. I loved the old defrag program that allowed me to keep highly used items, such as specific games, at the front of the drive. Won’t find that here.

I also found that certain files that it may detect as viruses that are false have no options to set them as exclude. It moved a file, I found where to restore/undo it and it immediately quarantined it again. There’s a nice option for “exclude” but it won’t allow me to do that. You also can’t get any details on the file when you view the virus it reported. If you click on the virus it has a message about “restricted access” and needing rights to view the file.

So if you want something that monitors your system so you can brainlessly stay safe, it’s a nice program and there’s nothing wrong with that… exactly the type of protection most users need. However if you’re a techie type it’s not for you. It’s too bad because it really is nice on resources but Symantec thinks everyone needs their hand held and doesn’t seem to care if you want more detailed or higher level interaction.

OK, I’ve not posted much on this but it seems to work well other than the annoying freakin’ messages that you’ve not bought it.  Give me 15 days to try it, on day 12 start telling me ONCE per day.  Instead it tells you multiple times per day that you’ve not purchased it… Wow, I didn’t????  Stop telling me that it’s not purchased, i know it.  When I’m ready, I’ll buy it and until then, leave me the hell alone!

It seems to be doing OK but the training on the mail is poor…seemed that the older version caught a lot more spam than this thing does.  Even something coming in that says [SPAM] in the subject it still allows it through.

Also the backup piece works fine unless you have your mail prog open and it errors out saying that all files were not copied, so you have to make sure you have mail (Outlook/Outlook Express) closed.

That’s all for today on Norton 360 for day 6 (I think it’s day 6…hehe)

So I have read great things about Norton 360 and thought I’d give it a try, so I downloaded it and giving the 15 day trial a run. So far it’s hit and miss for a tweak junkie. There are no install options, it just installs, I remember the previous version of Norton System Works kind of “hid” the options on install and if you clicked too quickly you got it all. This time, as far as I can tell, there is no hidden “options” and when you do a change in “Add/Remove” it asks to completely uninstall. I hate this because I don’t necessarily like all of it installed or at least I want to see what is being installed.

The nice thing is on reboot, the ccSvcHst.exe was running at around 20kb, a big improvement over previous Symantec products, even Corporate AV which was at 77kb. This was at least some great news.

I began the configuration.  I first began with the backup/restore using default options, chose a network drive and it failed. Apparently the Norton Firewall disabled all access to my network drives. I disabled the firewall to test out the backup. Ran the default settings and it didn’t grab anything in “My Documents”. I have all my data on a separate drive so that if I rebuild, I lose nothing that I would cry about.   So changing the location of your “My Documents” doesn’t seem to matter to the Backup/Restore program and it ignores the location. I added folders manually but I’d assume that it would at least grab your special folders such as “My Documents”, “My Images” but no such luck on either.
Configuration is a bit confusing to change options and I loved how defrag worked but not sure how to update settings. Again, this is day one. As I play with 360 more over the trial period I’ll update my findings.  This is a blog entry so it’s posting discoveries as I go for the program.
Additionally if you want to add Anti-Spam (actually one of my favorite Norton products in the past), you have to download an Add-On pack that contains Anti-Spam and Parental Controls. But it worked like a charm once it was downloaded and installed.  It’s also a pain in the ass to find it on the site but when I do find it again, I’ll throw it in my next entry.
We’ll see how this journey continues.

Also, if you are looking to buy Norton 360, I found a Yahoo promotion here for $49 and it expires on 6/14. Good deal considering it’s $69 everywhere else and will apparently go up to $79 for all promotions soon. This also protects 3 machines for one year. Not tried the multiple PCs yet but I believe you need to download it directly to that PC for it to be protected based on some reviews at Amazon.

If you’re looking for a box version, Amazon does have it for $56 and some change.