Can’t say I blame them…

Symantec Symptoms

“The last few months has seen the biggest wave of Symantec gripes since I started the Gripe Line. And that’s saying something, because customers of Norton anti virus products have long been a particularly rich source of gripe fodder. But what is it exactly that has so many readers sick of Symantec at the moment? That’s not going to be an easy diagnosis to make, because the symptoms are many.

“One reader recently provided his list of Symantec symptoms. “My dislike for Symantec products has been steadily growing primarily with the level of disaster of their Norton AntiVirus program,” the reader wrote. “Used to be something I considered standard issue for virus problems, but it has really gotten bad over the past few years, with the 2004 version being the worst I have seen. I would cite them on the following problems:

1. Installation failures that are difficult to detect/fix
2. Undetected virus infections, where other programs easily detect the infected files
3. Complicated and messy hooks into the OS
4. Conflicts with other programs resulting in poor PC performance, to the point of uninstalling
5. Poor technical support

“One specific issue that seems to have been driving this recent wave of complaints is Symantec’s policy of sunsetting support for the 2003 version of Norton products when the 2005 version is released. ‘I purchased NAV 2003 just over a year ago,’ wrote one reader. ‘Last month I paid for another year’s subscription to the Live Update service, but NAV is refusing to download any new virus definitions. It keeps telling me I have to renew my subscription, even though I have done so. I wrote Symantec asking for help, and all they told me is that support for NAV 2003 has been discontinued… It’s disgusting. I have an up-to-date subscription and a version of the software that I’ve had only a year. How can they refuse to help me?’”