Customer Reviews
Disaster 
2005-05-10
After installing Firewall 2005 I could not access the internet. Punching through menu after menu on the tech. assistance line I came up with an option that directly addressed my problem, so I guess I'm not the only one. Two service calls later, trying to struggle through language difficulties with tech. reps. from India, I was sent an e-mail which assured me would cure all my problems. An hour and a half later the problem still wasn't cured.
I object to Symantec making their problem mine, so I returned the software.
software conflicts, no support 2005-04-29
I've been a big fan of Norton products for years, but they've "improved" new versions with so many bells and whistles they don't work. I replaced a previous version of Norton Firewall with this one and had nothing but trouble (coflicts in Norton Anti-Virus). Tech support is non-existent. (A few emails from someone in India whose scripted reply didn't address my issues). I finally uninstalled this product and will return it. I reinstalled the older version and everything works fine. I doubt I will buy another Norton product, ever. They should atleast offer support for 30 days for new products. There is clearly a bug here if it won't work with existing Norton programs, so think twice before you leap.
Symantec's Mortal Weapon 
2004-10-24
Norton Personal Firewall 2005 kicks Panda Software very, very far...
You NEED IT!!! BUY IT NOW!!!
Good News/Bad News: Norton vs ZoneAlarm 
2004-09-28
Just bought it today, and installed it. Not 100% impressed, yet!
Executive Summary: I've tried previous versions of Norton ever since they purchased the software-rights to GuardDog and made it Norton... and screwed it up (GuardDog was excellent!). This is the first version of Norton I'm keeping!
After installation, my CPU started cooking. I took a look at my processes running (under Task Manager). The program NMAIN.EXE was using between 98 and 99% of my CPU. A quick file search found it under Symantec Shared files. Called Symantec Tech Support. Solution (which wasn't found in their Knowledge Base) was to increase the "Initial" Windoze Page File size to 2.5 times my memory (512 MB x 2.5 = 1280) and "Maximum" size to 4 times my memory (512 x 4 = 2048). Seems to have fixed the problem (after a Blue Screen of Death during the first reboot, mind you!).
Compared to ZoneAlarm Pro:
1. Norton/Symantec HAS phone support! If Norton determines the problem is YOUR problem, then ya pay $30... but in the above issue, it was FREE!.
2. Norton ANSWERS your tech support questions if you use the free online service. ZoneAlarm, which I'd used for centuries, NEVER answered a single question. Ever!
3. Norton boots MUCH faster than ZoneAlarm.
4. Norton still needs some work. For example, if you tweak the configuration to NOT automatically configure known applications, and you set the options to CHECK other modules for previous authorization, you are going to be bugged to DEATH! And worse, the only two options when you get the "... trying to start an unauthorized module" kinds of messages, the ONLY two options are "Block" and "Allow Once." Ain't no option to "Go ahead and ADD this-here module to the Official OKIE-DOKIE" list. So, if you want the module or program approved, you get to hunt it down and add it manually. Oh, yeah... this is fun! If you leave (or revert) the options at the original settings, the problem goes away.
So, if you want TOTAL control... go with ZoneAlarm. If you want ease of use, but with complete trust in some group of programmers who you THINK know what they're doing (think about it a while: just how stable are the programs you're using now?)... then go with Norton.
Bye-Bye ZoneAlarm!!! Howdy, Norton! Guess I'll have to trust you.
If you value your privacy, do not buy Norton Internet Security 2006-01-17
I have used Norton/Symantec for over 5 years and had previously been completely satisfied...until the 2005 version came out. I purchased 2005 and almost from the moment of installation on my brand new Dell 2.8 ghz, I began having problems. Once I got those corrected, my machine got slower and slower. I suspected that Symantec had programmed a spyware/tracking feature into the security system but of course, they emphatically denied it. So, I looked to my ISP and Internet Explorer for answers. Neither was able to understand why I was having the continual slow-opening web pages except to offer the suggestion that perhaps spyware had somehow integrated itself into the system. Of course, I didn't mention that I use Ad-Aware, Spybot and CCleaner every week. After 75+ emails back and forth to Symantec (because it became abundantly clear that their telephone support staff had no interest in fixing anything), I finally told "Hajeesh" not ever to contact me again...that I would never buy another Norton product...that I believed they had a tracking system installed which slows my computer to a crawl and that their "security system" is a piece of junk. Lo and behold, it seems the State of Texas Attorney General is, in fact, suing Symantec/Norton because there IS a spyware tracking device installed in their programs which is totally undetectable by any of the other spyware products. So, a word to the wise, stay as far clear of Symantec/Norton as you can if you care anything about your privacy or the speed of your computing.
A Nightmare! 2005-09-20
Would not install (non-stop errors). Continually showed "disabled" (I'd enable it on the menu and the icon would only show "disabled"). Crashed my other software. Support is NONEXISTENT! (They have the nerve to charge $30.00 for technical support- per incident- for help with the garbage they've sold you. Perhaps the only way to actually get help but they weren't getting another dime out of me) I can't believe what's happened with this company. Three years ago it was all we used in our offices (and me at home). Honestly, this has been the worst experience I've ever had with any software. My other four computers have McAfee (no problems). One came with Norton AntiVirus preinstalled so I purchased the (same) firewall. Needless to say they BOTH went! Never again! Just hearing the word "Norton" gives me hives-
Unusable 2005-09-14
My new Dell came with this pre-installed. It kept crashing until I removed Norton Personal Firewall, it hasn't crashed since. A client just called, they installed NPF on their computers and killed their entire office network. I'm off to fix that now.
Poorly documented, extremely unstable, impractical. 2005-06-16
I'll try and stay fairly objective about this. It will be difficult. I installed this on a brand spanking new Win2K SP4 machine. Here is what I've experienced.
1. Poor to no support documentation for this product, either included or on their web site.
2. Default security policy is not adequate. I've installed server apps that the wizard interface said were reccomended safe, which I know darned well aren't. ( therefore requiring rule customization for the apps to work correctly)
3. Adding even basic firewall rules crashes this product, HARD.
4. Does not play well with others, when it does crash, it can 't be shut down or restarted with the task manager, causing a REQUIRED reboot.
5. I have crashed IE and had this product crash queitly without any alert, leaving my box exposed on the network.
6. No ability to configure perpetual logging. You are limited to 2 megs of their binary log format, so essentially all someone has to do to blast your logs off your box is DOS your for about a minute.
(You can take snapshots of the logs, but that still positions you to loose data, particularly in a DOS situation.)
7. Firewall rule base is not exportable, which means multiple hosts have to be indevidually configured. This fact alone makes it impractical in a small office environment.
8. The interface is badly obfuscated. No less than six clicks just to get to the rule base.
9. Their "Check my security" port scanner is bogus. Their port scanner only checks the lower 1024 ports, and depends on some sort of agent (which a good security policy would block anyway) to do the rest of the evaluation. So essentially you get a false "good" evaluation.
I'm in the IT business, and I explicitly DO NOT recommend this product to my customers. I will check amazon.com before purchasing anything from these folks again.
The only thing this product seems to do well is schill their 900 tech support phone number. But after all the time this product has wasted, I feel like they owe _me_ money.
What a waste of time and money 2005-05-16
I don't recomend this product
after installing you need to activate it
this sounds easy enuff but is a hassle, after a few installs
Norton makes you call their tech suport to get activation numbers
and when I called, their server was down or something
so after push this push that wait on hold etc was told would have to call back again,
if you don't activate it then will work for just 15 days,
its a shame to pay for something that you can't use unless you have lots of time to waste
