Customer Reviews
Makes hard drive chatty 
2006-11-28
Difficult to figure out how to shutdown NAV so it will not interfere with installs.
Makes my 80GB hardrive very chatty for much as 30 minutes after booting or coming out of hybernation, even after defgrag.
Otherwise acceptable. I would be overwhelmed without a system repair tool like Norton.
No Need to Buy this Product 
2006-11-26
It does nothing that other software, either bundled with Windows or free from Microsoft or other sources can't do. The antivirus can be purchased stand alone if you really want it.
Norton is an unfriendly company; their customer service is not particularly helpful; their software is difficult to activate; try to reinstal it "too many" times because of hard disc failure and they will lock you out from activating permanently.
A one star review is appropriate.
Protection Center and Rebate Problems 2006-11-24
When you install Norton Systemworks (NSW), you will find it adds the Norton Protection Center (NPC) icon to your toolbar. Every time you log in, the NPC goes through a long rigamarole of checking your applications. If you choose to disable Automatic Live Update or Windows Updates--I check these manually myself every week in order to speed up my log in time--NPC flashes error messages at you. You can't set NPC to ignore these items, and the only way you can turn off the NPC is to disable it in your system services settings. However, NSW will keep trying to load the NPC, thus slowing down your log in and throwing error indications into your event viewer. If that isn't enough to irritate you, Norton will screw you on your rebate. I carefully sent in all required items for my rebate, only to get a postcard from Norton saying my proof of purchase was missing. Obviously, Norton lost what I sent in, but there's no way to prove that now--they have my proof of purchase already!
Buyer Beware 2006-11-21
I purchased Norton Systemswork Premier. I used it without difficulty for several months. Then one afternoon (19-Nov-2006), I started getting an error message everytime an application requested a virus scan. The message indicated that Norton was trying to configure itself and said that msi files must be run from setup. I tried to uninstall Norton, but the uninstall failed. From that point on, every file that I tried to open was judged to be infected. A very important MSWORD file was deleted as were my .dot files. My computer became virtually unusable. Norton Systemworks Premier is worse than a virus. I would have given this product zero stars, but one is the minimum allowed.
Trying too hard... 2006-11-10
If you are thinking about purchasing this product: DON'T! I have used other Norton products in the past, so I decided to try their more advanced (and more expensive) virus software. The best way to describe it is this: Norton is trying too hard to manage every aspect of the computer, thus slowing boot time and general speed of the computer dramatically. If you must go with Norton, use the very basic Internet Security program which uses less RAM. Otherwise there are other Virus protection programs which do not slow down the computer so much.
Never Again! 
2007-05-15
I've been using Norton Utilities since the MS DOS days, when it was truly a lifesaver. That was a long time ago.
It still does a reasonable job keeping viruses out, tuning up hard drives, and a few other useful tasks, although it takes a lot of memory and computer resources to do it.
But the response from customer support when the activation "feature" failed after installation (thereby allowing me only 15 days of product use for software that I purchased) was unforgiveable. I was told that the software had already been installed, according to their records, and so I would have to buy new software. When I persuaded the support person to tell me when the installation had occured, I was given dates for 4 installations, all of which occurred before I bought the software!
The result? No apology, no activation key, just a list of everything related to my purchase (CD, manual, etc.) and instructions to mail it all to Ireland...Symantec is in California, I live in California!
I will be exploring the many free or low cost software packages that perform the same functions better than Norton, with less impact on system performance, and without the grief (run a Google search sometime to see what it takes to remove Norton once its installed...you'll be shocked)
Never Use Synmantec Product 2006-12-23
First time but will be the last time to buy anything from this company. I would give -100 score if there is.
(1)Extremely Slow scan, I thought it will demage hard drive if used for long time;
(2)I installed on one machine then on second (license allowed), uninstalled then install several time. all machine locked. pop up RED fix error message;
(3)VERY BAD customer service, you need to search all place on website then you could find use less customer support.
(4)Such bad product, you need to renew OR re suscribe periodically to pay extra money, cost very high. very simple other anti virus software will do same thing with only less than $20;
(5)Customer service is very bad, I sold this, after 3 month VERY UNSATISFIED USAGE (I bought at $70 retail box). However Symantec declines to transfer license. RIDICULUS, RIDICULUS. EVEN Microsoft will allow license. What does Synmantec think they are? Doing business in such a meager and narraw minded short sight. No wonder they have such a bad product;
(6)Advice to all buyers, try CA s-trust or MAfree. Much compact and cheap . Better performance than this.
Comprehensive with some cool tools, but SLOW. 2006-12-15
Fortunately I haven't had any nightmare scenarios as discussed in several other reviews here. However I can add to the many comments on how it slows your system to a crawl: initial log-in is now as follows: turn on computer, then take a shower and have breakfast, then come back to computer and check email, etc.
Having seen all these horror stories here, I'm officially nervous: I'm going to uninstall it completely, then just reinstall the non-invasive components (and perhaps either Ghost or GoBack). I'll go with something simpler and lass bulky for my basic protections... between MS Antivirus, Spybot, Etrust, and AdAware (all free), I'm sure I can figure something out.
I loved it ...Now I hate it !!! 
2006-12-10
You can review my initial impression on Norton 2006 below ....but a few months have passed ...and I must humbly change my opinion...As opposed to previous Norton products, this one has caused more trouble than its worth...
Stick to McAfee or Kaspersky...
Norton has become an anti-virus program that morphed into a virus unto itself... Come on guys , you can do better than this !!!
I have been a Norton user since before Windows ...and truly find that despite the minor little quirks the program may cause ...its the lesser of two evils...Hey ...any program that interacts on a minute to minute basis with the entire operating system 24/7 is going to make your system perform a little differently than before you installed Norton. I just went from Norton 2002 to 2006 and LOVE IT ...after the [...] past user rebate and discount price, it only cost me $[...] bucks....
Just the Norton Goback + Ghost are worth the price of admission...Utilities is the only way to keep your computer a Lean ,Mean , Fightin Machine !
Nothings perfect , but Norton strives to be ...and I think they do the best job out there !!
Rich Antczak
Need to use basis only 2006-12-02
Lights are on but no one is in the back room. I wonder if all the talent has left this company. I feel like I'm piling on, but, like many of the other reviewers here, I have used Norton for over a decade, from at least the early Mac and 286/386 PC processor days, as a Mac & PC software developer. I was "upgrading" from NSW 2005 Premier to NSW 2006 Premier and it locked up my laptop last night. Seems to have installed all but the Norton AntiVirus. I started reinstalling over an hour ago, and the progress is unbelievably slow, even after I removed all external hard drives, enough to drive me to this desktop machine to search the web for similar experience. I feel like I should have looked at the Amazon reviews first. Interestingly, during the incredibly slow reinstall, there doesn't seem to be much hard drive activity, certainly less than the network activity. What is Symantec doing, cataloging my software? The only thing I can say is that if you need Norton Ghost, you may have to buy this. I'm not sure if it is available separately, but it is something I need in my work. Norton AV has also caught a number of email viruses over the years, but I've now gone with web hosting company with amazingly good anti-spam software (godaddy). I tried to set up my machine with the free McAffee antivirus that comes with AOL a couple of years back, but many wasted hours later, after Norton Removal Tool, and even meticulously combing through the registry and deleting entries it would never show completely clear of Norton. Use this product only if you have to for some reason.
