Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

[dubina]

I have Norton360 subscribed through May, I think.  Also, I think Norton Internet Security is something like Norton360 lite.

Should I care that NIS is expired?

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

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dubina wrote:

I have Norton360 subscribed through May, I think.  Also, I think Norton Internet Security is something like Norton360 lite.

Should I care that NIS is expired?

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You absolutely should not have both N 360 and Norton Internet Security (or any other interactive security program) on the same computer at the same time.

So it's just as well that NIS has expired since it then stops working altogether.

NIS is actually a heavier duty security application than in Norton 360 in the sense that it has more features that you can adjust to suit your own preferences for security. Norton 360 is more for the fit and forget user and includes some utilities and online storage that may or may not be useful to you.

Make sure you decide which you want to keep when May comes along and don't decide at the last minute -- come and ask here especially if you decide to go back to NIS.

If you think now that Norton 360 is best for you then keep your eyes open for a copy on sale in retail stores or reputable sources since you can use the activation KEY that comes with a new copy to add time to your existing installation but you need to make sure you buy the same sub-version of Norton 360 as you have: Standard or Premier since the keys are not interchangeable.

If you spot a good buy, get it but don't use the KEY until a couple of days before the subscription runs out or you will lose the unexpired days since you are in effect installing a new copy. If you make a mistake and do it too soon let us know and we can point you to the nice support people who have the tools to put it right again.

Would you please let us know what version of Norton 360 you have installed -- click on Support > About where it is in the format nn.nn.nn.nnn where n is a number.. And also what version of Windows you have installed.

[bjm_]

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[dubina]

Hi Hugh,

Thanks for the steer; I will go with it.

I am curious though.  I saw a side by side by side comparison of four Norton products: 2 Norton 360s, and 2 NIS.  Here it is.

http://us.norton.com/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp

Looks like NIS is lighter than 360 to me.

Another question: how the heck did I get NIS and 360 on the same PC.  I know better, but I have not always known better.  Could I have somehow been auto-installed and a credit card charged?  Something went haywire somewhere along the line.

[SUBASH_PRABU Symantec Employee]

Hi

   The Products that are shown on that page are,

Norton360 Premier          (Antivirus+Antispyware+Firewall+PcTuneup+25GB online Storage Space)

Norton360 Standard        (Antivirus+Antispyware+Firewall+PcTuneup+2 GB online Storage Space)

Norton Internet Security   (Antivirus+Antispyware+Firewall)

Norton Antivirus                 (Antivirus+Antispyware)

Hi NIS/NAV/N360 cannot be installed on a same Computer (Unless you use Dual Operating Systems). And to make sure what products are registered with your account and to find how many days remaining/when they expire, please goto the Norton Account Website and sign in with your email and password and check under the Products tab.

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

The two groups not ticked on NIS are BackUp and Restore and PC Tuneup -- I think everything else is the substantially same although at any moment in time one or the other may have more uptodate basic engines when you install from a disk since the major updating of NIS/NAV and N360 are about 6 months out of phase.

BUT -- Windows does have its own back up and restore and in Windows 7 includes making an image of the hard drive and it does have some of the utilities in PC Cleanup. In my opinion, and I'm not alone, some utilities that are offered widely (not just by Norton) such as cleaning out your registry are positively dangerous unless you know enough about the registry to take the decisions yourself.

I've seen so many computers disabled by "I cleaned up a lot of stuff Windows didn't need and now my computer won't boot up -- what shall I do?"

On the whole I prefer to pick and chose my own utilities, mostly free, and use them with great care.

So it's really up to you -- stick with N360 if you are comfortable with it and don't mind the slight cost penalty compared with NIS.

As to how you got both installed I don't know since either is supposed to uninstall any Norton Security application it finds. If you remember installing N 360 did NIS come preinstalled on the computer as a trial? Maybe if an application has expired the next Norton Installation ignores it but I rather doubt it.

The other possibility is that you do not have the active components of NIS installed but just what is left after uninstalling since this does, I believe, include certain installation files tucked away in User / ..... Application data ....

What shows up in Remove Programs?