Re: NIS2012 crashing with changes in firewall

jmason · ‎11-18-2011

I hated Norton/Symantec products before because they always gave me headaches. I changed my mind only when my friend introduced me to NIS 2010, then 2011. Both performed flawlessly in my system for two years. I have been doing the same things all these times.

Now, it seems this NIS 2012 will change my mind again - even before 2012 starts.

twixt · ‎09-26-2011

jmason wrote:
I hated Norton/Symantec products before because they always gave me headaches. I changed my mind only when my friend introduced me to NIS 2010, then 2011. Both performed flawlessly in my system for two years. I have been doing the same things all these times.

Now, it seems this NIS 2012 will change my mind again - even before 2012 starts.

Hi, jmason. If NIS 2011 was working flawlessly for you, one of your options is to simply revert to that version while the teething problems with the release of NIS 2012 get sorted out.

It's not as if NIS 2011 is broken. Yes, NIS 2012 is more secure than NIS 2011. Yes, NIS 2012 has a bunch of features that you may consider desirable. But is the functionality and workability of NIS 2011 actually insufficient for your needs? Some people here who have problems with NIS 2012 have reverted to NIS 2011 and are working happily while waiting for Symantec to announce that the bug that laid them low has been fixed.

One of the nice things about NIS - the purchase of a product key or the renewal of a product key simply extends the end-date for that product key in the Norton Subscription Database. Thusly, you can install and use any version of the product in that product range (which for you is NIS 2010, NIS 2011 & NIS 2012). You can upgrade or downgrade to a different version in that range - and your product key is still valid.

However, the thing you have to be wary of in versions of NIS prior to NIS 2012 - is that removal/reinstallation across versions may increase your installed product count to a larger number of installations than are actually running on your machine.

Thusly, it is prudent - before experimenting - to:

1. Log into your Norton Account

2. Check your existing NIS install count against your Product Key

3. Verify the existing install count is valid

4. Contact Symantec Support if it is not.

Then do the experiment of uninstalling NIS 2012 and reinstalling NIS 2011. Get the latest installer - with all the latest bugfixes as well as a much later version of NIS 2011 than is installed from a NIS 2011 CD - from the following URL:

http://www.norton.com/nis11

If this solves your problem and you are happy with the result, then repeat the four numbered steps above - and wait until a new release of NIS 2012 is announced.

Note: Symantec recently updated NIS 2012 from the 19.1-series to the 19.2-series. Symantec have also stated that a major revision is in development - which may be your "magic bullet". Thus, IMO it is perfectly reasonable for you to stay with NIS 2011 until such time as NIS 2012 will actually run stably on your system.

Hope this helps.

jmason · ‎11-18-2011

twixt:

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and advice.

I was thinking about going back to NIS 2011 when NIS 2012 crashed the last time, but somehow I got the impression that the latter should provide better security because of the new types and methods of malware coming out. Also, I "feel" the NIS 2012 is relatively "more thorough." For example, it runs quick scan every time there is an update, and from the looks of it, I seem to be getting updates relatively more times a day. More so, probably, because my Metered Broadband Mode is set to off. At first, I found the frequent scannings quite annoying and resource-draining, but then I thought, well, that's the idea of a security setup.

I am going to give the NIS 2012 another shot. If it repeats the same problem in the future, I will either go back to NIS 2011 or simply dump it for another package. There's no sense in wasting my TIME to keep fixing a broken (in my case) software that's supposed to support user productivity.

SendOfJive · ‎02-07-2009

Hi jmason,

Be aware before reverting back to NIS 2011 that the Identity Safe backup file format used in NIS 2012 (DAT) is not backwards compatible with NIS 2011 (NPM). If you go back, the only way you will be able to restore your Identity Safe contents will be to use a .NPM file that was created and saved before you installed NIS 2012. Just FYI.

dbrisendine · ‎10-06-2008

Could not just export and import a CSV file?

SendOfJive · ‎02-07-2009

dbrisendine wrote:
Could not just export and import a CSV file?

Unfortunately, no. NIS 2012 will restore from a CSV, a DAT or even an NPM file, but NIS 2011 will only restore from a NPM backup (even though it can also export as a CSV).

jmason · ‎11-18-2011

SendOfJive:

Uhh... I am not aware that I am using Identity Safe in all the NIS versions (haven't bothered setting anything under the category), but I will remember your advice. Thanks.

SendOfJive · ‎02-07-2009

If you don't use Identity Safe, then you can disregard my post. Unfortunately, there have been a couple of users who lost a lot of stored logins when reverting back to NIS 2011, because they were not able to make a backup in NIS 2012 that could be restored to NIS 2011.

jmason · ‎11-18-2011

How shall I put it? It happened AGAIN. Somehow, I am not surprised. I believe some of you, who follow the thread, aren't surprised that it happened AGAIN, too, because nothing had been done to actually debug or fix this THING with me. I am back to NIS 2011, and manually re-entering and editing the 120+ entries to the firewall listing, all the while fuming over my experiences and the waste of TIME. I will not recommend this THING to people who ask for my advice. The software companies can continue to produce fixes and excuses but, to my mind, customers should not be relegated as beta testers or guinea pigs. I have two sealed packages of NIS 2011 on my desk that I had planned to give away as gifts this year end. I will probably still give them away, but I will also tell my friends, acquaintances, and people I am in touch with in the ICT industry about my bad experiences with NIS 2012. Right now, I have only great disdain for this piece of xxxx.