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Has Norton Internet Security become a thing of the past? I've been a Norton user since the late 70's. Now all I can find, at a reasonable price, is Norton 360? I liked Internet Security because I felt it wasn't bloated with manufacturers offers. Is it finally time to try a different protector?
Posted: 06-May-2022 | 6:44AM · Permalink
Norton Internet Security, NIS, and Norton Security, NS, have been replaced for some time now with the 360 product line. If you already have the older products installed you can still renew directly with Norton, but you cannot purchase the product any more. And the renewal will be more expensive than purchasing a new 360 product key. If you do find the product listed by a reputable retailer it will be very old stock.
Posted: 06-May-2022 | 2:34PM · Edited: 06-May-2022 | 2:35PM · Permalink
Posted: 06-May-2022 | 3:48PM · Permalink
Hi PC_confused:
Just note that Norton users with Win XP and Vista operating system cannot install the latest Norton 360 v22.22.x and must use a legacy Norton v22.15.x product (currently Norton Security v22.15.5.40, Norton Internet Security v22.15.5.40, etc.). See the Sept 2020 product update announcement at Norton 22.15 for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 SP0 is Now Available!. These older NS/NIS/NAV product lines can only be installed on Windows PCs, while the license for new Norton 360 is multi-device (Windows PC, Mac OS X, iOS, Android).
Posted: 06-May-2022 | 8:15PM · Permalink
I went looking and it looks like that 360 program is auto renewal. Can that feature be tuned off? Another product is about half the price and that expensive auto renewal can be turned off. Norton's is getting out of my price range anyhow.
Posted: 06-May-2022 | 11:08PM · Permalink
Yes, you can cancel auto-renewal.
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20090818144...
Posted: 12-May-2022 | 4:06AM · Edited: 12-May-2022 | 4:10AM · Permalink
@lmacri
It has been known for a long time (1-2 years) that N360 is incompatible with legacy Win environments (XP/Vista), and that only the specific legacy NIS/NS version (v22.x) builds can be used. But as you have already mentioned, N360 contains additional gunkware that will undermine the system's performance (if those settings are not being turned off appropriately).
I think this is the core message to other readers when it comes to differentiating NIS/NS from N360. Unfortunately, for those running NIS/NS on current systems (7SP1/8.x/10), they'll again suffer from forced ("hijacked") upgrade from NIS to N360 where those unnecessary gunkware components are being installed possibly without the users' knowledge. Simply put, what NLL is doing to customers at current state is deplorable, inappropriate and selfish, and such (mal)practice needs to be addressed (and stopped).
Posted: 12-May-2022 | 6:57AM · Edited: 12-May-2022 | 7:31AM · Permalink
Hi anon743:
PC_confused mentioned the bloat in current Norton 360 products in their original post so I didn't think it was necessary to expand, but I agree with your concerns, and when I purchased a new Win 10 laptop in 2019 I decided not to install a newer Norton v22.22.x product because of this very issue. I've posted several times about this (see my Remove Norton Crypto From Antivirus Products in the Product Suggestions board that includes a link to the Verge article Here’s the Truth About the Crypto Miner That Comes With Norton Antivirus for one example) but Norton continues to add more and more bloatware to their core security product. The release notes <here> for the latest Norton v22.22.4.11 products mention that users now have the option to turn off the new Software Updater feature, so kudos to Norton for at least realizing that many of their users don't want these unnecessary features running on their system.
After parent company Symantec was sold to Broadcom in 2019 it was probably inevitable that NortonLifeLock would start acquiring technology for "bells and whistles" like Norton Smart Scan, Norton Software Updater, etc. from other companies instead of rebuilding their own internal R&D department. That includes the purchase of Avast for over $8 Billion USD in 2021, the same antivirus company that was publicly shamed after they were caught selling customer data to large corporate clients like Home Depot, Google, Microsoft and Pepsi through Avast’s subsidiary company Jumpshot (see the Jan 2020 PC Magazine article Avast to End Browser Data Harvesting, Terminates Jumpshot).
I used legacy Norton products on my (now retired and rarely used) Vista SP2 laptop for over a decade and I've always been a fan of the Norton Smart Firewall. I would be willing to reconsider my decision to stop using NortonLifeLock products if they ever released a reasonably priced security product for my Win 10 machine that didn't have all this unnecessary bloatware and wasn't spamming my system with pop-up ads urging me to purchase additional NortonLifeLock services, but I'm afraid those days are long gone.
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HP Pavilion dv6835ca * 32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox ESR v52.9.0 * Malwarebytes Premium v3.5.1.2522-1.0.365
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1645 * Firefox v100.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2203.5-1.1.19200.5 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.9.198-1.0.1676 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6758
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