Horrible Tech Experience With Norton Online Backup

Archive
1

Wow!

 

We have 2 computers. Computer A has Norton 360P v/3. Computer B uses Norton Online backup as its backup method.

 

Computer B, running XP Pro SP 3, had to be reformatted. Upon completion, we tried to restore the online backup. It was showing "Not Online" when we went to MyAccount, even though Online Backup had been reinstalled. I uninstalled/reinstalled, rebotted, etc. Same result. Fired off an email to Symantec. Usual support advice of doing what I had already done. So, I used Chat.

 

First tech tried for about an hour. He said he could see the files online, but could not figure out how to get it to restore to the reformatted - though ORIGINAL - computer. He pushed me up the line to his supervisor. This fellow was working remotely for over an hour and a half. He uninstalled, reinstalled, rebooted, ran scripts .... Right before my eyes, I watched as he deleted the backup. Then, he installed 360S - which hadn't even been on the computer. He failed miserably. Told me it was a critical issue and that the server had not been properly configured. If a tech guy from Symantec sees this, it was case #: XXXXXXXXX.

 

He told me that an engineer would have to call, but by this time I was so frustrated and disappointed that I thanked him and told him never mind. I had an old backup on a flash drive I could use ... Not up-to-date, but better than nothing. Luckily, this was our spare computer and had nothing very important on it. Lost a few photos is about all.

 

What scares me is what if my main computer ever goes and I need my 360 online backup restored to a new computer. Is this how it will be? Scary! So, is online backup useless?

 

<<edit : removed the support case ID as per participation guidelines and terms of service. case Id stored internally for reference>>

Message Edited by JerryM on 11-01-2009 07:42 AM
2

In brief I had the same experience but worse with Norton Online back-up.

 

I paid $70 for 25 gb of backup (total 27Gb with 360). It only every backed up 2.5 Gb of the 25Gb purchased  - because their backup severs were having a problem - THEIR automated explanationn to me.

 

At their direction and analysis of the situation - I then removed - reloaded the 360 software - contacted Norton tech support - and did everything they suggested in respnse to their message that their backup servers were experiencing a problem. They said wait 24 hours and try again - after the remove, and reload exercies on 1 or 2 more occassions.....   I eventually went to online chat for as they suggested "a faster user experience" I was 25th in the queue....so i ditched the online chat -  it wasnt going to be faster for me.

 

Norton interpreted my 3 minute wait online without any connection to an online chat person before ditching as "my problem havng been solved"  because I then received a quality customer service email inquiry from them asking if i was satisfied with their solution.

 

I wrote back explaining the detail above and saying I would prefer to have my money back ( i bought the extra 25Gb of storage for $70  - and it would never back up more than 2.5 Gb of my files - always assuring me "my most important files were backed up" -  but never completing a back-up routine.  I told them they didn't have any idea which files were important to me. I never heard from them since...

 

2 weeks ago my compute crashed and burned and sure enough only 2.5 Gb of my least important files are availble in the online backup service. Ironically I'd rather delete most of the files they backed up - but there is no delete option. Norton is great with Virus protection - but its my pesonal opinion they should get out of the backup storage business immediately.

3

Hi Jiml,

 

Welcome to the forum and sorry that you had a bad experience with this.

 

Just as an FYI, online backup can be good for backing up personal documents and the like but if you want true disaster recovery to be able to truly restore your system to its current state, you need to do an image backup with Ghost or some other imaging software. This is the only way you will be able to truly recover from a disaster.

 

My apologies if you are already aware of this. Perhaps your intent was only to back up personal documents to the online server.

 

In either case your point is well taken that if you paid for 25GB of storage you should have received what you paid for.

 

Myself I would never trust online backup services, it just takes too much out of my control for my liking. I don't care if it is Symantec or some other online service, I would simply never do it.

 

For offsite storage capability I will do my backup images with Ghost and store copies to an offsite location periodically. Currently I store my offsite at work.

 

Allen

Message Edited by AllenM on 12-04-2009 08:33 PM
4

I just want to say that although my issue is still not resolved, I have had a great Symantec employee call me a couple of times, on his own, to clarify the issue in depth and the engineers are currently trying to sort things out. They ARE able to duplicate the problem, so I imagine that it is only a matter of time before they figure it out and fix it. :smileyhappy:

Message Edited by richfed on 12-05-2009 07:44 AM

5

Hi richfed,

 

That's good news. Thanks for providing that feedback to the forum. :smileywink:

6

Wow!

 

We have 2 computers. Computer A has Norton 360P v/3. Computer B uses Norton Online backup as its backup method.

 

Computer B, running XP Pro SP 3, had to be reformatted. Upon completion, we tried to restore the online backup. It was showing "Not Online" when we went to MyAccount, even though Online Backup had been reinstalled. I uninstalled/reinstalled, rebotted, etc. Same result. Fired off an email to Symantec. Usual support advice of doing what I had already done. So, I used Chat.

 

First tech tried for about an hour. He said he could see the files online, but could not figure out how to get it to restore to the reformatted - though ORIGINAL - computer. He pushed me up the line to his supervisor. This fellow was working remotely for over an hour and a half. He uninstalled, reinstalled, rebooted, ran scripts .... Right before my eyes, I watched as he deleted the backup. Then, he installed 360S - which hadn't even been on the computer. He failed miserably. Told me it was a critical issue and that the server had not been properly configured. If a tech guy from Symantec sees this, it was case #: XXXXXXXXX.

 

He told me that an engineer would have to call, but by this time I was so frustrated and disappointed that I thanked him and told him never mind. I had an old backup on a flash drive I could use ... Not up-to-date, but better than nothing. Luckily, this was our spare computer and had nothing very important on it. Lost a few photos is about all.

 

What scares me is what if my main computer ever goes and I need my 360 online backup restored to a new computer. Is this how it will be? Scary! So, is online backup useless?

 

<<edit : removed the support case ID as per participation guidelines and terms of service. case Id stored internally for reference>>

Message Edited by JerryM on 11-01-2009 07:42 AM
7

Hi Richfed,

 

That is very good to hear, thank you for the update. I hope that they have this resolved for you soon.

 

Allen

8

Thank you for the reply and comments -  its greatly appreciated. I did however only want and intend the service to serve as backup for files and photos. I only really needed 12.5 Gb if i remember correctly - but  bought the added package to 25 Gb because structured incremental storage they offered jumping from 10 to 25 (again by memory), and I was planning then to continue the service with them over time.

 

Having heard nothing from Norton in response to my reply to their customer service inquiry and their failed service and my money paid for services not delivered  - I'll not subscribe to their backup service again. I can appreciate that some folks here are content to have a nice tech support personnel attempt to solve their problems over time - however when paying for a service from a company like Symantec -  we should not be paying them to be the guinea pigs for their service.

 

I'm thinking of trying to resell my account  with its remaining 7 months on EBAY or Craigs List - no warranty or guarantee -  simply 25 Gb avaialble as back up storage for anyone who wants to buy the storage time.

 

thanks again

 

 

 

 

9

Hi richfed,

 

So I'm only taking a stab at this based upon what you've written, but I would  think  that since you had to reformat the disk that was running Norton Online Backup (NOBU on Computer B), that once reformatted that you would then again download and install NOBU. 

 

Perhaps you or the techs have tried this already, but I would probably name that new endpoint something other that what it was called originally just to keep them straight (say "Computer B New").  (If you have it installed now, you might be able to just go in and rename the computer now by going to Settings.)

After setting up a new endpoint, you could restore from the original Computer B to Computer B New.

 

Once you have run through the setup on your reformatted computer, then you should be able to login to NOBU, and see endpoints for 

Computer B (your old one, with data)                     Offline

Computer B New (your reformatted endpoint)       Online

Computer A (as an N360 endpoint)                        <doesn't matter>

 

IF you can see this in your dashboard, then go to the File Actions button for Computer B, and select Restore Files

Then click the Show Options  link over on the right.

In the Restore to Other section choose to Restore from Computer B to Computer B New in the dropdown.

In this scenario you might also want to select the option to restore to the original path of the files.

Then below that either search for or use the tree view to select the files/folders that you wish to restore.

Click Restore Now .

 

Hopefully the tech did NOT really delete/purge your old endpoint and all of the associated data, and hopefully you can try this and all will be good.  I don't know if you want to try the above, but it may be worth a shot.  I'd be interested in knowing the results if you do try it.

Message Edited by JeffKyle on 12-10-2009 11:33 PM
Message Edited by JeffKyle on 12-10-2009 11:34 PM