I have been using Norton internet security for the last year. My one year subscription has ended and I have not yet renewed (for my own reasons). But what I find very very surprising, is that apparently norton does not work anymore at all...
I understand, without subscription, I'm not entitled to updates, so I'm not protected against new dangers. However, finding that I'm not even protected against older dangers, even while I have bought the software, does not seem fair in my opinion.
If that is the case, I'd rather go with any freeware product, which may not be as dependable, but will keep me protected against old stuff. Rather than pay a decent amount of money for a product that just stops working if you don't by a subsciption on exactly the day the subscription ends.
How would you feel if your tv stops working the day you don't pay for your <fill in channel>.....
I'll be happy to apologise, if you can tell me that the product still keeps me protected from anything it already knows, but if not, you will be losing a customer.
thargor,
I understand your feelings but Norton like many other security systems operate on a subscription basis and like most software these days you do not buy the software, you buy a licence to use it on your computer for a predetermined period of time. The analogy is not the TV one you mention since your computer is, I hope. still working (at least until malware gets in) just like your TV would be.
A better analogy is to leasing an apartment where when the lease ends you vacate the premises and no longer have a roof over your head.
Norton does mention this when you read the product descriptions although the significance may not sink in but it says you have the right to use the product on X PCs for Y years.
In fact the wording:
‡1 OR 2 YEAR PROTECTION: With this service, you receive the right to use this product on one PC or on the specified number of PCs during the service period, which begins upon initial installation. This renewable service includes protection updates and new product features as available throughout the service period, subject to acceptance of the Symantec License Agreement included with this product and available for review at www.symantec.com.
[ bold type is by me]
is even more clear than I thought.
You must do what you think is right for you but I respect the capability of Norton more and consider the cost of such insurance to be more than worth it.
I quite understand if you find the renewal cost too high for your budget at the moment but if so look around at the weekend flyers of the various office supply stores etc and you will often see extremely advantageous offers and you can buy one of those (make sure it covers the number of PCs you want to protect) and just use the KEY to reactivate your existing installation. That way you won't lose any settings and remain with the same version that you have installed without going back to whatever version is on the disk.
If you do this in future just remember not to apply the new KEY until very near the end of an existing subscription or you lose those days and only get the new ones; if you renew on line with Symantec then the new time is added to any unexpired time. I realize that does not matter to you at the moment but I hope you will stay with Norton.
After Norton's subscription expires, some features sush as Live Update, Firewall will not work. However you're still protected against old threats,ie Virus scan feature will work with updates it got earlier. It will not download newer updates and hence will not protect against latest threats.
Thanks,
Karthik
Thank you Kathy, not entirely what I would expect, but it’ll do until I get renewed. I do have a hardware firewall so the norton firewall is extra. I was mostly worried about the virus protection. By the way it’s not a budget question. It’s a decent sum, but acceptable for comfortable use. It’s just that I wanted to align the 3 pc’s I have in use which meant that I needed to wait a week before updating all of them. I guess I can live with the situation for the next week. Thank you for the reactions.
Hi thargor,
Is the Norton icon in your system tray now red with an "X" through it? If so, then you are not protected, as the latest versions of Norton security products are designed to no longer function at all after the end of the subscription period has passed. Earlier versions often continued to have limited functionality, but this is no longer the case. So it really depends on the version you were running as to whether you still have AV protection or not.
In the latest versions like NIS 2009 / 2010, once the subscription ends all the features cease to function including virus scan. Virus scan and a few other features work in older versions like NIS 2008.