boneidle wrote:
....
Not everyone is able to wait until the last day to renew, due to other comittments, holidays, working away or, (I hope not), hospital.
So if they want to Buy the CD so they have the facility to re-install if needed, it happens, they have two options:-
1 Load and Activate it early, losing already paid for time.
2 Return home and find that their Security has disappeared, and they are on-line without any protection.
( Especially if they use an Always On router connection.)
You know, Bone, that practically every post -- including my own -- have mostly agreed with you. But you do still go on a bit much. Some posts also try to offer a possible explanation for Symantec's thinking; it is no longer illegal to try to understand the other guy's side.
You make good points, please understand that; and we are not arguing against them.
Maybe if I summarize what you want and most of us agree with, and make it specific enough, Symantec will get the point; and we can find some needy threads to direct out attention to.
Symantec, what we are suggesting is an installation procedure that goes as follows.
1. The user has bought a Symantec product that carries a subscription and launched its installation.
2. The installer checks for currently active or previous active products of the same type (NIS for NIS, NAV for NAV, etc).
3. If the installer finds that there is a previous product of the same type, it displays a message somewhat like the following:
We have detected an earlier version of NIS on this computer. Do you wish to UPDATE this version of NIS? This might give you a longer subscription time.
4. If the customer says "no", then it goes into the usual procedure.
If the customer says "yes", then it produces the following query:
We will verify your ownership.
Please enter the Activation Code of the product you previously were using.
If you do not have the Activation Code, click here.
5. If the client enters the correct Activation Code, the installation procedes and the time of the new product begins from the later of either the end of the previous subscription or today.
If the client "clicks here" he is asked for his email address associated with the Norton Account and his password. If online checking verifies his ownership, the installation also procedes as in the step above.
If the client cannot verify ownership, he is given the option of installing with a new subscription starting as of that date or cancelling the installation.
Note: If using the Activation Code of the previous product is considered too insecure (example: maybe the computer has been resold without being reimaged, and the new user has "stolen" the previous owner's activation code from the registry), then the extended subscription can depend solely on the email+password.
Message Edited by mijcar on 12-06-2009 09:31 AM