The BIGGEST spammer on my computer is NORTON, for Christ Sake how do I turn off these self serving advertisements?
Also be aware that Kaspersky doesn't have the greatest history: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/technology/kaspersky-lab-israel-russia-hacking.html. They have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from that scandal, but if you have sensitive information, is it worth it?
Kaspersky will also prompt you to install their browser extension and install a password manager, plus their free VPN gets installed automatically.
I did find the setting to stop what I think will be many of the pop-ups. Will try this for the next month and see how it helps, as my renewal is due at the end of the year. Not sure why this was buried so far; however, if you click on the Device Security Open button from the Norton Home screen, then Settings at the top of the new window, then Administrative Settings, there is a Special Offer Notifications near the bottom that is enabled by default. The Settings on the home screen is worthless and misleading as you might think that would actually take you to the same type of options.
This obviously won't stop the browser extension enable pop-ups, so if anyone knows how to kill that, would appreciate it. As this is a paid product and not free, these types of things should be disabled by default.
As for alternatives, before I purchased Norton, I was debating between it, BitDefender, and a combo of Windows Defender and something like Malwarebytes. I decided against the Windows Defender/Malwarebytes option due to the amount of spam pop-ups Malwarebytes would do for the free option (and for the premium cost could just do one of the higher rated options). Between Norton and BitDefender, I went with Norton because I had it previously and had never seen this same type of behaviour as I have since purchasing it. Now I'm checking BitDefender to see if it does the same types of pop-ups as Norton. I've also heard good things about Kaspersky. In the end, I just want something that doesn't annoy me while it protects ... making Windows Defender seem better and better.
@bilofsky,
Thanks for posting. Very interesting article and timely for me as my subscription expiration approaches soon.
Would like to hear from experienced posters here about what they think about the article.
The N.Y. Times Wirecutter says the best alternative is nothing at all. "Most people can use Windows Defender alone to keep their computers secure."
But I believe Defender doesn't block spam.
Can anybody suggest some other Security products worth considering? I am close to renewing and would like to get some feedback on other possibilities.
I agree that the popups are too much and need to stop. I do not mind an occasional email offering me something.
Came here specifically for this! We previously had Norton for free through Comcast, so this was my first year paying for it. I was debating over several options but finally went with Norton since 1) it was familiar and 2) I didn't want pop-ups from the others I was looking at. Now, pretty much every other day I am getting pop-ups ... either pop-ups in the corner of my screen or it opening up my browsers to tell me to install extensions I don't want, and on browsers I don't even use (like Edge).
At this point, I have no intention of renewing my subscription. I bought the "Deluxe" edition, assuming it came with pretty much what I needed. Why am I getting near daily pop-ups to purchase additional items? I can go to one of the freeware products and get the same.
Been using Norton Products since the DOS days. The pop-up spam on my computers REALLY started up when LifeLock got involved and I almost didn't renew then because of some bad experiences with LifeLock (Yes, I was involved in the LifeLock Class Action Suit WAY back when). My Wife and I have AT LEAST *FIVE* Personal computers Running Norton here, and EVERY year we renew and get the "10 Computers" or "10 Seats" package, but this Pop-up spam has gotten WAY out of control. Norton/LIFELOCK is ABSOLUTELY *going* to interrupt your work to tell you about EVERY time the software stops ANYTHING, OR if they just want a way to spam us MORE...
"LOOK! We've spammed you for YEARS about adding Browser Extensions, and you *STILL* don't know that you chose NOT to install them over the past several YEARS? GO INSTALL THEM!" (I don't WANT them, that's why they aren't installed!)
I *THOUGHT* that "Stopping Computer Threats" is what I've been paying Norton A LOT of money, for a LOT of years, for them to do for me, *but WITHOUT bothering me about it all the time afterward*. This isn't Freeware!
I'm sorry, but Seriously, I'm finally fed up. I got pulled away from an electron scanning microscope this morning, that is VERY expense to even turn on, because Norton wants to alert me about ANOTHER data Breach (I *DO* change my passwords, so I DON'T need to know about EVERY VERY OLD data-breach on the web), *AND* they NEED to remind me, AGAIN, that they have Browser Extensions I can add, so they can spam us even more!?
If you stop a virus or web intrusion attempt, then SURE, TELL ME (Don't hide it for a week while you ping "The Norton Community Watch Network", the damage is already done by then)! But for anything else, I'll see it when I read the reports on my computers (YES! We *DO* read the reports). We KNOW you're there! We KNOW you're working! We SEE the bill every year! Please God stop bothering us with Popups... We're busy professionals that are TRYING to concentrate on important work... Our Security staff at the Labs don't come track us down to tell us every time THEY run off a suspicious person that was hanging around in the parking lots.. That's what they get PAID to do.
How many MORE popup ads will you have to add to EVERYONE ELSE'S screens, to make up for the "Guaranteed Several Hundred Dollars" that you're on the edge of losing from me (Not to mention losing the income from A LOT of other people who are Obviously also SICK - OF - IT!)?? I just edited my Yearly Auto-Renew payment settings with my Bank.. whether I renew again or not is 100% up to NORTON/LIFELOCK at this point.
You don't like reading something this long that you don't have time for? Then you're starting to get our point.
This is beyond Shameful! Stop it!
Just adding to the thread to hopefully make it more visible to the pinheads responsible for this policy. I too, am thinking of ditching Norton because of these unwanted popups.
I would understand spamming ads on users if Norton was freeware, but it is not. I certainly will not be paying to renew Norton "Adware" Antivirus if these unsolicited ads continue, nor would I ever consider purchasing any additional Norton or Lifelock software or services at the risk of seeing even more annoying Norton popups.
I do not plan to renew my subscription because of this.
I agree with this sentiment. I get the same notifications on all of my devices. I do not plan to renew my subscription because of this.
I also just got the AntiTrack pop up and I notice once again I'm getting spammed to buy things and Norton isn't honoring the "Special Offer Notification" setting which I have turned off.
If Norton can't get their ad spam under control for their own product, especially when I have opted out according to Norton's own instructions I will not be renewing again. This is getting ridiculous. AV should sit quietly in the background unless something security related happens, not bounding for my attention every time I sit at my PC to do work.