I’m considering canceling my subscription to Norton Utilities as I’m tired of being worn of false need to update drivers. Sounds like a scam to me to charge $59 a year for Norton to update drivers when I can do it for free at the computer’s manufacture’s website, and that’s what I do with my computers. After doing that Norton still reports outdated drivers. Norton claims I have more outdated drivers than the manufactures has listed on their website. This gets very annoying. Example say’s audio has poor audio, which is a lie. All my drivers are current from late 2025 to early 2026, What the manufacture doesn’t provide is installed from Microsoft.
Product & version number:25H2
OS details:11
What is the error message you are seeing?
If you have any supporting screenshots, please add them:
bare vent hvor lang tid har du din licens Norton er ved at kikke på det men det er jo træls Norton er ved at fixe mange fejl hvis du kan vente til 26.4 da de vil fixe mange fejl da de vil fixe fejl den har ingen dato endnu der den eneste der er sikker er 26.3 som fixer nogle af dem problemet er at de er alle tekniske fejlene der er en planlagt mellem men det er ikke sikkert den kommer det er kun alt info om den kommer tæt nok på 26.4 26.3 tar lidt af det men den mellem er bygget til at fjerne dine fejl 26.??? den har ikke et navn kun at den måske kommer eller de smider miner ud eller den bliver droppet og alt i 26.4 men nu får vi se hvis jeg var dig vent et år mere så du er klar til den 26.4 er big dine fejl er nok fixet op til 90% til 100% de er næsten alle væk alle de store teknisk er nok væk der har de haft ca 1år til at fixe
dem plus 26.4 har meget nice i da hele 26 serien er lavet om med patch navne så du skal ikke regne med at alt er logisk
Hello @Darrel_Holm
Norton Utilities Ultimate includes a “System Driver” scan that often flags drivers as a “Risk”. However, this feature typically acts as an advertisement—or “upsell”—to encourage users to purchase the standalone Norton Driver Updater for an additional fee.
Why Norton Reports Outdated Drivers
The discrepancy between your manufacturer’s website and Norton occurs because the two tools use different databases:
Norton’s Strategy: Norton Utilities Ultimate checks a massive database of over 50 million drivers. It flags anything with a newer version number available from any source, regardless of whether your computer manufacturer (OEM) has verified it for your specific hardware.
The Manufacturer’s Strategy: Companies like Dell, HP, or Lenovo only host drivers they have specifically tested for stability on your exact model. If your computer is working correctly, these are the only drivers you truly need.
Users have reported similar complaints with Norton Utilities Ultimate:
Inaccurate Reporting: It frequently lists drivers as “outdated” even when they match the current manufacturer versions exactly.
Redundant Alerts: It may continue to show the same drivers as “suspect” even after they have been updated through Windows or official OEM tools.
Safety Concerns: Experts and Community members often advise against using these third-party updaters, as installing unverified drivers can lead to system instability or “blue screen” errors.
FWIW!! You are already doing what most around the forums suggest. Using the OEM websites and Windows Updates for more accurate drivers and system integrity. Around the forums user suggest not to rely on third party driver updater software. Computers have been rendered not bootable doing so. But of course, those are personal choices each person has to make.
Thank You BJM for your reply. Norton should stop this Driver Update nonsense unless they can get it right. I’m against third party updates anyway unless the computer manufacture no longer offers them.
Norton uses upselling primarily as a revenue strategy to move existing customers into higher-priced subscription tiers and add-on services. This practice, often criticized as behaving like “adware” or “scareware,” is deeply integrated into the software’s interface and scanning tools.
Why Norton Continues to Upsell
Monetization of Existing Users: Norton views its installed software as a direct marketing platform to sell high-margin add-ons like Norton Utilities Ultimate, Driver Updater, or LifeLock identity protection.
Strategic Feature Placement: Features like “Smart Scan” are designed to identify non-critical “performance issues” (such as tracking cookies or temporary files) and label them as “risks” to create a sense of urgency, prompting users to purchase a fix.
Product Bundling and Mergers: Following mergers with other security brands like Avast and AVG, Norton has integrated technologies from these firms into its main product, often requiring additional fees to unlock them fully.
Automatic Renewal Focus: The software frequently prompts users to enable or verify billing information to ensure continuous annual renewals, which are often billed at a higher standard rate than introductory offers.
Norton shows ads after a Smart Scan because the feature is designed not just for security, but as an upselling tool for additional paid services. While it checks for malware, it also scans for “performance issues” like broken registry keys or tracking cookies, which it then offers to fix if you purchase or subscribe to add-ons like Norton Utilities Ultimate or Driver Updater.
Performance “Risks”: Smart Scan often labels non-critical items (like temporary browser files) as “issues” to create a sense of urgency, prompting you to “View Solution,” which opens an advertisement for a Norton cleanup tool.
Default Behavior: Smart Scan is the default scan presented in the main interface, making it the primary way Norton markets additional features to current subscribers.
Marketing Integration: These notifications are often “baked into” the product and may appear even if you have already disabled standard marketing notifications.
Instead of using the “Smart Scan” button, use the Quick Scan or Full Scan options under the Scans tile. These traditional scans focus on security threats without the performance upselling at the end.
