Somewhere around this time last year we lost patience with the Norton internet security package. It’d become too slow, and rather flaky on both of our machines. So, we researched and went over to the Kaspersky package. It was much faster. It was also quiet and completely well-behaved.
For almost the whole year we were satisfied. Then, a few weeks back, Graham’s computer, running Windows XP, started acting up. It seemed most likely that it was down to Kaspersky getting close to the end of its subscription so Graham bought a new copy and installed it over the old one.
Then the problems really started, with the program acting up in the strangest of fashions. We researched, and found that many other users were reporting the same troubles after updating the product.
I was due to upgrade my copy this last week and found myself strangely reluctant to stick with Kaspersky. It’s way of popping up a subscription expiry window many times a day, interrupting the flow of my “work” didn’t help at all.
“I think I’ll go back to Norton,” I said. “I don’t like the idea of struggling with the technology at my age.”
“Nothing to do with age,” Graham replied. “Get a multi-user copy and I’ll go back, too.”
Long stories are best cut short so I’ll just say that I Amazoned a new copy of Norton on Christmas Eve, it arrived this morning, I deleted Kaspersky and installed the new baby. It was a completely painless delete/install and my computer, running Windows Vista, seems to have taken on a new lease of life, swift as a speeding bullet you might say. The difference is most marked at start-up, which runs faster than ever before.
So there you are. I’m back safely in the arms of Norton and happy with it. Your experience may differ, of course, especially with Vista, which everyone in the world seems to hate except for me.
And here we all are at the end of one year and getting closer and closer to the start of a new one. I can’t say that 2011 has been our best year, though there have been enough happy times to balance out all but the worst of the bad ones. Here in the little house in the Pines Graham and I are hoping for a better year in 2012 and we both of us send you all our best wishes for the same. Things, as the song would have it, can only get better.
Happy New Year!
” …and installed the new baby”… Love it!
Happy New Year, John and Graham! All the best for health and wealth and happiness.
Cheers and good wishes to all.
Love Kate and Jim
Here’s to the wonderful 2012, John, Graham and all the gang of visitors to the virtual window to the little house in the Pines.
Here’s hoping that 2012 will bring good health to both of you.
Happy New Year to you and Graham from Liverpool. I wish the very best to both of you for 2012. Maggie
Norton has annoyed me but I think all of our PCs (desktop & laptop for me, desktop & laptop for my daughter, desktop & laptop for my son, and my wife’s laptop) and all on Norton and I don’t feel up to dealing with changing the security software on seven computers.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you and Graham. 2012 has got to be better that is if the Mayans were wrong.
Happy New Year!
According to the Chinese calendar, which is older than the Mayan one, 2012 is the gestation year of a new cycle. Korean friends call it the Year of the Black Dragon, “when good fortune is supposed to kick off and ascend into the sky as dragons do.” The black dragon is a water dragon, as is the dragon-king of the sea around Korea. Strength and prosperity will increase in a dragon year, and especially at the birth of a new cycle. Heheh! It should be interesting!
My son put Comandor on my machine some time ago. I have been uneasy about it for a while now. Ever so casually the other day he mentioned that he had taken it off of his machine.
Norton, I think another one is coming home to you. I think it is 2012 where you are now, About an hour and a half to go here. Have a much better year. We all need it.
Happy New Year to you, Graham, and all your readers here, John.
As for security, my previous computer guy, who deals with huge companies, said Microsoft Security Essentials was the best and installed that on mine several years ago. When I recently got a laptop and it had the McAfee installed, I asked my “new” computer guy (who lives a lot closer to me than the previous one) which one he would recommend, and he also said MS Essentials, so I got it and love it. It works quietly in the background and very regularly and catches stuff, with lightning speed, that want to invade me. The web can be a scary place. I am thankful for these protectors.
Happy New Year to the two of you. A Norton man for many years, it does its thing when I am not.
But who am I to talk with a newly failed hard drive ready to go to the shop after the holidays clear. Fortunately all is backed up.
Happiest of New Year’s to you and Graham, John!
My computer guy likes Norton and rolls his eyes at me for McAfee. Only thing I don’t like about McA is the cost.
Happy, happy, happy New Year to you and Graham! And to all who love your blog as well!
Wishing you and Graham a very very Happy New Year!
Vista? It got off to a bad start but fully-updated from Microsoft, it’s good! Windows 7 is better but Vista has been stable for me and performs well on modern computers. I think Vista’s just fine so that’s two of us in the world!
NOD32 from ESET is my current favorite anti-virus. I’ve seen and heard too many bad situations from users to use Norton, especially the security suite!
Best wishes and happy computing to you in the new year!
We now have a fleet of computers and Norton on only one. I’m running Avast and a couple of malware things with Windows 7. The Norton does well with both our XP and Vista computers tho.
Happy New Year to you both!
Rather belated because I didn’t notice you had started updating the journal again – must get the hang of this rss thingy some time…
Anyway. Why pay for anti-malware software? Just use Microsoft Security Essentials. Job done.