Norton Security Suite is a comprehensive system to protect your computer from various types of intrusions and viruses. It will back up your most important files and give your Windows-based PC a tune-up when needed. But how well does this popular program perform all these tasks?
Anti-everything
Norton Security Suite attempts to protect your computer from spyware, viruses, malware, root kits and any other thing it might find that's out of the ordinary. The program does this through a combination of traditional viral program recognition and crowd-sourcing, called Insight. Norton's anti-virus uses information collected from other users to find dangerous Trojans. The SONAR system observes your software, watching for suspicious behavior.
The result of all these watchful eyes on your computer is that your system will remain safe. Norton seeks and destroys most of what you don't want -- but sometimes also perhaps a bit of what you do want. Insight blocks programs that it isn't familiar with, so it may think some of your trial or freeware programs are viruses.
Still, Norton's protection is solid. As long as I've kept the program updated regularly, I haven't had any malicious attacks, nor have any rogue programs installed themselves. My results aren't mine alone; the Anti-Virus Comparative Report of 2009 rated the product very high in virus detection tests.
User-friendly
The user interface for Norton is a slick, Flash menu from which you can pick tasks to work on. The important tasks, like running a quick scan or backing up your files, are easily accessed. When you choose to check on Norton's performance, the dashboard flips over to reveal a timeline that tells you when it performed a particular task during the past several days, when you installed a new program, when you received a warning of a high-risk intrusion into your computer (which the program, of course, blocked), or even when you were warned about a program using too much of the computer's resources.
Resource hog no more
In the past, Norton Security Suite itself would have been flagged for using a high percentage of your computer's resources. Norton really seemed to slow down my computer when it was running a scan or performing one of its many background tasks. This "feature" has been much improved upon in the recent versions. Users who have older PCs or one with a low RAM configuration may still experience Norton as a drag on computer speed; however, on my laptop with 8GB of RAM, I barely notice when the program is running a scan.
The resource problem was the only thing that made me switch from Norton to another program years ago. However, now that the issue has diminished, I've returned and am happy to use Norton. It is an expensive program, and if you don't feel you need the bells and whistles, you certainly can live with the performance and protection of other programs. Cost isn't a problem for Comcast/Xfinity subscribers; currently in 2011, they get the full suite for free.
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