Norton 360 4.0 1 User (3 PC) by Symantec

Norton 360 offers the industry's most comprehensive, all-in-one protection against digital dangers. Its groundbreaking new reputation service provides unmatched real-time threat detection to guard against viruses, worms, spyware, bots, Trojans, rootkits, and other digital dangers. Automated set-it-and-forget-it local and secured online backup let you quickly and easily back up and restore digital photos, downloaded music, financial documents, and other important files in case of loss or damage. It even automatically tunes up your PC to help keep it running well. Plus it helps you keep your PC performing at its best by providing easy-to-understand information about files and applications that may be impacting performance.


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Presumably this software got its name because it offers a full circle of protection. Several years ago I discontinued using Norton antivirus software because of installation and performance issues. It also made no sense for me to pay for protection when I could download and install McAfee antivirus software free-of-charge through my Comcast Internet account. Since I recently switched from Comcast to Verizon FIOS, I thought it might be a good time to give Norton's software another try. I must say that I'm impressed with the improvements in Norton's newest version.

The most important features that I look for in antivirus software is the ability to protect my computer from viruses and spyware and to do so without adversely affecting my computer's performance. Although McAfee's antivirus software, included free with my Comcast Internet service, apparently protected my Dell Inspiron notebook computer from virus infections for more than 3 1/2 years, it really slowed down my computer at times...especially when opening PowerPoint and Word files. When McAfee was running its weekly automatic full-file scan it would consume nearly all of my computer's power, leaving few resources for me to do my tasks.

I experienced several pleasant surprises after removing my former antivirus software and installing Norton 360. Most importantly, the installation went smoothly and quickly. Norton 360 automatically configured itself on both my Outlook and Outlook Express mail clients to screen for SPAM, which I consider the scourge of the Internet. Then it did a quick scan of my hard drive to make sure there were no infections and offered to automatically remove hundreds of relatively harmless tracking cookies that were slowing down my computer. My computer now runs noticably faster.

Now I can open Word and PowerPoint files in a fraction of the time it took me to do so when I was using other antivirus software. I might add that I've also been pleased with Norton 360's ability to identify and divert SPAM from my inbox and into a SPAM folder which I can check regularly and empty. Although my mail provider also screens for SPAM, a lot of it still gets through and I previously wasted enormous amounts of my time deleting it from my inbox. My Norton 360 catches and diverts most SPAM and, for the ones that it misses the first time, I am able to quickly "teach" it to catch it the next time. This has been one of Norton 360's features that I have appreciated the most.

In summary, I see Norton 360 as a significant improvement over previous Norton antivirus programs that I have used and I get much better performance from my computer since I switched from other antivirus software. Only time and experience will tell me if Norton 360 is as effective with its virus protection. So far, after using it for nearly two weeks, I'm still virus free and my computer is running better and faster.