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Norton may slow computers down

ALERT!!

Today I saw a client with a slow computer. I removed Norton Antivirus and the computer instantly regained the speed of its youth.

Later in the day I saw another client with a slow computer. I removed Norton Antivirus and the computer instantly regained the speed of its youth.

There seems to be a trend here because over the past two years I have seen dozens of computers with slowness problems. After removing Norton Antivirus the computer instantly regained the speed of its youth.

Now, this could just be a fluke thing.


I am not ready to release a verdict until I have seen it happen more than just the 70-80 times that I have already witnessed it.

When I remove Norton Antivirus, I typically replace it with AVG Antivirus. In about a 20 percent of the instances AVG has found a virus (one of those times was today). What? A virus on a computer that had Norton installed? It seems that this is the case.

Once I have AVG installed and the viruses eliminated, the computer continues on with youthful vigor.

If anyone wants to challenge my statements that Norton slows down a computer and doesn’t catch as many viruses, I will be happy to challenge them to an antivirus duel.

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130 thoughts on “Norton may slow computers down”

  1. I installed Norton 2007 AV yesterday and my computer takes ages to boot and runs slow. Anyone seen any comments on this from Norton?

    Nigel

    My System:

    AMD Athlon 64 3500+
    Gigabyte GA K8NS ULTRA-939 mobo
    ATI Radeon X800XL video card AGP (Omega drivers)
    2GB Kingston PC3200DDR RAM
    Maxtor 80GB 7200rpm hard drive
    Maxtor 250GB 7200rpm hard drive
    Creative Sound Blaster Live! with latest drivers
    NEC FE950+ crt monitor
    CHProducts PCI yoke and pedals
    Windows XP Home edition with SP2
    DirectX 9.0(c)
    Cooler Master 600W power supply
    Five case fans ? four suck, one blow

  2. Yes, we know that Norton has grown bloated and unworthy of use since about 2003. Uninstall it, install AVG and you will be a happy and safe camper.

  3. I have used Norton for ages, & had no problems. I installed the new 2007 version & my computor slowed down unbelievably.

  4. I have restored my laptop to factory settings here lately beacause of the slowdown, it’s just fine until i load Norton 2007. 2006 worked fine but this is crazy. I recommend using something like Webroot Spysweeper it has found problems that Norton 2007 hasen’t.

  5. I was asked to check out a laptop which had just been installed with BT Broadband. The man had just installed ‘BT Security’ services; a software package that they claim is ‘theirs’. See website bt.com for references to their claim. Anyway, when I got to the bottom of what ‘their’ security services were all about – it was NORTON ANTIVIRUS. I quickly headed for the control panel to UNINSTALL it and ………

    No, Norton Antivirus is like that sticky guuu that you just hate getting on yourself, as once it touches you; your f???ed.

    So, after spending a few hours backing up the data on the laptop and reinstalling using the recovery disc – I finally got this crap out of the mans computer.

    I believe that PCs sold should have a warning sticker saying, “DO NOT INSTALL NORTON MALWARE” stick on to them.

  6. I’ve been using Norton antivirus for 4 yrs but last month I installed the 2007 version it completely crippled my computer. It took me 20-30 minutes to start my computer. It seems the last recourse is to uninstall it. Help! is there other way to fix other the removing it?

    Anti-Norton user

  7. I have P4 at 3.0 Ghz. 2Gb of RAM.But norton 2007 eats all of it up!!!!Unbeleivable.Stay out of this stuff.I higly recomend AVG.Even free version

  8. I downloaded the $70 full-bore Norton 2007 package for a 90 day trial a week ago and my Gateway immediately slowed to a stone age crawl. After checking everything else, I disabled every Norton feature and got back about 80% of my previous speed. So my next step is to uninstall, if possible, or sweat out the 80 remaining days and not buy. I have never seen a program create such disastrous results in my 20 years of clicking.

  9. YOUR BEST BET IS TO TAKE IT ALL OF YOUR COMPUTER I DID, AND I HAVE SEEN HOW FAST MY COMPUTER BOOTS UP. YOU MAY WANT TO TRY THIS ONE I USING ITS CALL AVAST YOU CAN VISIT THE SITE http://www.avast.com

  10. MY COMPUTER HAVE BECOME A SNAIL AFTER I INSTALL NORTON 2007 ANTI VIRUS. AM HAPPY I FOUND THIS WED PAGE BECAUSE I WAS ABOUT TO THROW MY COMPUTER OUTSIDE. NORTON IS NOT GOOD AT ALL IT EATS UP ALL OF MY PHYSICAL MEMORY WHAT A WATSE OF GOOD MONEY.

  11. I just read all the comments about slow down after installing Norton 2007. I thought it was just my machine. I had assumed that a well established company like Norton would never release a product which made my pc slow down to a crawl. I installed 2007 in January and noticed the difference right away. Now I have turned off some of the so called ‘services’ like phishing protection, Advanced Firewall and Inbound Firewall, my machine has restored about half the lost speed and boot time. Are they doing anything about it??

  12. Before Norton 2007, my system took 2 or 3 minutes to fully boot up. That was bad enough. After Norton, it takes a FULL SEVEN MINUTES before the hard drive stops churning, and I can use my computer. This is not acceptable.

    All support suggests — If you can get to them — is the obvious: Clear out temporary files, run live update, run a full scan. It’s never their product; it’s always your system or something you are doing wrong.

    Does anyone think a registry cleaner would help? I fear touching the registry might only create more problems.

  13. Norton slowed my computer to a crawl – 30 minutes after booting before I can click on a program.
    We can’t return the product to the store where we bought it. We’re at the mercy of Symantec, whose techs and customer service all seem to be in India.
    Complaints go unanswered.

  14. It is indeed very tough to get your money back from Symantec for their pathetic excuse for security software…Norton. However, I have had success in the past being ultra-persistent, yet low key and demanding to talk with a supervisor. Then explain your situation (complete with statistics regarding the problem) and demand a refund…again keep your voice steady and don't yell, but be firm. Here are two phone numbers for Symantec:

    408-517-8000

    800-441-7234

    Good luck!

  15. Slow yes.. every year slower and slower. 2007 is the worst so far… so lets stop this circle jerk and find out why?

  16. AS YOU CAN SEE WE ARE ALL JUST SHARING UP IN HERE. I WAS HAPPY THAT I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT HAD THIS PROB WITH NORTON. YES THERE IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT! WE CAN GET A DIFFERENT ANTI-VIRUS, THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THE POST IS TO LEARN FROM EACH OTHER. HAVE YOU TRY AVAST ITS WORKS FOR ME http://www.avast.com it found 4 virus on my pc that norton could not detect…………soooooooooo norton is out of here we all find out that its not good and have move on, (smile) good luck with avast.

  17. For almost four years now, we have been crusading against Norton and McAfee and whole heartedly recommend and use both Avast and AVG…thus the title of the post…the answers are there for those who seek them!

  18. Since installing Norton Internet security 2007 my computer is running at an all time low. Over 5 mins to boots up and all programmes grind to a halt. It’s really getting me down

    šŸ™

  19. I had problems with my pc which were related to Norton and McAfee.

    Now my freind’s PC is running very very slow since she has installed Norton. She is new to computers and knows only basic stuff.

    Someone from a local store advised her on purchasing Norton as it was on a special offer.

  20. I have seen the new Norton 360 running on several machines and it doesn't appear that they have done much about the problem.

    The best thing you can do is switch to an Antivirus when the time comes that doesn't slow things down AVG and Avast! are both free ones that work great. If you want to buy something then try Panda or TrendMicro.

    When you do upgrade, don't go with a security suite with the firewall, spam blocker, spyware protection, etc. Just get a standalone antivirus and you will be much better off.

    Type Security into the search box in the top right corner of this page and you will read all about our approach to computer security. It is what we do with our own computers and we have hundreds of others running the same method and it works.

  21. AVAST ALL THE WAY!!MY PC IS RUNNING SMOOTH, QUICK BOOT UP!! IT HAS 7 PROVIDERS SEVEN!! THE BEST I FOUND SO FAR

  22. Think about what you just said…"someone from a local STORE advised the purchase of Norton." Although there are many good, honest, and helpful salesman out there, there bottom line is they are SALESman. There job is to SELL things not give good advice.

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