Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10?

In article <siegman-878068.12462211022008 DeleteThis @nntp.stanford.edu>, AES
<siegman DeleteThis @stanford.edu> wrote:

> The IT people at Stanford University distribute a suite of free
> "Essential Stanford Software" tools for campus Macs, including latest
> versions of Eudora, Fetch, Adobe Reader, and Stuffit. They also
> provide and recommend a Stanford-licensed copy of Norton AntiVirus 10.
>
> My memory is that some time back there were a lot of serious criticisms
> and complaints about Norton AV in this and other groups, including
> claims that Norton AV could cause serious damage to Mac systems.
> Reviews of Norton AV 10 and 11 on VersionTracker seem bipolar: some
> strongly favorable, others very critical.
>
> Any new inputs on this? [I find it very annoying to have NAV start up
> and mess around with my system every time I put in a CD or save a
> downloaded PDF or email msg; so I suppose I'm really looking for an
> excuse to turn the damn program off.]

What version of the OS are you using? My employer mandates use of
Norton AV on Macs, and it was installed (version 10.1.2) on my Mac Pro
when I received it. However, when I upgraded to Leopard, it stopped
working :)

--
Jim Gibson

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 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

AES <siegman DeleteThis @stanford.edu> wrote:

> My memory is that some time back there were a lot of serious criticisms
> and complaints about Norton AV in this and other groups, including
> claims that Norton AV could cause serious damage to Mac systems.
> Reviews of Norton AV 10 and 11 on VersionTracker seem bipolar: some
> strongly favorable, others very critical.

It was Norton Disk Doctor specifically, and Norton Utilities in general,
not Norton Anti-Virus, that could cause serious directory damage (which,
fortunately, Disk Warrior could easily repair).

Norton AV is simply unnecessary and a major pain in the ass.

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 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

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 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

> Any new inputs on this? [I find it very annoying to have NAV start up
> and mess around with my system every time I put in a CD or save a
> downloaded PDF or email msg; so I suppose I'm really looking for an
> excuse to turn the damn program off.]

Uninstall it. It's not necessary at all.
 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

In article <gkreme-AF0AD9.16544511022008.RemoveThis@news.giganews.com>,
Lewis <gkreme.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:

> In article <siegman-878068.12462211022008.RemoveThis@nntp.stanford.edu>,
> AES <siegman.RemoveThis@stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> > The IT people at Stanford University distribute a suite of free
> > "Essential Stanford Software" tools for campus Macs, including latest
> > versions of Eudora, Fetch, Adobe Reader, and Stuffit. They also
> > provide and recommend a Stanford-licensed copy of Norton AntiVirus 10.
>
> Then they are raving windoid morons.
>
> I would never install any Norton product on any machine, ever. Horrible
> horrible software.

I second that.
 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

In article <siegman-878068.12462211022008.DeleteThis@nntp.stanford.edu>,
AES <siegman.DeleteThis@stanford.edu> wrote:

> [The IT people at Stanford University] provide and recommend a
> Stanford-licensed copy of Norton AntiVirus 10.

Ignore that advise. It's unnecessary and can only cause problems. There
are no Mac OS X viruses in the wild andi it's been this way for the past
several years. No software is bug free, and Symantec has a horrible
reputation in that area with their Mac OS software.

--
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JR
 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

On 2008-02-11 12:46:22 -0800, AES <siegman DeleteThis @stanford.edu> said:

> Any new inputs on this? [I find it very annoying to have NAV start up

Don't use it.

Using anti-virus software from someone who knows there are no viruses
isn't going to help you if/when viruses actually exist. You have no
reason to believe Norton's mac division will respond in a timely and
competent fashion.
 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

In article
<jollyroger-ACE1DD.21361011022008 DeleteThis @70-3-168-216.area5.spcsdns.net>,
Jolly Roger <jollyroger DeleteThis @pobox.com> wrote:

> In article <siegman-878068.12462211022008 DeleteThis @nntp.stanford.edu>,
> AES <siegman DeleteThis @stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> > [The IT people at Stanford University] provide and recommend a
> > Stanford-licensed copy of Norton AntiVirus 10.
>
> Ignore that advise. It's unnecessary and can only cause problems. There
> are no Mac OS X viruses in the wild andi it's been this way for the past
> several years. No software is bug free, and Symantec has a horrible
> reputation in that area with their Mac OS software.

Norton Antivirus NAV 10 had several problems, that required fixing. If
you are a user of Stuffit, their fix came out very late... This raised
questions about Symantec and their comittment to the mac. I have worked
with NAV 10 and it worked reliable after the updates.
The newer version NAV 11 seems to be reworked from the ground up and
seems to work fine. I have just a few days of experience with Nav 11 so
far, but I decided to upgrade from NAV 10 on the a few Macs.

Antivirus software makes sense, if you are working in a windows
environment or if you get a lot of spam and you want to sort out and
eliminate harmfull programs. Keep in mind, that some office virus may
get active on mac office versions.

Intego Virus Barrier also has a good reputation. I have it installed on
one of my macs since 14 months and it does the job.
 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

In article <120220081028397335%guenther@fischerplast.de>, Guenther
<guenther.RemoveThis@fischerplast.de> wrote:

> > what fight?
> Malware, that will not hit you or your friends and colleagues, if you
>
> - do not use Microsoft Office.
> - do not exchange data with people using Windows.
> - get no spam.
>
> Otherwise, you should fight it.

fight what? there isn't any malware on a mac that can propagate on its
own.

> If you do not use Microsoft Office, you are right. Otherwise, you might
> get a virus even on your mac.

care to explain how? what virus might one get? what is it called?
what does it do once it infects the user's machine? this should be
interesting, particularly since there aren't any mac viruses in the
wild that one can get.

> > > Intego just gives a sound, if a virus is eliminated - you would not see
> > > much of it. About the same with NAV 11.
> >
> > of course you won't see much of it. there's *nothing* to eliminate.
>
> About 1 to 3 % of spam has a virus or trojan attached.

and they don't affect macs.
 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

In article <no-AA3700.20103912022008 DeleteThis @freenews.iinet.net.au>, Andy
<no DeleteThis @spam.no> wrote:

> In article <120220080930567010%guenther@fischerplast.de>,
> Guenther <guenther DeleteThis @fischerplast.de> wrote:
>
> > In article <no-657480.18453512022008 DeleteThis @freenews.iinet.net.au>, Andy
> > <no DeleteThis @spam.no> wrote:
>
....
> > Never ever use Norton Firewall.
> > The MacOS has a good Firewall for incoming traffic right built in - why
> > replacing it and pay money?
>
>
> I didn't. It was installed on someone else's Toshiba laptop, running
> Windows XP.

Poor guy. For me - that was the reason to skip windows experiences some
years ago. In the meanwhile, I have another Windows computer, and I am
up to replace all Symantec programs instead of renewing the update
license.

> > You may consider Little Snitch for outgoing
> > traffic control, but that is worth another discussion....
>
>
> Already running it. Seems to do as it says.

Yes. It works and gives a good feeling - not more...
 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

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 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

In article <120220080154492625%nospam@nospam.invalid>, nospam
<nospam.TakeThisOut@nospam.invalid> wrote:

> In article <120220081028397335%guenther@fischerplast.de>, Guenther
> <guenther.TakeThisOut@fischerplast.de> wrote:
>
> > > what fight?
> > Malware, that will not hit you or your friends and colleagues, if you
> >
> > - do not use Microsoft Office.
> > - do not exchange data with people using Windows.
> > - get no spam.
> >
> > Otherwise, you should fight it.
>
> fight what? there isn't any malware on a mac that can propagate on its
> own.

It might propagate with your forwarded email and distributed CDs, that
is received by your friends and colleagues. .

> > If you do not use Microsoft Office, you are right. Otherwise, you might
> > get a virus even on your mac.
>
> care to explain how? what virus might one get? what is it called?
> what does it do once it infects the user's machine? this should be
> interesting, particularly since there aren't any mac viruses in the
> wild that one can get.

You may get a virus with word macros. Some documents require to use
macros - then it does not help to switch the macro option off.
if you do not need macros or if you dont even work with Word or Excel -
you may go without a virus checker.

> > > > Intego just gives a sound, if a virus is eliminated - you would not see
> > > > much of it. About the same with NAV 11.
> > >
> > > of course you won't see much of it. there's *nothing* to eliminate.
> >
> > About 1 to 3 % of spam has a virus or trojan attached.
>
> and they don't affect macs.

Well, you tell that.
 >> Stay informed about: Opinions on Norton AntiVirus 10? 

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