Norton 360 2.0, Full Edition (PC)

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Editorial reviews

Product Description
Norton 360 version 2.0 is an all-one-solution that providesautomated comprehensive protection for your PC your onlineactivities and your important information in a single easy to usesolution.

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Customer reviews

review by: BuddieHollie date: 2008-07-03 rating:
First Class software can't fault it (so far)
Norton 360
Despite the problems some people have had with this software so far I have had not one single problem as far as installing it. I too had PC Guard on before. I did de install it first prior to installing this software so no problems encountered though it did take time to set the software up along the way. Once its set up you can leave it to get on with it unless you have a task at hand to undertake. With Outlook Express you can use Norton's Anti Spam. The software sets up a spam folder where you can choose to allow certain emails that Norton has chosen as spam to allow them in future. There is also a neat feature where you can input your fave web site passwords into a safe place to save you having to input them every time you visit your Frequent web sites such as Amazon, Play.com etc this saves a lot of time and fuss and you can even input your details to save having to input these when subscribing to services and also your Credit Card can be saved to make it even more secure when purchasing merchandise off the net. Within hours of installing it found a nasty little tracking cookie which my PCGuard didn't detect. Well done Norton.

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review by: stendec-306 date: 2008-07-02 rating:
Peace of mind delivered for a reasonable cost
Norton 360 does a bit more than the Norton Anti-Virus programme that I used to use for protection. Presumably the "360" is a reference to 360 degrees with the implication that Norton 360 delivers all round protection. A bit corny. So is the picture on the front cover of the vastly oversized package that contains a single disk, a card with the registration key and some simple installation instructions. But let's quickly move on....

Once you've installed Norton 360 - very easy, although the programme does take a while to install all the updates which have to be downloaded from a website (if you don't have a broadband connection this part could be a real hassle), you get:-

PC Security - security for web browsing, email, instant messaging.

Transaction Security - Security for online shopping and banking. This feature checks the integrity of the website you are on and should protect against phishing scams. A green label with "No fraud detected" appears at the top of the web page if Norton 360 thinks the website is safe.

Back-up/restore - an online back-up facility is provided for back up of your most important PC files, though the amount of space is fairly limited, so don't go looking to back-up all your pictures and music here.

PC Tune-up - basically a function that deletes temporary files (Windows and Internet) and optimises your hard drive by defragmenting it.

All in all, this is a first class package - it will protect up to 3 PCs at one location for 12 months, at which time you can renew your subscription. For the protection that this package provides, the cost is more than reasonable - you also get Symantec's back-up resources, always working in the background to counter new threats.

Forget the waste in the packaging this software is delivered in - if you have a reasonably modern system and a broadband connection this software is worth it and won't be a system hog either. I would have given Norton 360 5-stars if it wasn't for the awful waste of cardboard in the packaging. It really doesn't need such a big box!

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review by: date: 2008-07-02 rating:
Combines several packages into one, but is it worth it?
I'm currently using both Macs and PC's, and I've got to say, even if you hated those "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" adverts, there's one thing they had nailed: the PC is vulnerable to a torrent of threats online. Phishing, spyware, virii, pirates, werewolves, ninjas, you name it. As a consequence, you must never even consider going on the net without the PC's equivalent of a Level-IV Hazmat suit.

Like a Level-IV Hazmat suit, having Norton installed on your computer makes it slow, clumsy, and a little blurry to see out of.

I upgraded from Norton Internet Security to 360 v.2 having been sent it from the Amazon Vine Program. I measured my startup speed before (3m25s) and my startup speed afer (4m26s). 360 would have to blow me away to make up for this, and it hasn't.

Running the system optimizers grinds your system to a halt whilst they're running (hello? background?), the online backup crashed the first time I use it, and on my initial startup WinXP helpfully informed me that my minutes-old installation of 360 might be out of date.

Personally, I'm not that surprised. IMHO Norton are successful because they have what you need; protection. Because of that they have strong market share, but as there is a large number of similar products out there and now that Windoze comes with firewalls and Firefox comes with security features, I get the feeling they got a bit scared. Boxed products is certainly one revenue stream but the main way Norton gets their money is subscriptions. Trust me, if you come within a month of your re-subscription date without coughing up the cash, you'll be constantly plauged by annoying messages threatening you with being unprotected.

Actually, now that I think of it, why don't they just call it Protection Racket v.2?

Come November I'm dumping my PC, switching to Mac for work and consoles for games. Bye PC, it's been fun!

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review by: Cheese anyone? date: 2008-07-02 rating:
Norton STILL too safe (GRANT or DENY that Statement?.....)
Nothings changed. Our first experience of the rather see-saw-viewed Norton was 2 years ago after we were blagged into buying it with our new computer at PC World (Their TV adverts are the biggest load of b****cks since New Coke!)

1 month later, we had to ditch, what was, the equivalent to your average family saloon car originally being slick and easy to handle, to being given bullet-proof glass, slash-proof tyres, and armoured doors, all with shoddy workmanship. Not practical at all in both ways, thus our brand new computer was sent through ".dll hell" as it's known, it left programs like OutLook Express open constantly in Task Manager, and sucked the life out of only moderate Internet Surfing.

Nothing's changed with 360. Except Norton have decided to turn a full '360' Degrees, and come back round with a flashy new name, they've decided they CAN fix bugs, and new rather manic 'happy' people on their packaging. Oh yes I forgot... To comply they released a previous package that was already bug ridden, this is "V 2.0". Just to rub it in, rather than releasing the bug fixes to V1.0 owners. Tut tut...

Rather than at least trying to improve the performance of just how much it roots into your HDD and practically spies on every move you make, Symantec have opted for creating yet more features to an already over-safe piece of software.

In total, that comes to a nice round, and rather bulky figure of 31 new features.

It's all covered in the first few pages of the manual incase you haven't already realised that such things as a harmless Wi-Fi connection to a games console constantly requires "Approval". And even then... is Un-Safe. Because it's a wireless connection.

Page 6 lists all these rather Sony-Like named features that are supposed to IMPROVE your PC's overall performance and security. However, not all are as patriotic and tough sounding as each other.

One such feature states;

"Lets you run the Quick Tasks by hovering your mouse pointer over each item in the main page of Norton 360."

Have I missed something here? You don't pay 50 quid so that your mouse pointer hovers nicely over a few tabs. AVG Internet Security has just one main window, and you can get that for free!

However, in stark contrast, they claim 360 offers much better features such as;

"Cleans Un-Wanted registry items for performance optimization"

(Must be why most peoples PC's kick-the-bucket after a few weeks)

"Backs up your data to destinations such that include iPods, Blu-Ray discs, and HD-DVD's."

(Who in their right mind is going to use an iPod as a means of backing up a computers personal data? And I thought HD-DVD's were dead in the market, let alone anyone that can afford a Blu-Ray player and decide they'll back up their HDD with expensive discs. Ever heard of USB drives Symantec? I for one won't be using this feature....)

"Creates a diagnostic report, which provides a summary of system information to help you troubleshoot and diagnose problems."

(5 Words.... Download Sandra Lite for free. This free program gives you a FULL report of your PC. Why pay? It doesn't even let you change benchmarks/tune.)


These were just a handful of the supposed changes which make 360 better than previous editions. I have disagree however; these 31 bonus features make 360 more clunky and packed full of things you don't need. The simple fact is Norton has been over the past 5 years or so just a behemoth (I have no idea where that word came from!) of a program, that after installation, has firmly established itself in your PC's registry, this leaving you walking on a tight rope in order to keep it running error-free.

360 V2.0 has managed to improve on the abundance of errors and registry deletions, but this isn't the problem. It's the fact that it's "too" safe. Their is no need for the program to integrate itself into the HD so much, and watch each move, from having it's own Internet Phishing/Guidance toolbar (Which slows down the speed of opening/closing FireFox/Internet Explorer) to all these ridiculous back-up options. However, on such note, Symantec do offer you 2GB of storage space with "no need to buy more". Wow... thats kind of them!

At the end of the day, the purchase of such a program all comes down to whether you want unnecessary Iron Vault/Bullet Proof/Top Notch security (even though Norton is still low in the top Virus Definition rankings) or Performance. We've made our decision, and will stick with AVG Proffessional for it's simplicity, it's ease on your PC's RAM, and best of all, it just leaves you alone!

I gave 360 3 Stars for 3 important along this little journey...

- For the first time, it Installed and Un-Installed without ruining the registry, and sending me endless error messages.

- Symantec had the decency to actually release a bug-free version of the original 360.

- It was Free! Thank god....


review by: date: 2008-06-30 rating:
Norton 360v2 quality software for blocking threats
I have used Norton products before and have generally been pleased with them. I have rarely used anti-virus programs before. I have never had a virus. This software combines a number of security features with a few tweaks to your system. The four main elements here are: Security (anti-virus, firewall etc.), identity protection, backup and some system optimisation. My first dislike of this product was the requirement for product activation. I think product activation is an infringement of civil liberties, it also adds another layer of inconvenience to setting up any application. This product generously allows you 15 days use without activation. In the printed booklet it says, "To use all of the features of Norton 360 you must activate". I am surprised it lets you download virus definitions for this program before you activate. There is a theme within this software, because obviously there are so many lethal hackers out there, that while allowing you to configure some things in other areas you will be told what to do.
One area that is fine about this product is the user interface. You can see that this is a mature product and the layout is well thought out. I have been using freeware DVD converters recently and they have confusing unintuitive interfaces as well as bringing up Microsoft Foundation Class errors i.e. Crashes. This is altogether more professional and I have only had one crash since using this product. Although the black and orange/gold colour scheme is not to my taste there also seems to be a noticeable delay in changing from one dialogue box to the next or selecting pull-down menus. I have a reasonably quick PC and am surprised by this. Another slight dislike is whenever an operation is occurring you get this "I'm doing something" bar that shows a line endlessly looping. I think I first saw this type of thing using Itunes when transferring lots of mp3's from a disk. This indicator while showing crashes by stopping unexpectedly doesn't telegraph much information like what percentage of this task I have completed or even roughly how long this operation will take. Because I am still on dial-up then something like downloading virus definitions becomes irritating if I need to do something else afterwards. There is a feature to turn off the PC after the operation is complete and this is a welcome option missed on many programs. Also the Internet is perhaps unsurprisingly noticeably slower than without this package due to all the security checks being made. A comprehensive scan certainly is and takes some time on my machine. This is a Norton 360 strong area; there are loads of definitions and it looks everywhere on the computer. Producing software of this sort is a compromise between protecting and allowing the user to utilise his/her PC. I like playing intensive games and initially I thought this product merely observed quietly in the background. After a few lucky runs I started to get the dreaded blue screens. So unless you manually disable all the Symantec services, completely disabling the product you won't be able to play games reliably. This capability would have been an enormous bonus. It also means people who play on-line may well also be slightly vulnerable. This product is really designed for broadband users so with my setup I am missing much of what this product is about. It seems you are unable to have both passive security and crash free application operation. As long as you are not running intensive graphic/cpu games then Norton does quite a good job of protecting you in the background.
I had never thought much about identity protection and this is part of the package of Norton 360v2. This feature allows you to create a password and enter personal details that can be utilised while shopping on-line. This should save some time and ensure you are invulnerable while on-line. The backup facility for me is less useful as the operating system and other programs I have allow me to backup already. Useful if you don't have any other program to do this. It all falls under the umbrella of security. The last feature of system optimisation differs from the main function of this software which is security. I suspect some will not bother utilising this last function very much.
Programs of this type key into the very core of your operating system. This makes their complete removal very difficult as people upgrading from earlier versions have found. This product is quite expensive. I have seen it on-line for as much as £60. Considering it gives you protection for one year only this makes this package rather dear. Rather than a licence to use on 3 computers, I would have preferred longer coverage. Overall I find this product a mixture of things I like and dislike. A tool for those with broadband.

For:
Comprehensive anti-virus function
Well thought out interface
Highlights clearly to user problem areas

Against:
Expensive for 1-year cover
Product activation
Busy/intrusive nature of product makes running intensive games impossible

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