Norton Personal Firewall 2005 - Single User

I'll do my best to remain objective in this discussion. It'll be difficult; I installed it on a brand-new Win2K SP4 machine, and here's what I found. 1. br>br> This product comes with little to no support documentation, either in the box or on the company's website. br>br>2. The security policy in place by default is insufficient. I've installed server apps that the wizard interface claimed were safe, but I know for a fact that they aren't. (as a result, rule customization is required for the apps to function properly)br>br>3. Adding even the most basic firewall rules causes this product to crash horribly. 4. br>br> When it crashes, it can't be shut down or restarted with the task manager, resulting in a REQUIRED reboot. 5. br>br> I've crashed IE and had this product crash without warning, leaving my machine vulnerable on the network. 6. br>br>br>br>br>br>br>br>br> There is no way to set up permanent logging. Because the binary log format is limited to 2 megabytes, all it takes is a minute of DOS to blast your logs off your machine. br>br>(You can take snapshots of the logs, but this puts you at risk of losing data, especially in a DOS situation. ) )br>br>br>7. Because the firewall rule base cannot be exported, multiple hosts must be configured separately. This fact alone makes it unsuitable for use in a small office. 8. br>br>br>br>br>br>br>br>br> The user interface is obfuscated to the point of being impossible to understand. To get to the rule base, you'll need to make six clicks. 9. br>br> Their port scanner, "Check my security," is a ruse. Their port scanner only checks the first 1024 ports, and the rest of the evaluation is done by an agent (which a good security policy would block anyway). As a result, you get a "good" rating that isn't accurate. br>br>I work in the IT industry, and I strongly advise my clients to avoid this product. I'll see what Amazon has to offer. com before making any further purchases from these people. br>br>The only thing this product appears to be good at is dialing their 900 tech support number. However, I believe they owe _me_ money for all the time this product has wasted.

Amber Perez

| Feb 05, 2021

It was always showing "disabled" (I'd enable it in the menu, but the icon would only say "disabled"). My other software had a problem and had to be uninstalled. There isn't any support! (They've got the audacity to charge $30 for it. ) 00 for technical assistance on a per-incident basis for assistance with the nonsense they've sold you Perhaps the only way to actually get help, but I wasn't going to give them another dime. ) I can't believe what's happened to this company. It was the only thing we used in our offices (and at home) three years ago. To be honest, this has been the worst software experience I've ever had. McAfee is installed on my other four computers (with no issues). I bought the (same) firewall because it came with Norton AntiVirus preinstalled. It goes without saying that they both went! Never again, please! I break out in hives just thinking about the word "Norton. ".

Jacoby Weber

| Sep 19, 2021

Norton It was just installed today after I purchased it. 100% yet not impressed! br>br>Summary of the Executive Summary: Since they bought the software, I've tried previous versions of Norton. GuardDog was renamed Norton after acquiring the rights to it. and completely botched it (GuardDog was fantastic! This is the very first Norton version that I'm going to keep! My CPU began to cook after the installation. br>br> I went into Task Manager and looked at the processes that were running. NMAIN is the name of the program. Between 98% and 99% of my CPU was used by EXE . It was located in Symantec Shared Files after a quick file search. Symantec Tech Support was contacted, and the solution (which was not found in their Knowledge Base) was to increase the size of the "Initial" Windows Page File to 2. 5 times the amount of memory I have (512 MB multiplied by two). 5 = 1280) and set the "Maximum" size to four times my memory (512 x four = 2048). It appears to have resolved the issue (after a Blue Screen of Death during the initial reboot, to be sure!). br>br>ZoneAlarm Pro vs. ZoneAlarm Pro vs. ZoneAlarm Pro vs. ZoneAlarm Pro 1. br>br> If Norton determines that the problem is YOUR fault, you will be charged $30. However, in the aforementioned issue, it was completely free! 2. br>br>1. br>br>br>br>br>br If you use the free online service, Norton will answer your tech support questions, whereas ZoneAlarm, which I had been using for decades, never did. Ever! 3. br>br>4. br>br>5. br>br>6. Norton starts up much more quickly than ZoneAlarm. 4. br>br> Norton still has a lot of work to do. You will be bugged to death if you change the configuration to NOT automatically configure known applications and set the options to CHECK other modules for previous authorization. Worse yet, when you get the ", the only two options are. When you get messages like "trying to start an unauthorized module," your only options are "Block" and "Allow Once. " "There's no such thing as a "Go ahead and ADD this-" option. Here's a link to the OKIE-official module. So, if you want a module or program approved, you'll have to hunt it down and manually add it to the DOKIE list. Oh, yeah. This is a good time! The problem is resolved by leaving (or reverting) the options to their default settings. br>br>So, if you want complete control, this is the place to be. ZoneAlarm is the way to go. If you want simplicity, but you also want to put your faith in a group of programmers you THINK know what they're doing (consider this: how stable are the programs you're using now? then Norton is the way to go. Bye-bye-bye-bye-bye-bye-bye-bye-bye- bye-bye- ZoneAlarm, you've served your purpose. Norton, how are you doing today? I guess I'm going to have to put my faith in you.

Derek Adams

| May 25, 2021

I don't recommend this product. br>br>After installing it, you must activate it. br>br>This sounds simple enough but is a pain. br>br>After a few installs, Norton requires you to call their tech support to obtain activation numbers. br>br>When I called, their server was down or something. br>br>so after pushing this button, waiting on hold, etc, I was told I would have to call back. b.

Arabella FitzPatrick

| Oct 13, 2021