Norton Antivirus 2009: Gaming Edition

[HawkMan]

-1

Its one thing to like something that you already have, and not see a need for trying out an alternative.

Its quite another thing to hate the alternative and thread-crap with phanboi insults, while refusing to actually challenge your beliefs on the matter.

oh yeah, I forgot that this was only a discussion threadto discuss the positive thigns of an app. and absolutely nto talk about the bad sides or any such negative things.

Sorry but this isn't the Apple Discussion boards, here it's an actual discussion board. and I specified that whle Ihaven't tried it on my very own computer, I have seen everything from the older version to the very latest version on client, customers and friends computers. And they're all SLOW as F. either from Norton or form Virus/malware/badware that norton didn't remove.

So sorry if I don't blindly trust them, Seeing as I allready know their software, yes even this version, is pure infected crap allready, and I know from experience I don't want this or any otherversion on my computer.

Once they have released 2 versions of their software, that not only works fast and with virtually no effect on the system, doesn't try to replace the windows security center with their own crap, rather than integrate,doesn't insist on requiring me to use their firewall rather the the windows one that does at least just as good a job, AND does a good job at finding at removing viruses and threats, THEN MAYBE I'll give them the enefit of the doubt and suggest other to try the next version, or even try it myself, if I'm using AV then.

But Trust is something they need to earn, and they have broken that so far down, they got a lot of work to do before I'll ever recomend anyone a norton product again.

Edited November 28, 2008 by HawkMan

[Bubbabyte]

I used Nod32 for years, i wanted to try something new... gave norton gamer edition a try, it works great. Much more responsive then Nod32 has been, quicker at start up, better at detecting... and not that it matters but the install was ridiculously fast. All around this product has changed my view about symantec and norton. This is far from bloatware.

[bob_c_b]

I'm using the trial, and so far it seems as good as NOD 32.

So this is just an anti-virus product, doesn't take over any functions from Windows Defender or Firewall? Doesn't shim itself into any of those areas? If so that is a big step forward for Symantec on the consumer side. Is there a native x64 version? The web site isn't terribly clear on those points so I'd be curious to hear from someone who is actually using it.

[McCrap]

The 2009 edition is faster & more responsive than most AV's out there.

[Bubbabyte]

So this is just an anti-virus product, doesn't take over any functions from Windows Defender or Firewall? Doesn't shim itself into any of those areas? If so that is a big step forward for Symantec on the consumer side. Is there a native x64 version? The web site isn't terribly clear on those points so I'd be curious to hear from someone who is actually using it.

if you look at the post above yours that i made you'll see my review of it... also i'm using vista x64, no problems here, very smooth sailing and it picked up alot of stuff that Nod32 failed to. Incredibly minimal resources and it's about the least bloated AV software i've ever used.. IMO as of right now, much better than Nod32, and believe me i was a huge Hater of everything symantec for it's incredible bloat.

[bob_c_b]

if you look at the post above yours that i made you'll see my review of it... also i'm using vista x64, no problems here, very smooth sailing and it picked up alot of stuff that Nod32 failed to. Incredibly minimal resources and it's about the least bloated AV software i've ever used.. IMO as of right now, much better than Nod32, and believe me i was a huge Hater of everything symantec for it's incredible bloat.

Is it a real 64 bit app or is it 32 bit running on WoW? I'm getting tempted to at least try the demo from all the good things I am hearing.

[Ci7]

Is it a real 64 bit app or is it 32 bit running on WoW? I'm getting tempted to at least try the demo from all the good things I am hearing.

i think it should be 64bit or otherwise it wont have 64bit software drivers

[.KICK]

So is this any good, I currently use AVG Free but since 8.0, I have found them to be slow.

[Zoom7000]

I personally feel that Norton's reputation as "the ultimate" bloatware has tarnished itself too far for many gamers to switch to this version. Besides I still feel there are better packages on the market. After all, with all the bloat cut out, it's still based on the core NAV engine and numerous tests have shown packages like Kaspersky to be much better.

[Dance.]

I personally feel that Norton's reputation as "the ultimate" bloatware has tarnished itself too far for many gamers to switch to this version. Besides I still feel there are better packages on the market. After all, with all the bloat cut out, it's still based on the core NAV engine and numerous tests have shown packages like Kaspersky to be much better.

Source?

[bob_c_b]

Like many here my gut reaction is Norton = BAD, but it would be foolish to assume that Symantec cannot learn from their mistakes. I'm wondering how many people in this discussion were declaring Intel dead a couple years ago and saying they would never leave AMD? Never say never in the PC world, brand loyalty is for fools and assuming companies cannot respond to user demand even more foolish. I'm close to trying the demo at this point, my last Avast install got cranky with all the recent patching and never did start acting right again, perhaps it is time for a change?

[Imran Hussain]

oh yeah, I forgot that this was only a discussion threadto discuss the positive thigns of an app. and absolutely nto talk about the bad sides or any such negative things.

Sorry but this isn't the Apple Discussion boards, here it's an actual discussion board. and I specified that whle Ihaven't tried it on my very own computer, I have seen everything from the older version to the very latest version on client, customers and friends computers. And they're all SLOW as F. either from Norton or form Virus/malware/badware that norton didn't remove.

So sorry if I don't blindly trust them, Seeing as I allready know their software, yes even this version, is pure infected crap allready, and I know from experience I don't want this or any otherversion on my computer.

Once they have released 2 versions of their software, that not only works fast and with virtually no effect on the system, doesn't try to replace the windows security center with their own crap, rather than integrate,doesn't insist on requiring me to use their firewall rather the the windows one that does at least just as good a job, AND does a good job at finding at removing viruses and threats, THEN MAYBE I'll give them the enefit of the doubt and suggest other to try the next version, or even try it myself, if I'm using AV then.

But Trust is something they need to earn, and they have broken that so far down, they got a lot of work to do before I'll ever recomend anyone a norton product again.

Yawn!! :p

Been using it for many days now. Had no problems so far.. detected a few viruses in some shared flash drives but cleaned them fine. Good stuff Norton! No bloat, no performance penalties that I can notice.. and like that it turns itself off, ( or its selected components ) automatically when a full screen app is run, like a game or a video. And did I say it's fast? Faster than NOD 32 for me!

I'll be buying it for sure.

[HawkMan]

No norton when it's brand new isn't exactly that impressive. giveit a few months first.

and as I allready said, IF this version proves to be what the promise it is, and they relase another version in a year that proves to be as good and fast.

THEN I might start suggesting Norton to other people after the next version after that again has been out for a month without problems.

They prove they can make a proper working, fast and properly working AV, and earn back their trust, then I'll give the a chance, but I won't give them my trust simply because they decided to make one version of their AV and say "this is good and fast". earnign trust takes time, especially after they killed it, buried it, unearthed it so they could bury it again, danced on it's grave, dug it up again, molested it, and scattered it into space.

[Kralik]

Norton AntiVirus? 2009 Gaming Editionb> is the fastest virus protection you can get. * It stops spyware, worms, bots, and other threats cold?without slowing down your PC. When you?re gaming, your protection should get out of the way. Norton AntiVirus? 2009 Gaming Edition does exactlyGamer ModeMode

* No alerts + no notifications = no interruptions

* Optional settings to temporarily suspend updates, behavioral scanning and intrusion prevention

* Enabled automatically when your PC is in full screen mode

* Activate manually with a quick click on the Norton system traLightning Fast*ast*

* Rapid Pulse Updates every 5 to 15 minutes

* Installs in less than a minute

* Adds less than 1 second to booLight as a Feather*her*

* Uses less than 6MB memory even without the Gamer Mode performance boost

* Needs less than 50MB hard disk space on installation

* Runs only 2 processes at a time

* Performance graphs display CPU and memory usage and how little Norton isRespects your needseeds

* Smart Scheduler holds resource intensive actions for when you are not using your PC

* Resource usage table shows you the what, when and how long for background actions taken by Norton AntiVirus

* Delivers consistently strong protection - that?s why Norton AntiVirus has won more consecutive Virus Bulletin 100 awards than any other AV software

Read more here.

Demo video here

Hat tip goes to Rafael.[/i]/url].[/size]

I downloaded AMD Fusion for gaming beta last month from AMD website..

I run it before I run a game and it really improves performance.. best thing is its free!!!

DOes not support Intel processors.. not a prob for me though as I have a AMD processor..

Will definitely try to find a free demo or something of this Norton and give it a shot.. thanks for the great post..

A suggestion for moderators.. why not introduce a points system on Neowin where members can vote for each other.. like 1 point fr good reply.. 2 point for starting a good discussion.. +3 for solving another members problem.. something along these lines.. Just came to my mind as this Norton sounds good but i never heard of it before.. poster deserves some credit..

[bob_c_b]

So someone who is using the beta, in the screen shot below, explain the following if you can...

1. The anti-virus, anti-spyware and advance protection buttons, do those refer to norton modules or to parts of Windows Security Center.

2. When you click the View Home Network link does this just call the Vista Network and Sharing Center?

3. What does your Security Center look like now? Has Norton shimmed itself in there or is it still clean?

Anyone uninstalled this app yet? Does it make a mess or is there a classic Norton "scrubber" script available? Thanks.

[ViperAFK]

I had 2009 preinstalled on my laptop and it uninstalled very quickly and completely you should be fine. It's not like those crap older versions that would never leave.

I downloaded AMD Fusion for gaming beta last month from AMD website..

I run it before I run a game and it really improves performance.. best thing is its free!!!

DOes not support Intel processors.. not a prob for me though as I have a AMD processor..

Will definitely try to find a free demo or something of this Norton and give it a shot.. thanks for the great post..

A suggestion for moderators.. why not introduce a points system on Neowin where members can vote for each other.. like 1 point fr good reply.. 2 point for starting a good discussion.. +3 for solving another members problem.. something along these lines.. Just came to my mind as this Norton sounds good but i never heard of it before.. poster deserves some credit..

I tried this and when I enabled It I had more processes then before lol. seems like a good idea though.

[Bubbabyte]

here is some info and screenshots from norton gamer edition.

The first pictures shows all the info...

Top Left: Network overview, just basic info, once you click OK you get screenshot 2, information about your network.

Bottom left: Cpu usage, not really important, basically just there for bragging rights to show that norton is not a hog on resources.

Top Middle: QuickScan.. found 1 tracking cookie, no biggie.

Bottom Middle: Log results from scan, 33 seconds it took to scan.

Top Right: Norton Insight, very cool feature, you can select files that you trust so that norton can bypass scanning them to make for faster scans. There are several levels of trust, Norton Trust, Community trust.. etc, based on stats.

Bottom Right: Is the default Interface.

@bob_c_b: As you can see in the shots, nothing links to windows modules, everything is built in. Same with the home network view, just basic info. Norton has not shimmed itself in the final version, it's as clean as ever. And to answer your last question, you do not need a norton scrubber like in the past. I had installed NIS2009.. used it, it was great, however i have no use for firewall etc.. uninstalled it and installed Nod32 just to test the waters and see if ther would be problems. There was not, i uninstalled Nod32 and installed Norton Gamer Edition.. and it's been smooth sailing.

[Bubbabyte]

I personally feel that Norton's reputation as "the ultimate" bloatware has tarnished itself too far for many gamers to switch to this version. Besides I still feel there are better packages on the market. After all, with all the bloat cut out, it's still based on the core NAV engine and numerous tests have shown packages like Kaspersky to be much better.

I don't understand these comments.. i really don't. YES norton was famous for bloatware. NO, currently there really isn't much better then this on the market. You can continue on about how numerous tests have shown etc etc.. but you have no source that will show NAV2009 is bloat nor will it show worse results then Kaspersky or Nod32. I don't understand how you can all say all this stuff when you haven't tried it.. I guarantee if you try it, you'll find it is soooo much smoother then other AV's on the market RIGHT NOW.

No norton when it's brand new isn't exactly that impressive. giveit a few months first.

and as I allready said, IF this version proves to be what the promise it is, and they relase another version in a year that proves to be as good and fast.

THEN I might start suggesting Norton to other people after the next version after that again has been out for a month without problems.

They prove they can make a proper working, fast and properly working AV, and earn back their trust, then I'll give the a chance, but I won't give them my trust simply because they decided to make one version of their AV and say "this is good and fast". earnign trust takes time, especially after they killed it, buried it, unearthed it so they could bury it again, danced on it's grave, dug it up again, molested it, and scattered it into space.

Again... make some sense. You wanted a better product, you got one, and now you're still complaining and resisting it because of some notion that norton owes you something...lol You say that you will give them a chance when they make a proper working AV, well they have. If you don't believe me then try it out.

[bob_c_b]

here is some info and screenshots from norton gamer edition.

The first pictures shows all the info...

Top Left: Network overview, just basic info, once you click OK you get screenshot 2, information about your network.

Bottom left: Cpu usage, not really important, basically just there for bragging rights to show that norton is not a hog on resources.

Top Middle: QuickScan.. found 1 tracking cookie, no biggie.

Bottom Middle: Log results from scan, 33 seconds it took to scan.

Top Right: Norton Insight, very cool feature, you can select files that you trust so that norton can bypass scanning them to make for faster scans. There are several levels of trust, Norton Trust, Community trust.. etc, based on stats.

Bottom Right: Is the default Interface.

@bob_c_b: As you can see in the shots, nothing links to windows modules, everything is built in. Same with the home network view, just basic info. Norton has not shimmed itself in the final version, it's as clean as ever. And to answer your last question, you do not need a norton scrubber like in the past. I had installed NIS2009.. used it, it was great, however i have no use for firewall etc.. uninstalled it and installed Nod32 just to test the waters and see if ther would be problems. There was not, i uninstalled Nod32 and installed Norton Gamer Edition.. and it's been smooth sailing.

Thanks for all this effort, I really appreciate it. I just got done doing a clean install and the only thing I haven't put back on is anti-virus so I'm really digging for info, this pretty much seals the deal that I am going to run the trial edition.

[Kralik]

Installed the 15 day trial yesterday.. I like it.. my only worry is that I still have McAfee subscription and do not want to waste that. But NAVGE has improved my system boot time.. is taking less resources and when used in conjunction with AMD Fusion for Gaming.. it improved gaming performance and reduced lag that I encountered in some games..

I think I might just go back to NAV after 5 years :p

[+Tantawi Subscriber²]

I've been using Norton Antivirus 2009 "the standard edition, not gaming edition", for a couple of days and boy I'm so impressed! I wont' say it's faster than NOD32, the difference is not that noticable, they're just as fast, but RAM usage is much less, it has the Insight feature which I didn't see in any other antivirus, it has "tiny" updates every few minutes, and it caught some ads.trojan.something and related registry keys that both NOD32 and Spybot had left! I love it and proudly say I'm back to Norton (Y).

[rajputwarrior]

Installed the 15 day trial yesterday.. I like it.. my only worry is that I still have McAfee subscription and do not want to waste that. But NAVGE has improved my system boot time.. is taking less resources and when used in conjunction with AMD Fusion for Gaming.. it improved gaming performance and reduced lag that I encountered in some games..

I think I might just go back to NAV after 5 years :p

i agree with kralik, nav gaming edition is pretty good, using it now. Uses next to no ram, boot up time is fast (which is impressive because before i was using one care and that was a really fast AV solution). I would recommend it to anyone. The only thing i am do not like is the way it looks... it's ugly.

[Denis W. Veteran]

here is some info and screenshots from norton gamer edition.

The first pictures shows all the info...

Top Left: Network overview, just basic info, once you click OK you get screenshot 2, information about your network.

Bottom left: Cpu usage, not really important, basically just there for bragging rights to show that norton is not a hog on resources.

Top Middle: QuickScan.. found 1 tracking cookie, no biggie.

Bottom Middle: Log results from scan, 33 seconds it took to scan.

Top Right: Norton Insight, very cool feature, you can select files that you trust so that norton can bypass scanning them to make for faster scans. There are several levels of trust, Norton Trust, Community trust.. etc, based on stats.

Bottom Right: Is the default Interface.

The screenshots that you and others are posting show a pretty clean UI... all except the main interface. Why do they need to apply that ugly skin :x

Right now I'm on avast Home (with only the standard shield installed and nothing else) and it's working fine for me... I just need something that can stop my contacts from sending me MSN bots. :p But NAV2009 sounds like a step in the right direction.

In the end, since customers are still stuck in the mindset that NAV = the only antivirus solution out there, if they deliver a product that's light and efficient, everyone wins. (Y)

[i_was_here]

I don't understand these comments.. i really don't. YES norton was famous for bloatware. NO, currently there really isn't much better then this on the market. You can continue on about how numerous tests have shown etc etc.. but you have no source that will show NAV2009 is bloat nor will it show worse results then Kaspersky or Nod32. I don't understand how you can all say all this stuff when you haven't tried it.. I guarantee if you try it, you'll find it is soooo much smoother then other AV's on the market RIGHT NOW.

I think Zoom7000 is trying to say that many people may not want to give Norton a second look because of its past reputation.

You know the idiom "Once bitten, twice shy"?

[ViZioN]

I've noticed with most anti-virus software that you can install it on more than one PC.

Is this the same for the gaming edition?

I couldn't find anywhere that says how many computers it can be installed on. I want to install it on my laptop as well as my PC.