Norton Antivirus 2008
"Norton Antivirus 2008 continues the recent upwards trend. Its antivirus capabilities are world-class and yet it remains easy to use."
-PC Advisor, Security Software Reviews, April 2008
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Protect yourself against online threats with Symantec's award-winning antivirus solution
$ 39.99
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 Keeps you protected against viruses, worms, rootkits and spyware
Improved performance over the previous release: scans are now 39% faster
Runs quietly in the background so you can work and play without disruption
Check on the security status of your home network with Network Mapping
Convenient: technical support is now available right from the user interface
Reviewed April 12, 2008 by Chris, Senior Editorial Staff Member on The Symantec-Norton.com Team
As a long-time user of Norton Antivirus, I decided to upgrade to the 2008 version because of all the performance improvements I had been reading about lately. From the moment I installed this software on my HP Pavilion 716n, which has a 2.4 GHz processor and 512 MB of memory, it was smooth sailing.
The welcome screen of Norton Antivirus 2008 acts as the lifeline to your computer. It indicates whether your virus definitions are current, a spyware and virus scan has recently been completed and your system updates are set up properly. It even indicates whether or not your computer's firewall is active. You can easily show your protection status in the taskbar by clicking Options > Norton Protection Center and clicking Show Protection Status on Windows Taskbar. A gold bar will then show in the taskbar at all times and you will be alerted immediately the moment there is a problem with the protection of your computer.
One excellent new feature of Norton Antivirus 2008 which I liked very much is Network Mapping. By clicking View on the left side of the welcome screen, you can see all the computers which are on your home network. I had three on mine and was able to view all of them easily. In order to use the Network Security Map you must have Norton Antivirus 2008 or Norton Internet Security 2008 installed on each computer on the network. You also have the option to show the Network Security Map at startup. This can be easily set up by clicking Options > Norton Antivirus on the left side of the screen, then selecting Home Networking and Show Welcome Screen at Startup.
I found the many improvements in Norton Antivirus 2008 very helpful and useful. After months of trouble-free use, I had begun to experience error messages in Norton Antivirus 2006 which required that I restart my computer. Upgrading to Norton Antivirus 2008 solved all of such problems I was having. Also, I found that scanning for viruses while I was working on the computer took up less of my system's resources than the previous version of Norton Antivirus I had. I was able to continue working without experiencing the serious and annoying system slowdowns that I used to encounter during virus scans.
Another great feature of Norton Antivirus 2008 is that it comes pre-configured for the average system. If any feature of Norton Antivirus 2008 doesn't work for you, you can easily reconfigure it in the Option screen. For example, I didn't like that it always warned me about low-risk items. I was able to quickly disable this feature by going into the Options menu, clicking Exclusions, then Low-Risk Items. I selected Always Ignore Low-Risk Items. This was a good option for me because I know my computer and browsing habits very well, so I’m pretty sure that low-risk items will not cause any trouble. However, if you are concerned about low-risk items but don't wish to be troubled with them, you can simply select Automatically Remove Low-Risk Items and Norton Antivirus 2008 will remove these risks behind the scenes. If the removal ever becomes a problem, you can always take the files out of quarantine later to restore them to their previous state.
Norton Antivirus 2008 still contains a full help file as in previous versions of the software. However, it also has a direct line to technical support should you need it. Simply click Help and Support in the upper right-hand corner of the software to start your support session. Norton Antivirus 2008 will attempt to use AutoFix to detect and solve your problem. If it can't find one, you will be given a menu of questions to select from. Simply select the menu item which most closely matches the problem you are having and a screen with step-by-step instructions will appear. If the problem is still not resolved, by simply clicking the Contact Us link you will be connected to support options. These include Live Chat and Email Support, which are completely free of charge and are available 24/7. There is also a search screen you can use to find solutions to your problems with Norton Antivirus 2008. At any time you can find the Windows Help File by clicking Help at the top of the screen.
Fortunately, while I was evaluating Norton Antivirus 2008 I didn't feel the need to use any of these support options as things went pretty well. However, I was extremely glad they were there should I ever need them in the future. Not to mention having the help files at my fingertips was very useful for configuring the software to my personal needs. It was a good thing I didn't have to go to the Symantec website to find the information I wanted to see. Still, their knowledge base is very comprehensive if you have detailed questions about how to use or configure Norton Antivirus 2008.
Overall, my experience of Norton Antivirus 2008 was very positive. The Norton Antivirus family of products has provided award-winning antivirus protection for years and the 2008 version brings that protection to an even higher level.
 
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