11. Norton Antivirus 2009: The Choice For Ease and Simplicity

• Norton AntiVirus 2009...
• • Royaldiscount.com
  • $22.46
• • ZTech Software
  • $16.89
• • techsoftronics
  • $18.00
• • Mwave.com
  • $37.99
• • ZhingZhing
  • $38.75

The heyday of Norton Antivirus, one of the oldest and probably the most well-known security software offerings, has long since past. However, although nowadays it is often overtaken by its competition with regards to performance, it has remained among the highest selling programs on the market. So how does its 2009 edition match up?

User-Friendly Software

The first glimpse of this software, after inserting and installing it on your computer, is satisfying and the quality of the graphics doesn’t disappoint at any point during the process. The presentation and management of the different functions are clear and intuitive, and advanced options are interesting without being too much to handle. Advanced users who are not information security specialists, as well as novices desiring to better their appreciation for security, will both appreciate the program’s simplicity. The presence of password protection settings also shows off Norton’s concern with quality.

Intriguing Performance

The threat-detection engine works rather well during the scans but it lets certain file formats systematically pass though, a glitch that separates it from its best competitors. The resident protection is also very effective, although a little slow.
The defense system that works against infected email attachments is well thought out–the email remains readable while the file itself is neutralized and replaced with a piece of text explaining the event. It is a shame, however, that Norton is not equipped with an automatic scan feature for external hard drives.

Very Slight Impact On The PC

Norton Antivirus 2009 surprised us the most with its ability to not disrupt the normal functioning of a running PC–sensitive but light, Windows start-up time is drawn out only slightly (+31%) with respect to its competitors. The duration of the hard drive scan, though a bit greedy for power and resources, is one of the three most rapid programs tested (21 minutes, the fastest being 20 minutes). The cherry on top is that the uninstall process is almost perfect (only two keys left on the register), which is a real novelty compared to its predecessors.

Conclusion

Even if the performance of Norton Antivirus 2009 is not totally at the level of its best competitors, this new version is a wonderful surprise. The software is a pleasure to use, its settings are easy to master, and it is not very power-hungry–it will give happiness to a large audience, especially those who have older machines. The price is also very reasonable and the principle index tools come in the package. It is unfortunate, however, that there isn’t a firewall. It is present in the Internet Security Version (which is two times more expensive), bringing its price a little below the cost of the average anti-virus software tested in this roundup.