Yes, Norton Antivirus IS a Virus

I have been telling people for a long time that Symantec’s Norton Antivirus is pretty much a virus itself- based on my experience fixing PCs for the last 10 years or so, I have seen it gradually go from a pretty low-key effective antivirus program to a kind of monster, wrapping its slimy arms around the user’s PC and moaning ‘Please don’t let me go, I’m here to protect you!!’, all the while dripping its slime into every crevice of the system and slowing it to a crawl, even on the newest machines, constantly scaring people with its ‘alerts’ and generally being the bully you asked to protect you but later regretted it.

This is not to mention the problems it causes with its ‘Internet Security’ variant- cutting off access to the internet or local network completely on its own whim, and combined with the Windows Vista security features making troubleshooting network or internet problems almost impossible for someone without two or three spare hours and the patience of a monk who has been meditating in the Himalayas for the last 20 years. When someone else is paying for your time this is lucrative but ultimately too stressful to be worth it.

Anyway I could rant on and on about this (I won’t even mention the troubles caused by uninstalling it, or at least trying to) but I’ve discovered that someone else got there first.

Another good anti-NAV article is here.