Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23 in Software
• Brand: Norton from Symantec
• Released on: 2009-03-31
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP
• Format: DVD-ROM

Manufacturer's Description

Amazon.com Product Description
Norton 360 Version 3.0 offers proven performance, delivering today's fastest and lightest all-in-one solution for protecting your PC and all your online activities. It protects against viruses, worms, hackers, and botnets, safeguards against online identity theft, protects important files, and keeps your PC tuned and running at peak performance. Completely automated and easy to use, Norton 360 works quietly in the background, with virtually no impact on PC performance, to provide comprehensive protection for everything computer users care about. By offering an unmatched combination of performance and protection, it helps you get the most out of your PC and your online experience.

Norton 360 Version 3.0 offers proven performance, delivering today's fastest and lightest all-in-one solution for protecting your PC and all your online activities. Click to enlarge.

New--Ultra fast and super light performance
Norton 360 Version 3.0 is the fastest and lightest all-in-one PC protection solution available on the market today. It delivers industry-leading protection for your PC and all your online activities while using significantly fewer system resources, so it won't slow you down:

• Startup time is less than 1 minute.
• Scans take less than 3 minutes.
• It uses less than 10 MB of memory.
• New--Rapid installation gets you up and running quickly in less than 1 minute.
• New--Norton Pulse Updates deliver up-to-the-minute protection against new threats every 5 to 15 minutes.
• New--Norton Insight scans only those files at risk, saving time and dramatically improving protection with faster, fewer, shorter scans.
• New--Smart Startup Manager turns off unnecessary programs to accelerate PC startup time.
• It automatically performs tasks in the background and during PC idle time to eliminate interruptions and minimize any impact on PC performance.

Flexible, automated, and easy-to-use backup and restore capabilities protect photos, music, documents, and other important files from loss. Click to enlarge.

The new Smart Startup Manager turns off unnecessary startup programs so your PC starts up faster. Click to enlarge.

Norton Safe Web identifies unsafe websites and suspicious sellers so you can surf and shop with confidence. Click to enlarge.

Protects against Web-based attacks that use vulnerabilities in your browser to infect your PC. Click to enlarge.

Industry-leading PC security
Our latest virus, spyware, botnet, firewall, and network protection technologies protect you and your PC at all times.

New--Botnet detection
Prevents others from taking control of your PC to access your private information or use it to host an attack on other PCs.

New--Norton Safe Web
Identifies unsafe websites and suspicious sellers so you can surf and shop with confidence.

Norton Identity Safe
Identifies fraudulent websites and validates authentic ones to protect your identity when you buy, bank, and browse online.

Password Manager
Automatically detects, stores, and secures logins and passwords so you can have highly secure passwords without having to remember them.

Secure, one-click login
Conveniently and securely fills in online forms at your request and submits logins and passwords to your frequently visited sites while blocking eavesdropping programs like keystroke loggers.

Browser Protection
Protects against Web-based attacks that use vulnerabilities in your browser to infect your PC.

New--Norton Pulse Updates
Provide continuous protection against new threats automatically.

Automated backup and restore
Flexible, automated, and easy-to-use backup and restore capabilities protect photos, music, documents, and other important files from loss.

• Includes 2 GB of secured online storage (with option to purchase more) (requires high-speed internet access).
• Easy-to-use set-and-forget features automatically back up your valuable files to a local hard drive or secured online site according to the schedule you set.
• New--Norton Drive lets you queue up important files to be backed up whenever your computer is idle, so backups won't get in the way of your computing experience.
• Supports a variety of local backup destinations, including external hard drives, Blu-ray Disc, HD-DVD, and iPod.

Network monitoring
Protects your network and alerts you when you connect to an unsecured wireless network.

PC Tune up
Automatically cleans up unnecessary Internet clutter and temporary files, defragments your hard drive, and optimizes and maintains your PC to keep it running at peak performance.

New--Diagnostic recommendation
Checks your PC to fix common problems and provides recommendations to help you make your PC run better.

New--Smart Startup Manager
Turns off unnecessary startup programs so your PC starts up faster.

Free 24/7 support
Provides easy, one-click access to expert support at no charge via email, live chat, or on the phone.

Monthly report
Shows the details of your PC's activities, such as threats caught, tune-up tasks performed, and files backed up.

Ongoing protection
Keeps your computer protected from the latest Internet risks by automatically renewing your subscription at the regular subscription price (plus applicable tax), so you don't have to do it.

New--Real-time SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response)
Detects emerging spyware and viruses before traditional cures are available.

Network map
Provides a visual picture of your network and each device connected to it, allowing you to view the security status of all Norton products on the network.

Optional anti-spam and parental controls
Are available for easy download via the Norton Add-on Pack.

Customer Reviews

Good but...
After experimenting with various Symantec security products over the years and finding that they all without exception slowed my machine down to a crawl I swore I mighty oath I would never install another. I soon broke that vow when I tried and was very impressed by Norton Internet Security 2009 - 1 User 3 Computers (PC), which was fast, stable and did not impinge very much upon my PC's performance. So I was particularly keen to give this new version of Norton 360 a go.

The install on my Vista SP1 laptop was fast and incident free and the application was quickly registered. Once booted up the computer seemed to work well and not noticeably slower than before. I did note a possible slow down in accessing web pages, but this may not be the direct result of N360 and if it is I suspect a tweak of the security settings (set to maximum) could cure this.

The interface is stripped down and far more user friendly than the confused interface of NIS2009 but there are a full range of options available if you choose to delve into the menu structure. The default settings are fine for most people, I suspect.

Like many new security product this one comes with 2 gigabytes of online storage - I am not sure if this is to be shared between the three users of this product or if each of the three included licences has it's own.

One problem I found is that the backup routine seems to be tightly woven into the disk cleaning and security monitoring schedule and I found it difficult to set up a scheduled scan without including a backup. I also found the setup routine for defining the backup parameters to be confusing and poorly designed.

As well as the usual virus, spyware, firewall, backup and spam facilities this product also comes with a disk cleanup option to remove spurious files, cookies, registry entries and a very interesting network analysis and protection feature. With this the user can define available networks and the devices on them to different levels of security and allow the appropriate access level to them. This is similar in some ways to the Network Magic application and has been expanded greatly in this version of N360.

After a few days of use I have found that my web page access and reverted to normal but that system startup time has been greatly extended. The rest of the desktop loads as normal but the N360 icon does not appear for a full minute afterwards. During this waiting period everything else seems to function as normal.

A useful toolbar is installed on Internet Explorer which facilitates access to the anti phising and online browser security features. This was installed only on IE and not on my Mozilla based Flock browser. Elsewhere I noted that Firefox is far less supported here than IE, a surprising oversight given the move away from IE in favour of Firefox and other browsers.

The product comes with built in online support which I used when contacting Symantec to see is a Firefox plugin was available. Loading directly from the product and after a long delay whilst N360 did a self assessment routine, another whilst navigating through various script driven pages, and yet another in a online queue, I was able to chat live with a Symantec technician in India to attempt to resolve the problem

So in conclusion I would say this is a first class security product with excellent customer support but not without it's problems. It may be too large and all embracing for those who prefer a lean and mean computing machine and those who prefer not to use Internet Explorer.

Best security software around
Norton 360 is easy to install and once set up it gets on with protecting your PC in many different ways. It notifies you of any threats and solves them quickly. It also runs lots of different scans when your computer is idle (this can be set to run anytime between 1 and 30 minutes of your computer becoming idle) which I found to be very useful.

Of course there are some features which don't seem entirely necessary such as the ability to record your bank details securely for online shopping. I have much more peace of mind just inputting my details when needed rather than securing them with some third party.

However, Norton is a reliable brand and I would definately recommend Norton products and will continue to use their software in future. If you need anti-virus or other computer protection, look no further than this product.

A big improvement over V2
I like it. I've tried a number of security suites, including Norton Internet Security 2009, and this is probably my favourite. Norton products were getting very flabby until NIS 2009 came along, and V3 of Norton 360 seems to have built very effectively on the performance enhancements found in NIS 2009. It doesn't seem to increase boot times and uses very little memory or cpu after booting.

I'm not in a position to test its effectiveness at keeping nasties at bay, but NIS2009 gets top billing in many magazine reviews. 360 adds a number of features over NIS, for example integrating with your browser to warn you if you're on a suspect e-commerce site.

It also has what appears to be an excellent backup utility, although I'll probably stick with Acronis for local and iDrive (12 GB free) for online backups.

The only downside I could find is that the interface is poor for anybody who wants to get their hands dirty, delving into the depths to adjust the more advanced settings. But, for most people, that will be a good thing, and I reckon Norton 360 V3 will suit their needs admirably.