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Featured Reviews
Do not install this software on your mac! 
- Version: 11.0, 12/20/2009 09:22AM PST
(0 of 2 users found this comment useful)
RebD
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- Do not install this software on your mac!
NAV 11 Compared to Intego and Kaspersky - Version: 11.0, 11/7/2009 03:58AM PST
(2 of 2 users found this comment useful)
megavolt17
OK, I have used NAV for years and thought there must be something better out there. I searched for comparisons to Kaspersky, Virusbarrier, ClamAV and Virex but they are all either very dated, have no factual data and are simply flames and personal likes/dislikes or simply do not offer any usable data.
First of all, ALL work fine with Snow Leopard, contrary to wild posts and flames here. NAV initially did not support the auto-protect feature (disabled by default when installing Snow Leopard) but no problems other than having to manually scan. This was fixed within 10 days of Snow Leopard release and installed itself with the normal software update. No need to remove, download, configure, etc. anything - just let it do a routing autoupdate. This was clearly stated on the Symantec web page (along with a lame excuse that Snow Leopard was new and they had not had a chance to test it prior to it's release. Come on, even I had a chance to play with it prior to it being released).
First I used Virex in past and had conflicts and trouble installing and updating software whenever it was running. Most installation routines advise you to disable antivirus software and I think this program is the reason why. Other than that no real problems, but I kept forgetting to disable it and then had to figure out how to fix things when my install went south.
NAV 11, unlike prior versions, is not a CPU hog. I do not know how much memory it actually takes but Activity Monitor shows 98 Megs for NortonAutoProtect, and 98 Megs for SymAVScanDaemon. At rest Activity Monitor shows 0% CPU use. Downloading software/web searching it peaks intermittently at up to 5% which is really not bad at all. I do not note any slow downs or difference in anything with it installed or not. I know it does pick up viruses as I have had email attachments, and even a web page I visited found to be infected. I rarely do a full system scan; I just let it run in the background checking everything read/written to my hard disk. Best of all for me, despite the warnings, I never disable it to install software or updates. I left everything standard, which even checks archived folders during a scan. Status and actions are available by the unobtrusive Symantec menu item.
Intego VirusBarrier looks really cool and I really wanted to like it. Installs easily and no problems running it. Not sure if I like the alien spaceship appearing interface, but it is unique. No slow downs noted doing anything. I did not try installing anything with it running. I do not like that it has both a menu item, and a doc item showing at all time. Why not one or the other? Despite the manufacture claims of <1% CPU use it used 2-4% CPU while in sitting in the background, and up to 20% CPU while downloading/surfing. Not enough to notice a slow down, but certainly not what I had expected or a reason to change AV brands. Manual, full scans fly compared to NAV. NAV takes 5 hours to scan my whole system including archives while this seems to keep track of prior scans and is faster each time you use it. About 3 hours for the first full scan and just under 2 for subsequent scans.
Kaspersky costs less than either. Installed easily and no problems with it. I did not try installing anything with it running. For me it was a bit hard to figure out when it was doing anything other than when I manually scanned my disk. I know on the PC there is the menu icon and it changes based on updating, scanning, being out of date, etc. but not so on the Mac. No real issues and I am sure that I could have figured it out, but when I quit the manual scanner I was not sure if it was protecting in the background or not. Scan speed is reasonable at 2 hours, however I saw no indication that is scanned archived files. NAV scans in an hour if I disable scanning of archives.
ClamXav installs easily, and scans are reasonably fast. I could not "get into it" and was not sure if it was still running/autoprotecting when it was closed. There was on icon or menu item indicating that it was doing anything when I quit it. Perhaps it works in the background or perhaps it only works when it is running. The price certainly is good!
For me, I want something that works in the background but I can see if it is running. I want it unobtrusive and not to take tons of CPU (certainly not enough to slow me down). I need it "idiot proof" so that if I forget to disable it nothing bad happens. Memory is less of an option (I have 4 GB in my MacBook) and to be honest money is a consideration but none of these cost enough that I would miss a mortgage payment as a result.
For now I will stick with NAV. I think VirusBarrier would be my second choice, followed by either ClamXav or Kaspersky.
First of all, ALL work fine with Snow Leopard, contrary to wild posts and flames here. NAV initially did not support the auto-protect feature (disabled by default when installing Snow Leopard) but no problems other than having to manually scan. This was fixed within 10 days of Snow Leopard release and installed itself with the normal software update. No need to remove, download, configure, etc. anything - just let it do a routing autoupdate. This was clearly stated on the Symantec web page (along with a lame excuse that Snow Leopard was new and they had not had a chance to test it prior to it's release. Come on, even I had a chance to play with it prior to it being released).
First I used Virex in past and had conflicts and trouble installing and updating software whenever it was running. Most installation routines advise you to disable antivirus software and I think this program is the reason why. Other than that no real problems, but I kept forgetting to disable it and then had to figure out how to fix things when my install went south.
NAV 11, unlike prior versions, is not a CPU hog. I do not know how much memory it actually takes but Activity Monitor shows 98 Megs for NortonAutoProtect, and 98 Megs for SymAVScanDaemon. At rest Activity Monitor shows 0% CPU use. Downloading software/web searching it peaks intermittently at up to 5% which is really not bad at all. I do not note any slow downs or difference in anything with it installed or not. I know it does pick up viruses as I have had email attachments, and even a web page I visited found to be infected. I rarely do a full system scan; I just let it run in the background checking everything read/written to my hard disk. Best of all for me, despite the warnings, I never disable it to install software or updates. I left everything standard, which even checks archived folders during a scan. Status and actions are available by the unobtrusive Symantec menu item.
Intego VirusBarrier looks really cool and I really wanted to like it. Installs easily and no problems running it. Not sure if I like the alien spaceship appearing interface, but it is unique. No slow downs noted doing anything. I did not try installing anything with it running. I do not like that it has both a menu item, and a doc item showing at all time. Why not one or the other? Despite the manufacture claims of <1% CPU use it used 2-4% CPU while in sitting in the background, and up to 20% CPU while downloading/surfing. Not enough to notice a slow down, but certainly not what I had expected or a reason to change AV brands. Manual, full scans fly compared to NAV. NAV takes 5 hours to scan my whole system including archives while this seems to keep track of prior scans and is faster each time you use it. About 3 hours for the first full scan and just under 2 for subsequent scans.
Kaspersky costs less than either. Installed easily and no problems with it. I did not try installing anything with it running. For me it was a bit hard to figure out when it was doing anything other than when I manually scanned my disk. I know on the PC there is the menu icon and it changes based on updating, scanning, being out of date, etc. but not so on the Mac. No real issues and I am sure that I could have figured it out, but when I quit the manual scanner I was not sure if it was protecting in the background or not. Scan speed is reasonable at 2 hours, however I saw no indication that is scanned archived files. NAV scans in an hour if I disable scanning of archives.
ClamXav installs easily, and scans are reasonably fast. I could not "get into it" and was not sure if it was still running/autoprotecting when it was closed. There was on icon or menu item indicating that it was doing anything when I quit it. Perhaps it works in the background or perhaps it only works when it is running. The price certainly is good!
For me, I want something that works in the background but I can see if it is running. I want it unobtrusive and not to take tons of CPU (certainly not enough to slow me down). I need it "idiot proof" so that if I forget to disable it nothing bad happens. Memory is less of an option (I have 4 GB in my MacBook) and to be honest money is a consideration but none of these cost enough that I would miss a mortgage payment as a result.
For now I will stick with NAV. I think VirusBarrier would be my second choice, followed by either ClamXav or Kaspersky.
Shantyware - Version: 11.0, 10/6/2009 01:28AM PST
(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)
bwickens
Not unlike their tragic bedfellows Intuit, Symantec has long fallen by the wayside when it comes to supporting the Mac OS X. I don't know; maybe the economics just don't make sense for them, or maybe it's a cultural thing. No press release is going to tell us what the real story is, but while every other major developer either had Snow Leopard compatibility out of the gate, or they quickly updated their programs to be compatible, Norton Antivirus was -- and is -- the only major program I had to completely uninstall from my machine after installing Snow Leopard.
My wife still runs Leopard on her MacBook. She is a publicist, so receives and sends hundreds of cross-platform files and emails every day, and Norton Antivirus on her machine picks up nasty virii almost daily and successfully repairs or quarantines those files. While almost all of them are Win files, I'm sure her clients appreciate that she is not 'spreading the love' by transmitting infected documents to their Windows machines. She also runs MacScan which detected a nasty piece of malware (a DNS re-router) at her System level, and got rid of it. Norton missed that one.
I know there are other options like Intego and Clam, but I've tried both and in the case of the former I just don't like Intego's vibe... too much eye-candy, not enough substance and seemingly punishing subscription routines. Clam can be cool (I haven't used it lately) but it has that quasi-experimental open-source quality about it that I am loathe to risk. And McAfee? I've forgotten if they ever even offered a Mac compatible anti-virus program... I suppose they did once. Lastly, there's Sophos, but not for the faint of heart, and better handled by an IT Administrator as part of a large-scale corporate deployment from what I can tell.
So, for now, I run MacScan once a week to look for trojans and tracking cookies. I have my server side anti-spam index set very low so that I can see what is getting trapped before it gets on my machine, thus avoiding the usual bogus attachment infections.
I have a fond memory of Norton (Symantec) since the early days of Norton Utilities, but am saddened that it's now just a licensed brand name that stands for very little in the Mac community (poor Peter is off collecting art and having a great time somewhere!).
My wife still runs Leopard on her MacBook. She is a publicist, so receives and sends hundreds of cross-platform files and emails every day, and Norton Antivirus on her machine picks up nasty virii almost daily and successfully repairs or quarantines those files. While almost all of them are Win files, I'm sure her clients appreciate that she is not 'spreading the love' by transmitting infected documents to their Windows machines. She also runs MacScan which detected a nasty piece of malware (a DNS re-router) at her System level, and got rid of it. Norton missed that one.
I know there are other options like Intego and Clam, but I've tried both and in the case of the former I just don't like Intego's vibe... too much eye-candy, not enough substance and seemingly punishing subscription routines. Clam can be cool (I haven't used it lately) but it has that quasi-experimental open-source quality about it that I am loathe to risk. And McAfee? I've forgotten if they ever even offered a Mac compatible anti-virus program... I suppose they did once. Lastly, there's Sophos, but not for the faint of heart, and better handled by an IT Administrator as part of a large-scale corporate deployment from what I can tell.
So, for now, I run MacScan once a week to look for trojans and tracking cookies. I have my server side anti-spam index set very low so that I can see what is getting trapped before it gets on my machine, thus avoiding the usual bogus attachment infections.
I have a fond memory of Norton (Symantec) since the early days of Norton Utilities, but am saddened that it's now just a licensed brand name that stands for very little in the Mac community (poor Peter is off collecting art and having a great time somewhere!).
Not Compatible with OS X 10.6 - Version: 11.0, 8/29/2009 04:43PM PST
(0 of 1 users found this comment useful)
lacwbo
It's incredible that for as long as everyone has known Apple was developing OS X 10.6 that Norton has not updated their virus application to support it.
I would recommend that everyone switch to Virus Barrier X5 which has been updated.
I would recommend that everyone switch to Virus Barrier X5 which has been updated.
LIVEUPDATE & AUTO-PROTECT NO LONGER WORK IN 10.5.7!!! - Version: 11.0, 6/10/2009 07:55PM PST
Kudrabar
Since I updated to Mac OS 10.5.7 on my iMac and my MacBook, the Auto-Protect and LiveUpdate components of Norton Antivirus 11 (NAV) no longer work. LiveUpdate automatically or manually checks for and downloads new virus definition files and updates for all the components of NAV. Auto-Protect automatically scans my system in the background looking for viruses when I am on the Internet, downloading email, or using any kind of external disk. With those two components dead, Norton Antivirus 11 is now COMPLETELY USELESS. And I cannot download a fix because the utility that downloads such things is what needs to be fixed! Nor can I find a fix to download from the Norton or Symantec websites, which are possibly the worst customer support websites in the software industry.
Here are the two alert notifications NAV gave after I tried repeatedly to uninstall and reinstall it:
"Norton AntiVirus Error. Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect could not continue. Please run LiveUpdate or reinstall Norton AntiVirus and restart. (Code: 10)"
"System extension cannot be used. The system extension "/Library/Application Support/Symantec/AntiVirus/NortonAutoProtect.bundle/Contents/Resources/SymApComm.kext" was installed imporperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update."
Here are the two alert notifications NAV gave after I tried repeatedly to uninstall and reinstall it:
"Norton AntiVirus Error. Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect could not continue. Please run LiveUpdate or reinstall Norton AntiVirus and restart. (Code: 10)"
"System extension cannot be used. The system extension "/Library/Application Support/Symantec/AntiVirus/NortonAutoProtect.bundle/Contents/Resources/SymApComm.kext" was installed imporperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product's vendor for an update."
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Auto-Protect No Longer Functions with 10.5.7 - Version: 11.0, 5/19/2009 10:00PM PST
macguruguy
Since updating to 10.5.7, Auto-Protect feature no longer works. Have uninstalled and re-installed product -- still doesn't work.
Seeking decent removal tool - not this one - Version: 11.0, 4/16/2009 08:50AM PST
afterhours
What Mac antivirus package is effective at cleaning up Windows viruses and trojans on a Windows volume (either mounted as a sharepoint or removed from a PC carcass and attached to a Mac? Norton's website does everything it can to prevent any presales questions, so that suggests they don't want my money. Any other options that work well?
poor marketing policy - Version: 10.1.2, 12/1/2008 04:15PM PST
regism
I've always read the bad reviews of this product on this site but I've felt I'd rather be safe than sorry.
At the beginning of this month I got annoying reminders that my subscription would expire on December 8th. I finally responded and downloaded the latest version (11). I am now told that I will have to re-subscribe on Nov 29th instead of Dec 8th. By doing what their program asked me to do I have lost 10 days on my new subscription.
If you re-subscribe don do it until the expiration date.
At the beginning of this month I got annoying reminders that my subscription would expire on December 8th. I finally responded and downloaded the latest version (11). I am now told that I will have to re-subscribe on Nov 29th instead of Dec 8th. By doing what their program asked me to do I have lost 10 days on my new subscription.
If you re-subscribe don do it until the expiration date.
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Where's 11.0.1 - Version: 11.0, 8/13/2008 10:46PM PST
brian haughton
Where do we get the patch that upgrades Norton AntiVirus 11.0 to 11.0.1?
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Norton AntiVirus 11.0.1 update released - fixes TimeCapsule MountScanning; KPs already fixed - Version: 11.0, 7/21/2008 03:11PM PST
(3 of 3 users found this comment useful)
michael_romo
hi everyone--
Mike Romo from Symantec here. On Friday, July 18, 2008, we released a patch for Norton AntiVirus 11 (making it 11.0.1) - with 11.0.1, the Auto-Protect Auto Disk Scan feature no longer scans disk images on a network volume. Such scanning was causing Time Machine backups onto a shared, network volume, such Time Capsule, to slow down.
So, Mountscan no longer scans Time Capsule volumes (or disk images mounted from network volumes).
As I have written below, other issues:
1 - Auto-Protect Real Time Scanning on Time Capsule and Time Machine volumes - FIXED
2 - Intermittent Kernel Panics when running Vulnerability Protection - FIXED
Thanks for your patience. These were tricky issues, especially the TimeCapsule ones--TimeCapsule came out after we released the product and we were not able to test it before we released.
thanks again and please let me know if you have questions, I am at mike_romo@symantec.com
=mike
Mike Romo from Symantec here. On Friday, July 18, 2008, we released a patch for Norton AntiVirus 11 (making it 11.0.1) - with 11.0.1, the Auto-Protect Auto Disk Scan feature no longer scans disk images on a network volume. Such scanning was causing Time Machine backups onto a shared, network volume, such Time Capsule, to slow down.
So, Mountscan no longer scans Time Capsule volumes (or disk images mounted from network volumes).
As I have written below, other issues:
1 - Auto-Protect Real Time Scanning on Time Capsule and Time Machine volumes - FIXED
2 - Intermittent Kernel Panics when running Vulnerability Protection - FIXED
Thanks for your patience. These were tricky issues, especially the TimeCapsule ones--TimeCapsule came out after we released the product and we were not able to test it before we released.
thanks again and please let me know if you have questions, I am at mike_romo@symantec.com
=mike
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DO NOT USE THIS SOFTWARE!