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About to uninstall Norton/Symantec. Good?

I

imanidiot

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 1, 2011
747
619
Denver, CO
After viewing some of the innumerable threads about how unnecessary Mac security software is, I think I'm going to uninstall Norton---which I only use because Comcast provides it for free. Am I doing the right thing? (Please don't beat me up because this topic has been done to death, I know.)

Thanks.
 
OH GOD!!!! Please uninstall it!!!!!

It doesn't matter if it's free or not. I wouldn't install it if they paid me.

The Norton/Symantec stuff is worse than a virus, and it will not give you any protection for your Mac. It's more likely to make your system more vulnerable.

Please get rid of it! If you have disks for it, shred them immediately.
 
Yes. I wouldn't suggest using antivirus software unless you have to, as some schools require it. All it does is take up resources from your other apps
 
Uninstalling is the deal

Old-Wiz, I already have it installed, unfortunately. I'm talking about UNINSTALLING it. Which, I gather, you think is a good idea.
 
Norton Internet Security 2011 is an excellent AV product for Windows. I have it on all 3 of my PCs. It has a small footprint and gets great reviews.

I think it (and any other AV) is unnecessary for my MBA and I go naked with that one.
 
imanidiot said:
I really do appreciate you guys taking the time to comment. One thing I find worrisome (or irksome, at any rate) are all the comments I've seen on other threads to the effect that the Norton uninstaller doesn't do a very good job of uninstalling. I did, however, bookmark this link:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH103489&API1=100&API2=4169666

which may help.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Just follow the steps in the link. I have never installed Norton on a MAC. I do know that on a PC there is an extra uninstaller from their website.
 
imanidiot said:
After viewing some of the innumerable threads about how unnecessary Mac security software is, I think I'm going to uninstall Norton---which I only use because Comcast provides it for free. Am I doing the right thing? (Please don't beat me up because this topic has been done to death, I know.)

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Antivirus software is always useless... even for PCs
 
Sc00tr said:
Just follow the steps in the link. I have never installed Norton on a MAC. I do know that on a PC there is an extra uninstaller from their website.
Click to expand...

I'd agree: just follow the steps Norton gives you to follow. It ought to work, however if it doesn't, you can try poking around the library (for both the user and system) to find any symantec folders and delete them as well.

If it weren't for the fact that I have no idea how deeply the software weaves itself into OSX, I'd recommending downloading the trial of appzapper and deleting it that way. However, doing so might cause more problems than you bargained for :-/

Good luck!
 
imanidiot said:
I really do appreciate you guys taking the time to comment. One thing I find worrisome (or irksome, at any rate) are all the comments I've seen on other threads to the effect that the Norton uninstaller doesn't do a very good job of uninstalling. I did, however, bookmark this link:
Click to expand...
The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:
 
Bob Coxner said:
Norton Internet Security 2011 is an excellent AV product for Windows. I have it on all 3 of my PCs. It has a small footprint and gets great reviews.
Click to expand...

No its not. Nothing good comes from Norton/Symantec. I work in IT and work with Symantec products daily. Not only do they completely bog down a system, but they never find anything (or if they do, they can't do anything about it).

The fact that you need a special uninstaller to uninstall their antivirus should speak volumes about the "quality" of Symantec products.

Also be wary of AV reviews. The people reviewing never have to work with the product on a large scale and therefore never truly experience it. I can't tell you how many times I've had to call Symantec's corporate support line because their software couldn't find something that was infecting our systems.
 
chrono1081 said:
No its not. Nothing good comes from Norton/Symantec. I work in IT and work with Symantec products daily. Not only do they completely bog down a system, but they never find anything (or if they do, they can't do anything about it).

The fact that you need a special uninstaller to uninstall their antivirus should speak volumes about the "quality" of Symantec products.

Also be wary of AV reviews. The people reviewing never have to work with the product on a large scale and therefore never truly experience it. I can't tell you how many times I've had to call Symantec's corporate support line because their software couldn't find something that was infecting our systems.
Click to expand...

If you're talking about Norton from a few years ago then you're correct. Maybe you stopped using them at that time and haven't tried the new versions. From 2009 on, Norton completely rebuilt the product. Now it installs in about a minute, has a tiny footprint, takes almost no resources and gets excellent reviews from all of the AV testing organizations.
 
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