Anti-virus products are a necessity on each computer today. With an increasing number of computers connected to the net and more and more people sharing information from their computers, it is a good idea to protect yourself from any malicious exchange with others!

Product choices for anti-virus products are aplenty. For now, though, we focus on Norton Internet Security 2010. Traditionally, we have been McAfee or QuickHeal users but the opportunity to use Norton was one we weren’t going to pass.

Installation

We chose a fairly new Lenovo laptop (Y330) running Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) with 2GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive and the latest updates to most drivers and programs.

We aren’t yet entirely sure if 35 minutes of installation time is normal for a fresh install, but to be fair, the longer duration of this was spent downloading latest definitions. We will concede that this could have been a result of our Internet connection (normally very reliable; 2Mb/s line).

Once installed, there is the step to register the product and this was fairly simple. Norton will start working as soon as it has installed and will run a scan of the computer in the background. Good start!

Interface

Having not used Norton previously, we were used to McAfee’s (comparatively) rather clunky UI and the new look Norton UI came as a pleasant surprise.

With plenty of options to choose from, it can be a bit daunting for first-time users and even some seasoned users! But a once-over and we were sure of what Norton was doing. It was indeed good to know that SPAM protection is enabled by default.

Features

As a user, you would normally like for your anti-virus to keep running in the background and do its job quietly. For the most part, Norton does just this. Most average users won’t bother with what’s under the hood, but we recommend a quick look at at a new technology that lets you leverage the Norton community.

This new technology rates files on your computer based on the information (of malicious code etc) received from the Norton Community. It is also recommended that you become part of this community. Changes to a file will change its rating and safety status. While none of this affects you as you work, it is a quiet job that will ensure that your files are safe for exchange and files you receive are checked for their harmlessness!

Tech info

Anti-virus programs are known to slow down your computer as the continuously monitor the health of your computer. But in case of NIS2010, this footprint is a measly one that we found to usually hover around the 18-20MB memory usage mark. Hardly anything. What this also means is that you don’t necessarily need to have a monster machine to install and run NIS2010. Even slightly older computers running about 1GB RAM can run this effectively.

Norton’s recommended configuration says 256MB RAM, but that’s being optimistic. We would really like to see how the UI works on such a computer…  if it works!

Conclusion

The usual choices for computer users range from Quick Heal, McAfee, Norton to some free options (Avast, AVG etc). You really need to look at your budget when choosing but moreover, weigh the features and decide if a few hundred rupees more is worth the payoff.

NIS 2010 costs Rs 1,420 online for a 1user 1machine license. Comparatively cheaper and definitely worth the price.

Rating: 4/5