Vista Auto Defrag and Norton 360

[Digirati_99]

I recently upgraded my Norton's Internet Security to Norton 360 - which
contains a disk optimizer (defrag). Prior to upgrading Norton my Vista Defrag
tool worked fine no problem and always on schedule. After the upgrade to
Norton, I was setting up the program and the defrag tool in Norton said
"pending" which I left alone, because I was comfortable using the native
defrag utility. However, now the vista defrag does not work. I went into the
the vista tool to look at the schedule and it gave the last run date ( I had
it set to weekly on Wed at 1am). The next scheduled defrag said "Never"
despite the box checked "run automatically". I then unchecked the box and
rechecked it, and then it gave the next scheduled date which I changed to
that evening. I left it alone until the next morning and it not only did not
defrag per the schedule but the Vista tool said next scheduled defrag "never"
and Norton was back to Pending again. I have to assume this has something to
do with Norton.
I am told that Norton's defrag tool is tied to Vista's tool.

Any suggestions?

 

[C.B.]

I recently upgraded my Norton's Internet Security to Norton 360 - which
contains a disk optimizer (defrag). Prior to upgrading Norton my Vista
Defrag
tool worked fine no problem and always on schedule. After the upgrade to
Norton, I was setting up the program and the defrag tool in Norton said
"pending" which I left alone, because I was comfortable using the native
defrag utility. However, now the vista defrag does not work. I went into
the
the vista tool to look at the schedule and it gave the last run date ( I
had
it set to weekly on Wed at 1am). The next scheduled defrag said "Never"
despite the box checked "run automatically". I then unchecked the box and
rechecked it, and then it gave the next scheduled date which I changed to
that evening. I left it alone until the next morning and it not only did
not
defrag per the schedule but the Vista tool said next scheduled defrag
"never"
and Norton was back to Pending again. I have to assume this has something
to
do with Norton.
I am told that Norton's defrag tool is tied to Vista's tool.

Any suggestions?

Yes. Remove Norton from your system.

C.B.

 

[Mike]

Yes. Remove Norton from your system.

This advice is not helpful to the OP or anyone else. N360 is an entirely
different kettle of fish from earlier Norton bloat ware - it is light on
resources, works unobtrusively in background, and there are once-daily (or
often-more-than-once-daily) updates.

I have not been a fan of Norton products in the past, but this one is good,
based on my personal experience for the last six months while using it with
Vista HP. Have you used it yourself?

 

[C.B.]

This advice is not helpful to the OP or anyone else. N360 is an entirely
different kettle of fish from earlier Norton bloat ware - it is light on
resources, works unobtrusively in background, and there are once-daily (or
often-more-than-once-daily) updates.

I have not been a fan of Norton products in the past, but this one is
good, based on my personal experience for the last six months while using
it with Vista HP. Have you used it yourself?

Yes I have. I used the pre-release version which did not work properly
and I used the trial version of the final release product. It not only DID
NOT work properly it caused problems that could not be solved by the inept
Norton technical support department.
The main reason I advise against using anything Norton is because of
Norton's technical support agents although I have other reasons as well. The
support department is pitiful. If they cannot find a solution in their
training manual they have no answers other than "it's a Vista problem" and
"uninstall your Norton product and reinstall it". At times they would simply
disconnect the support conversation even though I was always very polite and
patient when dealing with them. That is not the way to do business. In my
humble opinion a product is no better than the support behind it and I find
Norton to be severely lacking in this respect. This is the same reason I
decided long ago to never again purchase anything HP.
I have also used Norton's security suites and had various problems with
them. In addition, I have found McAfee and ZoneAlarm products to be
incompatible with Vista in one way or another or causing problems of their
own making. If any of these three products have not caused you any problems
you are one of the lucky ones. I respect your decision to use Norton and I
wish you well. I hope you never experience any problems with it.
There is nothing wrong with my system. All other security products I
have evaluated seem to work just fine with Vista. I test all products I am
contemplating on using in either a virtual environment or a separate
partition (Acronis) before purchasing them, which is the only prudent way to
do it. If my system is running very well and I install a product and have
problems, and then I uninstall the product and I don't have problems that
certainly tells me something. I don't advise against using any product until
and/or unless I have personally used the product myself. To do otherwise
would not be fair.
I gave the OP a simple, direct and honest answer (opinion) based upon
my personal use. I didn't trash the product, demean him for using it or
criticize him for not researching it before purchasing it. I have no reason
to criticize your question "Have you used it yourself?" because your
question is justified and you asked in a rational and polite manner without
trashing my opinion. I commend you and respect you for your civility.

C.B.

 

[Mike]

Yes I have. I used the pre-release version which did not work properly
and I used the trial version of the final release product. It not only DID
NOT work properly it caused problems that could not be solved by the inept
Norton technical support department.
The main reason I advise against using anything Norton is because of
Norton's technical support agents although I have other reasons as well.
The support department is pitiful. If they cannot find a solution in their
training manual they have no answers other than "it's a Vista problem" and
"uninstall your Norton product and reinstall it". At times they would
simply disconnect the support conversation even though I was always very
polite and patient when dealing with them. That is not the way to do
business. In my humble opinion a product is no better than the support
behind it and I find Norton to be severely lacking in this respect. This
is the same reason I decided long ago to never again purchase anything HP.
I have also used Norton's security suites and had various problems
with them. In addition, I have found McAfee and ZoneAlarm products to be
incompatible with Vista in one way or another or causing problems of their
own making. If any of these three products have not caused you any
problems you are one of the lucky ones. I respect your decision to use
Norton and I wish you well. I hope you never experience any problems with
it.
There is nothing wrong with my system. All other security products I
have evaluated seem to work just fine with Vista. I test all products I am
contemplating on using in either a virtual environment or a separate
partition (Acronis) before purchasing them, which is the only prudent way
to do it. If my system is running very well and I install a product and
have problems, and then I uninstall the product and I don't have problems
that certainly tells me something. I don't advise against using any
product until and/or unless I have personally used the product myself. To
do otherwise would not be fair.
I gave the OP a simple, direct and honest answer (opinion) based upon
my personal use. I didn't trash the product, demean him for using it or
criticize him for not researching it before purchasing it. I have no
reason to criticize your question "Have you used it yourself?" because
your question is justified and you asked in a rational and polite manner
without trashing my opinion. I commend you and respect you for your
civility.

C.B.

Thanks for the clarification, C.B. I can only speak of things as I see
them, and therefore will continue to use 360.

By coincidence, I am running an HP laptop - I had some trouble with memory
some time ago and HP support sent me a new module with no quibbling within
24 hours - they seemed to know what they were doing. I have never had to use
Norton technical support, and if your experience is any indication I never
will, since there is no such thing!

Since we have had mixed experiences, collectively we cannot predict the
outcome for the OP if s/he retains Norton. We should also provide a
recommendation as a replacement for Norton if that is the way to go. What
do you recommend?

Cheers

Mike

 

[C.B.]

Thanks for the clarification, C.B. I can only speak of things as I see
them, and therefore will continue to use 360.

By coincidence, I am running an HP laptop - I had some trouble with memory
some time ago and HP support sent me a new module with no quibbling within
24 hours - they seemed to know what they were doing. I have never had to
use Norton technical support, and if your experience is any indication I
never will, since there is no such thing!

Since we have had mixed experiences, collectively we cannot predict the
outcome for the OP if s/he retains Norton. We should also provide a
recommendation as a replacement for Norton if that is the way to go. What
do you recommend?

Cheers

Mike

Mike,

To begin with, I recommend NOT using a security suite. The majority of
them are bloated resource hogs and they tend to want to take over and
control your system, setting priorities of the OS to their own particular
applications. They are also know to cause issues with internet connections
and email clients. I would suggest separate AV, AS and firewall apps.
There are also software offerings that want to do it all; AV, AS,
firewall, registry cleaning, OS and file backups, free space cleaning, HD
optimizing, etc., etc., etc. People should stay away from these, but then
again, personal choice is personal choice.
I would suggest NOD32, Avast or Kaspersky for antivirus. Many people
also recommend AVG. Avast and AVG offer free editions for the home user. I
use the paid edition of AVG AntiSpyware 7.5 and the native Windows Defender
for antispyware, running both of them in real time with no conflicts. I also
use the free Spybot S&D and AdAware 2007 on an occasional basis. Many users
also recommend the free SuperAntispyware but I don't know anything about it.
I use the standard Windows firewall and am very satisfied with it although
one can use the Windows Advanced Firewall if they wish. The Windows Advanced
Firewall was written for IT professionals and therefore does not offer an
easy interface for the casual user. I would also recommend the excellent
Comodo firewall, which is free for the home user and very easy to configure
and use..
The problem I experienced with HP was years ago and involved one of
their telephone, answering machine/copy/fax/scanners. Their support, at that
time, was horrendous and they basically blew me off so I simply trashed the
machine and moved on. It's possible HP's support has improved and it's also
entirely possible the support for the HP computer division is better. I
really don't know.
Users can help themselves tremendously if they learn how to safely use
the internet and keep their software up to date. I don't get adware, spyware
or malware. I use Secunia PSI, which is currently in Beta form, to keep my
software up to date. It's an excellent program.
I'm merely an ordinary user who can help people with simple problems.
There are many volunteers in these discussion groups who can help people
with the more serious problems. I read these discussion groups for the
purpose of gleaning knowledge from the more experienced users.
In any event, I hope your experiences are trouble free.

C.B.

 

[Spook 13]

Any suggestions?

 

[Spook 13]

Any suggestions?

Yes. Remove Norton from your system.

Amen
http://spookpaleis.myminicity.com

 

[Spook 13]

I have followed this conversation with interest. It is interesting to note
that most consumers will only tolerate bad service once. HP & Norton seem to
have inproved, but not by much. The most common answer from Norton is still
one of 2: (1) Sir, this seems to be a XP/Vista related issue. (2) Sir, we
suggest that you reinstall the OS and then install Norton before anything
else.
Not for me thank you.
Cheers
http://spookpaleis.myminicity.com