Pros

• Norman Antivirus runs scans while your PC is idle ensuring little interference
• It has an improved interface and unique screensaver

Cons

• Norman antivirus is a little known antivirus software program
• It has struggled with many 3^rd party tests and has consistently performed lower than the competition
• It has failed some 3^rd party tests

Norman antivirus and antispyware is one of those antivirus programs that have been providing decent protection for many years. But it just doesn’t offer top security seen in the heavy hitters. You’ll notice from the moment you install it that it has an average list of features, but fails when it comes to execution.

It will detect and remove those basic traditional threats, but beware when your PC has been attacked by new virus threats. Simply put, it lags behind the likes of Kaspersky, Norton, BitDefender, Mcafee and others.

Effectiveness

Norman antivirus will provide you with basic protection from viruses, worms, Trojans, keyloggers and rootkits. It will also protect your PC from threats attached to emails by scanning incoming and outgoing emails. This will be sufficient for most of your uses, but should additional features like a firewall and parental controls be needed, you can opt for Norman security suite.

Unfortunately, tests carried out by AV comparatives show that it failed on many virus detection threats. It had an overall detection rate of 84.8% which is far below many of the leading antivirus products. It passed the recent Virus Bulletin 100% test for Vista, but failed on the XP test.

Ease of Installation

Norman antivirus only took 5 minutes to install and didn’t require a reboot. We immediately performed a quick scan which only took a few minutes to complete and used minimal resources.

After installation, it immediately updated itself and we were pleased to see this done swiftly. We were able to adjust the settings for scheduled scans and Updates, which weren’t too difficult to find. So overall, installing and launching Norman antivirus is something you’ll find easy to execute.

Ease of Use

Once Norman antivirus has been installed and ready to use, you’ll find the interface fairly straightforward and not too taxing. It has improved considerably from previous interfaces and incorporated a simpler look and feel. The navigation buttons are set up on the left of the dashboard and provide simple navigation within the software.

It has an impressive screensaver which recognises when the PC is idle, and runs the scan while resources are free. This ensures that the PC doesn’t slowdown during scans which can be annoying when you are busy using it. Another superb feature is Norman Sandbox technology which proactively monitors files in a safe place without them causing harm to your PC. It can then observe how these files behave and whether they are a threat or not.

Support

Norman antivirus support is good and provides many options. It includes an online help resource which has an archive of previously addressed issues. Email support is available, but you have to fork out $20 per incident for phone support

Summary

Norman antivirus and antispyware has fallen behind much of the competition and our advice is to look elsewhere if you are looking for total online protection.