After purchasing the 2007 upgrade to Norton Anti-Virus, I was somewhat miffed to be told by the installation process that it would only install once I had removed Zone Alarm. Nothing was said on the box about any compatibility problems. Having no choice, I did what was asked, but I certainly won't be buying any more Symantec AV products. However, now the 2007 upgrade has safely been installed, can I re-install Zone Alarm? Peter Mathers
Norton Anti-Virus 2007 contains some elements of a firewall, and appears to clash with Zone Alarm. You may be able to re-install Zone Alarm if you disable NAV's worm protection (via the Virus and Spyware Protection Options page). However, there's no way of knowing what Symantec is doing "under the hood" in undocumented ways that Microsoft does not support, so this is not the optimum solution. You could switch on the somewhat limited firewall in Windows XP SP2, or ask Symantec for a refund and find a different solution.
Backchat: Peter Smith says: "When I upgraded to Norton Internet Security 2007, I was required to uninstall Webroot's Spy Sweeper first. It seems Internet Security can't tolerate much competition! I am also pretty unhappy that I'm barred from downloading the upgrade from a US site for £26.70, and instead have to pay Symantec £39.99 for the privilege of living in the UK." Steve Knight says he installed Norton AntiVirus 2007, "ignored the warning re ZoneAlarm Pro and everything works just fine".
Bob Hattersley says he has also tried upgrading from Norton Internet Security 2005 to 2007, and after many problems, returned to the 2005 version. "I wasted a day at least, and quite a lot of hair. I have no complaints about Symantec support - they responded quickly, and gave me a refund without arguing - but this software seems to be toxic."
Joan Zilva says she has also had problems with Norton Internet Security 2007. "Unlike Bob Hattersley, I have wasted about a week -- and a fortune in phone calls -- with Symantec. Like him I returned to my 2005 version, but my disc seems corrupted and threatens to cut me off at the end of this month instead of a year later. Despite numerous and lengthy attempts, the technical department can't cure it. My money is being refunded. And I've done nothing about Christmas yet!"
