Norton Internet Suite Slow Connection

I am very new to using a Mac, just receiving my new 27 inch iMac this past Saturday. I have to agree with many people who say WOW!!!

Anyway I do (or should say did) have a problem with Norton Internet Suite (free through Comcast) causing my download speed to drop to 1-1.5Mbs, it should be 22Mbs, while my uploads remained normal (10Mbs). The reason I say did is because once I uninstalled Norton's my speeds return to normal. I guess coming from a Windows environment I feel naked without some type of protection. I was wondering if anyone knows of a work around or should I stop worrying about having some protection.

Thanks for any advice.

There's a really good workaround: Get rid of that Norton thingy. It'll never do a single thing for you aside from, apparently, slow things down.

Jamie-Jamie said:

There's a really good workaround: Get rid of that Norton thingy. It'll never do a single thing for you aside from, apparently, slow things down.

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+1 delete that system resource eating junk !

Yep, sounds like you got it handled exactly right.

I can't think of a single good reason off-hand to load Norton, McAfee, etc. in OS X at this point in time.

Bobtomay, here is a strange one for you. Antivir Pro - The Pay Version that has Email protection.

Friend and his wife both use XP SP3 Windows machines. They are paying for FiOS. I got kind of suspicious when I did a speed test and also tested their speed downloading a large file from a fast site. No matter what on both systems they were getting 171K a second. If I hooked up either my iBook or Netbook via WiFi I got the full download speed. I got one of the computers here. Same at my house. Checked for hours for Spyware, Malware. Nothing. Found out what it was.

The Email Virus Detection in AntiVir Pro uses a LSP connected with Winsock. It was slowing down the download speed just like norton was on the OP's system! I reset Winsock taking out the LSP for Antivir and speed was back to my normal download speed! Reinstall AntiVir Pro with that email option enabled right back to the 171k a second. Another client I who I fix computers for is using Panda AntiVirus and his download speed is way below what he should be getting also. I bet it's the same issue as it has an Email LSP.

On Windows I have seen some versions of Norton totally break Winsock making the Internet totally stop working even though there is an IP. So you did the right thing getting that thing off your system!

In case someone wonders what an LSP is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layered_Service_Provider

OS X is not Windows. Get rid of the mentality, and get rid of the virus 'protection'. It's not needed. If you're paranoid, just get behind a decent firewall. I also recommend learning a bit about why it's easier to write a virus for Windows vs. OS X or for Linux in general.

And no.. it has nothing to do with market share, or people not caring about writing a virus specifically for Macs. Because believe me, if I were a in a position to do so, I'd give it a go. Imagine how much publicity there would be if OS X all of a sudden became vulnerable to a herd of viri ?

And most of all, it has to do with you being an educated user. In all my years of using Windows, I only ever used AVG on a very part time basis. I used it to scan my computer about once a month for anything, and all it would turn up were false positives. If you practice safe web surfing habits, (meaning don't go to crazy warez sites with .exe startup scripts that attack your machine and such) don't download unknown crap from p2p programs and are very aware of what is in your email, you will be FINE without those crummy programs like Norton, Macafee etc..

IMO, the companies who make those programs are in cahoot with the likes of MS. It's a purely for profit game they're playing. Say goodbye to all of that nonsense.

Doug

Norton's did make great software ~~ for OS 7, 8 and 9 from Disk Doctor through the AV range, but with the advent of OS X that should have seen the end of their products on a Mac.

Question! Why is it if you have Symantec AntiVirus for Mac, virus definitions are only for Windows viri?

Answer there are no viri for Mac OS X hence no mac definitions period.

harryb2448 said:

Norton's did make great software ~~ for OS 7, 8 and 9 from Disk Doctor through the AV range, but with the advent of OS X that should have seen the end of their products on a Mac.

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Totally agreed. The old Norton with Peter Norton on the Box was a very good product. The Mac OS version saved my data many times back in the old days with a corrupted hard drive.

harryb2448 said:

Question! Why is it if you have Symantec AntiVirus for Mac, virus definitions are only for Windows viri?

Answer there are no viri for Mac OS X hence no mac definitions period.

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Very good question and the proper answer at least at this point in time.