You certainly have to pay for the privilege, however. The software also has some handy extras, like the online backup and password manager that make it an all-in-one security suite. That last part is key since security programs work best when they stay out of your way.

Norton is extremely user friendly and well organized, and it doesn’t interfere too much with users’ day-to-day activities. With Norton installed, the time was twenty-two seconds faster at 1:15:08. It took our test PC one hour, fifteen minutes, and 30 seconds to transcode a 3.8GB MKV file. We also didn’t see any real difference in performance during our Handbrake test, which puts far more stress on a system. That’s a drop of less than one percent and within the PCMark 8 benchmark’s typical margin of error. When we installed Norton Security Premium, started a full scan, and then ran PCMark 8 again, the second score was 2526. When we ran PCMark 8’s Work Conventional benchmark, which simulates basic tasks like spreadsheet editing, web browsing, and video chat, our test PC scored 2538 without Norton installed. Norton did not have an appreciable drain on resources. It will not, however, backup your videos by default or any email databases you may have.

When you activate the feature, Norton monitors your documents, pictures, contacts, and other items by default. You can use it to upload files or folders to Norton’s servers via encrypted incremental backups. Norton does have a nice tags feature to help you better organize your data, which you won’t always find in all password managers.īackup is where Norton lets you setup and manage the 25GB of free cloud storage that comes with the suite. Like other services, the safe can house your username, passwords, addresses, credit card information, and secure notes. You’ll find the anti-phishing settings here, as well as Norton’s “Identity Safe,” which is the desktop version of the built-in password manager. The Identity section, meanwhile is about protecting you. There’s also a feature called Power Eraser that is supposed to eliminate “difficult-to-detect threats.”

By default Norton will do a quick scan, but there are also options for full and customized scans. The Security section is the most important section for PC users, as it houses the settings for regular PC scans. Norton Security’s interface is clean and organized. Go there for details about competing products and how we tested them. Note: This review is part of our best antivirus roundup.

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