Norton Online Backup

Norton online backup comes from Symantec, a trusted company in the antivirus software industry. It is Symantec's offering to the cloud storage industry. With a variety of features, but lacking in plan selection, Norton may or may not be the best service to fit your needs. This Norton online backup review will help you make the final decision.

Features

This backup service offers automatic and scheduled backups. Compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems and boasting of 128-bit and 256-bit encryption technologies, you will also be able avail of features such as file sharing (only private), remote access, archiving, and file searching with the Norton solution.

Norton's service offers a simple installation and user interface. You only have to install a small program of 2MB and you are ready to get started. The biggest part of the setup and maintenance process takes place through the web interface. This is a key feature because you can access your data from any computer with internet access.

In the area of customer support, this online backup service appears to shine since it offers email, live chat, and phone support.

Pros and Cons

The good points about Norton's cloud backup include the high level of security, the easy-to-use web interface and the ability to back up more than one computer. However, Norton is lacking a few key features, including file syncing. Instead of automatically syncing file changes as they occur, Norton waits to update files until the next scheduled update. So, if you make changes to a file and access that file from another computer too soon, you will not see the changes.

In addition, you won't find features like public file sharing, mobile access, or sub-accounts here. The lack of mobile access is a definite negative because smartphone use is on the rise and people like to access their data anywhere, anytime, from any device. The price is not exactly the lowest on the market and with no month-to-month options available, Norton definitely needs some work in the subscription plan department.

Storage and Pricing

Norton does not give you many options when it comes to pricing plans. At the time of this writing, the service offers only one plan - 25GB of storage for $49.99/year, with no monthly payment scheme. However, this plan includes the ability to add up to five computers to the plan for backing up and you can purchase additional storage in increments of 10, 25, 50, and 100GB.

Is Norton Online Backup the Right Choice for You?

Norton online backup is geared toward the average home user who simply wants a reliable place to store files. The pricing is high for only 25GB of space, but if your budget can withstand the impact, Norton's service is backed by a popular company. Symantec is a reputable service provider with a long history of making customers happy, so you do not have to worry about another fledgling company that will go under as quickly as it surfaced.

However, the fact that Symantec does not deal solely in online backup services could mean that they will not devote as much time and attention to making improvements. The final decision depends on your backup needs, your budget and your devotion to the well-known name.

Norton Anti-Virus Is a Gift to Your Computer

Computer security has never been more important than it is today. Since I use my computer for paying bills and personal accounting, in addition to standard word processing, I was very concerned with protecting my information. I researched several anti-virus companies to determine the best solution for my security problems, and by far Symantec Norton Anti-Virus was heads and tails above the rest.

First, it works seamlessly with all forms of Windows, including XP, Vista and Windows 7, meaning that Norton is compatible with whichever PC operating system you own. Next, Norton is reasonably priced. While there are several free virus protection software programs available to download through the internet, none of them provide all the features offered by Norton. From AVG to McAfee, Norton was heads and shoulders above the competition. With everything from cybercriminal protection to fixing and removing viruses, Norton has it all.

Additionally, the fraud feature works great for warning me of potential hazards associated with some websites. Nowadays many websites have pop-ups that resemble Windows menus. Norton flashes a warning for me of this potential threat prior to me downloading a potential virus. Along with these great features, Norton keeps my family safe. I'm a father of one child who seems to spend most of her lives on the computer, so parental controls are essential. Norton's parental controls allow me to trace where my child has been on the internet so I can be up to date on her searching habits.

Finally, Norton works great at the home and the office. While I have Norton installed on my home computers, my office also uses a Norton product. This competitively priced small business solution is different from my home Norton product. Here, the protection also covers web security for the cloud, which is the future of computing. Additionally, it offers back up data files in conjunction with Windows Small Business Server.

Even though Norton has all of these benefits, no program is perfect, which is why Norton offers 24-hour a day 7 days a week technical support. I have only had to use this feature once, for an error on my part, and found their customer service to be friendly and quite capable. Customer service did not transfer me all over the world just to get answers.

Overall, my experience with Norton has been positive. The installation was easy, it doesn't slow down my computing or web browsing and I like the security and the reputation of using Symantec Norton products. I'm interested to see this company progresses and if they will continue to raise the bar for computer security products.

Set Up Your Antivirus

Answer these questions honestly,

1. What is the name of your antivirus provider?

2. When does your antivirus update itself?

3. Do you know what a virus definition is?

4. Can you scan a drive or file on your computer?

5. When was the last time you set your antivirus to do a complete scan of your system?

6. Did you load your antivirus system, or was it loaded onto your system for you?

7. If you had a choice, would you have your antivirus changed to something easier to use?

If you could not answer all of these questions, if you don't fully understand how to use your antivirus, you could be at risk. Your system could be infected right now without your having any knowledge of the infection.

But don't think you're the only one in fact I'll let you in on a secret, of all the computers I've repaired, all the people I have spoken to about computers and security, a very small percentage of those people actually answered most of those questions. The other much larger percentage of people have absolutely no clue at all.

So, how do we rectify this situation? How do you inform the masses? Maybe it's not information we need, maybe its an easier antivirus were looking for, one which is easier to read through, one which doesn't use technical words to confuse and scare us into leaving the system set just as it is.

Well I hate to disappoint anyone who thought I had the answer, I don't. I do however have a few lessons you can learn which may just be enough to allow you a better understanding of what your antivirus does and how to adjust it to meet your specific needs.

Quick and easy antivirus lessons,

1. Read, I know it sounds stupid but most people just skip through clicking next, next, next, when they load or set up a program. A bad habit to get into.

2. Research antivirus programs online, forums will give you a down and dirty on anything you're looking for. Find a program you think you can handle and check it out.

3. There are computer only magazines out there which do a very good job of comparing antivirus programs side by side. Buy one and start your research there.

4. Ignore the hype, just because a major manufacturer installs a particular antivirus in their systems doesn't mean it's the best. In fact it usually means that manufacturer struck a deal with the antivirus provider for the lowest cost possible.

Ok, these are just a few suggestions, something for you to start with, and if you at least read through to the end of this article then you have taken the first step in understanding your computer a little better than you did. It's a new world we live in, and new tools we use to socialize, take pictures, make memories, and do transactions with our money, and just like any other tool, we need to learn how to use it proficiently.