" After all, when some software has killed your PC do you really want free copies of the software that caused the problem in the first place. Cockroach in your salad, sir? Have some free salad. "

You know, I would have thought that, given that the offer was for more of the bad thing that caused the harm, your analogy should really have been written...

" Cockroach in your salad, sir? Have some free cockroaches. "

... but maybe you just find cockroaches really juicy and tasty, and consider salad repulsive?

Heck, all you had to do was boot off the Windows disk and do a repair. Assuming, of course ...

"Our software is slow-as-balls, offers a host of crippling bugs, and has a mediocre detection rate, but we're giving it to you for FREE! What a deal!"

I really hope that Symantec falls flat on it's face one of these days.

@ David Eddleman: I agree with what you've said, but in fairness, the Symantec malware database included at http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/security_response/index.jsp does contain a lot of useful information.

The two bits it's missing are "don't use Symantec products" and "don't use Windows," of course. >;-)

Symantec gives to China, one of the most prolific creators/instigators/copiers of pirated s/w around, thousands of free licenses

How does that work?

/sarcasm=off/

I am an Australian computer tech living in Kunming in Yunnan Province in southern China. As an English speaker I am doing a bit of work with the ex-pat community here with both individuals and companies.

I have noticed that when they have Symantec software installed (legitimate I might add, not pirated), it is unable to check their subscription status, and will not update. I recommend uninstalling it and installing AVG, which is both free and updates without problems.

I don't know if this Symantec problem extends across China, but it certainly does on every installation that I have encountered so far. Giving away free software will not assist with the proliferation of viruses, malware, spam, etc which originates here.

Hamish