Customer Reviews

Norton SystemWorks 2002 Professional Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

A note to any readers who are contemplating purchasing
Systemworks. I have always been a user of Norton's Windows
programs, be they Norton Utilities, Systemworks or
whatever. The last version, however, I would recommend
against buying, at least if you are using the NTFS file
system. The Speed Disk feature is much slower then
Microsoft's built in defrag aplet, which is an offshoot of
Executive Software's Diskeeper program. While you can use
Norton Disk Doctor to diagnose a drive, you must use XP's
built in CHKDSK function to actually repair it. The new
program does not have the benchmark features from the
former releases in the System Information. As previously
stated, I don't see a good use for Cleansweep, as XP has a
faster and better uninstall program. There is no longer a
registry editor or optimizer in the Norton Utilities part,
XP now incorporates Faxing, so the limited version of
WINFAX PRO is no longer needed. A limited version of Roxio
Go Back is included, but whether this is superior to using
XP's System Restore and Backup (for data) features is
highly debatable. The Rescue Disk has been discontinued.
The only programs that seem to be worth having are Norton
Ghost and, of course, Norton Anti Virus. Since I purchased
Norton's Internet Security program, which includes a far
better firewall than XPs, a parental control program that
actually works with Windows logons, and the same anti
virus program, I really have no need for Systemworks.
Possibly, the diagnostic features (Win Doctor) are
worthwhile, but while this always identified a lot of
problems and cleaned them up, it never actually bailed me
out of a Windows problem that I was epxperiencing (I'm not
even sure if this is available for XP, or what it does. XP
right now is running fine - if it ain't broke, don't fix
it). I saw a note on Microsoft Newgroups that Win doctor acutally trashed one uer's machine to the point of unrecoverability.

If you are running Windows XP you will find that this version of SystemWorks is much better for your system than previous versions. This software has received the "Designed for Windows XP" designation, and is marketed as the only copy that will properly function on Windows XP. I decided not to test Symantec, and purchased this copy when I installed Windows XP. Features in this version that I especially like are the new Roxio GoBack and the ability to check your outgoing email for viruses. Users of Outlook will really appreciate this, since many viruses are transmitted without the sender knowing anything of the infection. AntiVirus 2002 is also much faster in virus checking than previous versions have been, a great plus especially considering that all email (incoming and outgoing) can be checked. I have found that their technical support is lacking somewhat, but then I have also noticed that with other companies such as McAfee. One of the features that I really liked was Registry Optimization, but I lost that feature in Windows 2000 using SystemWorks 2001 as well. Users of Windows 2000/ME and prior, don't upgrade there just isn't enough to make it worthwhile for you guys... Windows XP users, you should definitely consider this upgrade!

I really hesitated about buying a copy of Norton Systemworks. There were so many complaints about it from users who had had bad luck. However, I've always been a fan of Norton AntiVirus, so I decided to go ahead with Systemworks.

While I can't compare it to any previous versions, I have been very happy with they way Systemworks Professional Edition works on my machine. I've had no problems whatsoever running on a Windows 98se operating system.

My machine is used 80-percent of the time for playing computer games. This makes a mess out of my hard drive with multiple installs and saves.

Systemworks Professional's Utilities cleans and defragments my hard drive better than the built-in Windows version. I've been able to correct a lot of registery errors I never knew existed, as well. Clean Sweep has made it easier to remove Internet junk build-up. While I know how to access the various files to do this manually, it's nice having a program that will do it with less hassle. AntiVirus is still an excellent program, too.

I purchased Professional edition because I'm planning to use Norton Ghost to clone my hard drive for an upgrade. It was cheaper to buy it in this package than to buy Ghost separately. While I have not used it yet, I don't anticipate problems.

All this being said, Systemworks is a powerful program that can be dangerous for casual users should they not really know what they're doing. From some of the problems I've read about, it sounds like this may have been the issue for some.

Also keep in mind, that should users run all the options, it will slow down the computer's resources considerably. This can easily be remedied by hitting CONTROL+ALT+DELETE and pressing the End Task button over programs they want to shut off until restarting.

First, Symantec needs to revise their OS claims...The ONLY program out of the box that works with XP is the anti-virus. I like the de-frager, but it really isn't as fast as the built in one [from Diskeeper] GHOST is excellent, but is a specialised tool for pros...that I already bought separately, which most companies using it will. My main problem is none works with XP; their last offering [2001] was released for win2000, and all the apps worked with it...this one was released for XP & nothing works.

I purchased Norton Systemworks Professional 2002 for my home PC running Windows 2000. I was already running Norton Antivirus 2001 and wanted to unify my tools suite into a single interface (instead of the scattering of different tools from different vendors). When I installed Systemworks, I was very annoyed to learn that the 200 days of license time left on Antivirus 2001 would be lost since you cannot install Systemworks 2002 when other Norton products are already installed. Strike one for the software. I uninstalled Antivirus 2001 and installed Systemworks Professional 2002 on the system. I began having problems with other major applications. Things became so unreliable and unpredictable that I decided to get current backups of my files and reinstall everything. Strike two for the software. I reimaged the machine and installed Systemworks on the clean image. After running it for some time, I have now discovered that other actions that I took for granted with other tools are not available in Systemworks. While this is my fault for not investigating fully before purchasing, I feel like a "Professional" version should deliver more. Much more. Strike three. When I get the time, I will reinstall without Systemworks. I have previously been a happy user of Norton Antivirus and PCAnywhere, but this is the end of the road for me when it comes to Norton products.

This package is dangerous for the casual user of a computer. The biggest problem is unstalling it, since Systemworks 2002 fights hard to remain a part of your system software.

If you are not extremely comfortable working in the registry, I would not buy this program since it loads an entry in every folder in Windows.

The Systemworks software has been sliding downhill since 1997/98 versions but this is the first one that causes more problems than it solves. I deleted it from three of my computers because of the time spent undoing problems caused by Systemworks.

The only positive note about the package is Cleansweep but that can be purchased separately.

One good thing about this system is that it comes with Ghost. I recommend Ghosting your hard drive before installing anything else.

The whole installer setup they use is one of the sloppiest I've seen. I would recommend tracking it with a program like InControl (freeware).

So I install antivirus on a clean system using the systemworks installer. Later I try to uninstall it, but it tells me to turn off norton antivirus first and try again (but not without breaking something first...). So I disable everything that loads NAV at startup...and reboot. Then, the systemworks installer lists it as uninstalled (but it isn't) and refuses to do anything until I uninstall the standalone version (which I never installed). At least a lot of hacking around in the registry and the windows installer system straightens that out.

The tool to fix windows problems is underpowered. It also seems to think that the best way to fix registry keys with errors is to delete things. The same goes for shortcuts to non existant files. Letting it do this is a good way to fubar an otherwise decent winXP install. I would have expected it to at least do a search for the missing files (like Windows does automatically when you load bad shortcuts) and provide better details about what it wanted to delete. Pretty much your only options are to delete or manually edit, and the manual option doesn't even start regedit at the problem, you have to navigate to the right key yourself.

Systemworks leaves bloat behind after it is uninstalled (both in the registry and on disk). This is unacceptable. I should be able to install systemworks, then uninstall it, and end up with exactly what I had before it was installed.

Many of the tools are redundant with windows features.
I can accomplish most of the same tasks (and then some) using windows features and various cheap and freeware utilities without the hassle of a giant monolithic overintegrated registry infesting suite like systemworks.

But really I just bought it for Ghost after a (unrelated) hard drive crash. So since I'm doing reformatting and clean installs anyway, its no big deal to me.

Ghost is pretty good at least.

I've read a few of the reviews here, and it seems to me that the users who don't get along with NSW are people who already have problems with their PC when they load it. Ensure you don't already have any problems before loading it (especially with Windows ME!) and that you have already backed up your data BEFORE you install it. NSW is a very powerful tool and in the wrong hands (Novice users) can be disasterous. Remember Windows ME, 98 all flavors are TERRIBLE memory managers, if you experience systems crashes after an install (even if you have 640 MB or more of memory)chances are you had problems to begin with usually related to the flavor of Windows your using can also be bad memory. You can also try Windows NT or 2000 much better at managing memory.

After having horrible installation problems with NSW2001 last year, I decided to give Norton the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I actually got a bad disk both times I purchased the software (I had to return the first one). But after facing the same installation problems with a newly purchased NSW2002, I have decided No More Norton. I have gone to the extremes of a clean boot in 98se, as well as installation component by component, and still can't get it to install. The support at Symantac is non-existent. There is no reason that I can't put the disk in the drive and have this software install nicely. I refuse to pay this kind of money to have these kinds of problems.

Since NT4 DIDN'T come with any builtin defragmentation tool, you'll need something to keep ahead of the fragmentation problem.

The Antivirus has saved my ... several times, by intercepting
virus' attached to emails.

Never had ANY PC problems, like those mentioned by other reviewer.

Get this package, or ONTRACK systemsuite 4.0, either will do, in keeping your pc in top shape.