Customer Reviews

Norton SystemWorks 2007 Standard Edition [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Symantec has become toxic! I don't know what I am going to use this year, but it will have nothing to do with Norton or Symantec.

I have used Norton products since the days of Peter Norton's Utilities for DOS 3.x. I have been a professional in the world of PC's and MAC's since before there were PC's or MAC's. I have recommended a lot of Symantec products over the years because a) they were better-behaved than some [notably McAfee], b) they offered more useful tools than most, and c) the different pieces worked well together -- which cannot always be said of installations built from several different vendors' products, even though each one might be superior to the comparable Symantec offering.

That has all changed. The basic issue is that it is simply not possible -- without a high level of expertise -- to run security, backup, and optimization products without occasionally making use of the vendor's product support. Even with a high level of expertise, product support can be important.

REALLY BAD PRODUCT SUPPORT WITH PRODUCTS LIKE NORTON UTILITIES, PERSONAL FIREWALL, ANTI-VIRUS, ETC. CAN BE HIGHLY TOXIC TO YOUR PC! FOR SEVERAL YEARS, SYMANTEC SUPPORT HAS BECOME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU THAT THE FOLKS IN MUMBAI OR PESHAWAR OR WHEREVER THEY ARE PHYSICALLY LOCATED FOR SYMANTEC SUPPORT ARE A VERY LONG WAY FROM BEING TOP DRAWER. THEY ARE A VERY LONG WAY FROM BEING ADEQUATE.

THE ADVICE THAT YOU RECEIVE FROM THEM STANDS A DECENT CHANCE OF PERMANENTLY CRIPPLING YOUR PC, AND THEY WILL NOT HAVE THE FIRST CLUE HOW TO FIX ANY OF IT.

STANDARD ANSWERS #1 - 10 FROM SYMANTEC SUPPORT ARE ALL THE SAME. REMOVE THEIR SOFTWARE USING THEIR REMOVAL TOOL, WHICH LEAVES BEHIND A MYRIAD OF DIRECTORY ENTRIES AND ODD FILES THAT THEY WILL USE TO RESTORE THE MESS THEY MADE IF YOU EVER UPGRADE ... AND THEN UPGRADE TO THEIR LATEST VERSION (SOUND OF CASH REGISTER HERE!)

There is only one Norton/Symantec product that I will continue to use ... Norton Ghost ... and that in an older version for as long as I can.

Why? Restoring a system hard drive to a known good condition via Norton Ghost is the only 100% effective cure that I have ever found for a) software that botches its own installation, b) software that botches other programs when you install it, c) THE APPLICATION OF THE SOLUTIONS PROVIDED BY SYMANTEC SUPPORT ... AS I RECENTLY DISCOVERED MYSELF.

Even Norton Ghost, in order to be effective, requires some knowledge and planning. The average user who puts everything on one hard drive and does not back up user data separately or who does not know what user data is required in order to preserve e-mail, etc. will experience more difficulty.

Man the lifeboats! Women and children first! The good ship Symantec seems to have hit an iceberg!

I was able somehow to install SystemWorks 2007, but the errors and issues would not stop and had to rollback to my previous 2006 version. I used this version 2007 and it offers nothing new to the 2006 version other than the same ussual UI change bundled with millions of new bugs.

Only wish I had found a better alternative than Symantec, I would switch without hesitation.

Please spare yourself from this installation nightmare and renew your currently working version. I spent a whole weekend just repairing the failed installation of 2007 and rolling back to 2006.

If you have an older systemworks loaded, NSW will go to remove the older GO BACK version. If it does, (depending on your system) OK. However, if it wants you to go to Symantek web site and download a GO BACK removal toll, beware. I downloaded it and ran it and it stated it wanted to restart my system. What it did was screw up the partition and crashed the system. GO Back puts your data in a seperate partition. Symantek knows about this and has a "fix" you run before loading NSW, but they didn't let anyone know that it may crash your system. On an older PC, without windows restore tool, it works OK. However, if you have a newer PC with a windows resotre loaded and then have an older NSW GO back loaded, it will crash your PC if you use their GO Back removal tool. Emailed Symantec twice, they stated they would get back in 7 days - never did. Hope you have better luck

I have used System Works on my computer since 2000. The 2007 version is nowhere as good as the older ones. They have deleted many of the "real" diagnostic features (Registry Optomizer), dummed down the rest, and added (rather forced) an auto-load Norton Protection Center that takes over the Windows Security Center and cannot be easily unloaded. Software should be made to be user-friendly ... this version is nothing like the previous ones!

Don't think it is overly clear that Norton Systemworks is NOT Windows Vista compatible despite the fact that it's a 2007 version.

For Vista, you'll have to use Norton Internet Security 2007, Norton AntiVirus or their upcoming Norton 360.

After wasting $$ on Amazon for a copy that wasn't Windows Vista compatible, I re-checked the Symantec site only to discover that none of the versions of Norton SystemWorks are currently compatible with Windows Vista. The product description here is wrong and needs to be corrected. Still on the lookout for a product with the complement of features similar to the Norton Utilities that I've used for years.

Geez, you think that something named 2007 would be able to be used in Vista. My mistake. So sorry, no update is available and I should buy their Internet Security package instead... I had to buy someones else's virus package and lose out on my paid subscription to Symantec...

I give it 3 stars cause it did work well under XP.

I love the Norton Systemworks. I used the 2006 version last year and decided to upgrade to the 2007 version this year. It works great but we cannot get the system go back feature to load. I contacted their online instant help who gave us several things to try but it still will not load. Don't know what else to do since we have worked on it several times - uninstalling and then reinstalling it. It is a great product if you can get it to install completely. It seems a little expensive until you consider all the things it does and then price software that is similiar. Most do not contain all of the features of this and you would have to purchase a few different software programs to get the same protection - that would cost a lot more than this one alone. I feel that for the money, they should be able to help me to get this installed completely or it should be designed better. Overall, I love the Norton Systemworks software.

The new Systemworks has a horrible interface. You can't see what your options are easily. You can't see the status of your components. You can't see what version you have. When you load it after loading Norton Personal Firewall 2006, the Firewall will not load program rules (you have to uninstall the Firewall and then reinstall it). I'm not sure how the protection works, but the software "redesign" was done by an ergonomic moron.

Having used SystemWorks for years with XP, I was quite surprised to find that the 2007 version will not work with Vista- even though one of the advertisers on Amazon claimed compatibility!