Customer Reviews

Norton SystemWorks 2003

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

I have mixed feelings about Norton SystemWorks 2003. On one hand, I'm a longtime user of the SystemWorks family of products, and I feel no Windows computer is complete without vital Norton tools like SpeedDisk and WinDoctor. On the other hand, I've been terribly disappointed with this release of NSW. Here's why:

Primarily, NSW 2003 doesn't include any obvious updates to existing software. I upgraded from NSW 2001, and I really don't see any changes in the functionality of any existing tools. The color scheme and interface has been revised to match Windows XP's friendly pastels and rounded curves, but I really don't see any difference in the way the components actually work. So why upgrade?

Second, NSW 2003 does not play nice with older versions of Windows. In particular, it loads an executable into memory, whether you want to use any "active" tools (such as AntiVirus or Registry Tracker) or not. Under Windows 2000 and XP, this application runs as a service and doesn't cause any problems; but on my Windows 98SE platform, it causes noticeably slower startups and shutdowns, and occasionally causes the system to hang when shutting down. I realize that Windows 98 is now a bit long in the tooth, but Symantec really should have put more effort into making NSW 2003 compatible with Win98 if it is to be advertised as such on the box.

In summary: On one hand, Norton SystemWorks is a solid heir to a useful dynasty of tools for Windows. On the other hand, there is little if any advantage over recent editions of the software, and backwards compatibility is deficient. I suggest that if you have Win2k or XP and do not yet have Norton SystemWorks, pick it up. If you are running an older version of Windows or already have SystemWorks 2001 or later, pass this one by.

I had the 2002 version and now have 2003. Should be simple, right? Just pop in the disc and upgrade very quickly--wrong! I've now spent approx 4-6 hours and still not complete. You must
first uninstall all previous versions, which I've done. Then I had to download from Symantec website the symclean.exe and still there's files showing on my harddrive that won't let me install the upgrade. This system works is supposed to keep the system running smoothly, but how can it when you can't even get it installed.

I hate to be harsh to products, esp. since I was a huge fan of Norton Utilities back in the late 80s/early 90s. But over the last couple of years I've been disappointed at many Symantec products, which seem more guided by greed than anything else. Peter Norton, where are you?

NSW 2003 continues the tradition of bloatware (lots of files and components, many surreptitiously loaded into your system at runtime even if you don't want them), dangerware (my Windows 2000 laptop went kaput after running WinDoctor and I had to reformat the hard drive), and ripping off the loyal customer (no upgrades from previous versions, as Richard Clayton clearly noted).

If you run Windows 2000 and esp. XP, you already have all the tools to help you diagnose your system and keep it running (except anti-virus). In fact those tools, while not as fancy-looking as NSW, does a much better job and are infinitely more stable. Also, your PC vendor might have given you other free tools like an anti-virus program, which is probably just as good as NAV. If you have Windows 98 or earlier, NSW will very likely crash your system rather than keeping it error-free. I recommend you upgrade to Windows XP, or find a better utility program.

I had systemworks 2001 on my computer and i just installed systemworks 2003 two days ago. So far, the only real difference I notice is the one button check-up tool. But then again, the 2001 version had something similar but just didn't have the one button option. If you set this to scan on a set schedule, the one button feature is worthless. Roxio's Go Back is only useful if you're not running XP or ME (XP and ME have their own restore feature). Even if they didn't have this feature, I'm not even sure if I would use the Go Back feature. Even though it's configurable, the standard configuration allocates 10% of the hard drive for GO Back. It may be just me, but 10% seems to be a lot of space for one program.

To sum it up, if you have a previous version of systemworks, I don't recommend you buy this update (unless your anti-virus subscription is up). If you don't have systemworks, this is worth buying.

This product did not install correctly on Windows XP, did not run correctly. The correction for the error number on the Symantec website advised correcting with regedit which is extremely risky for novices. Symantec has released exceptional products before but this one has scared me away from anything that is not preloaded on the pc at the factory which is version 2002

This is an odd split of a review. Norton SystemWorks combines several excellent programs, and Amazon offers the package at an attractive price (including rebates). The problem is that one of the progams, Undelete, doesn't work well in Windows XP. And that was the main reason I bought the package.

Back in DOS-based OS days, Norton's Undelete was a lifesaver. But in XP, Undelete essentially only works prospectively: once you install it, it will undelete files you accidentally erase from that point on. But for things you've deleted prior to installing Systemworks, you're out of luck. And if you do what I did - mistakenly erase photos on your SmartMedia card while it's still in your camera - you seem to be out of luck, too, regardless of when you install SystemWorks: that file is never under Undelete's protection in the first place and so can't be recovered.

After doing some research I've found several other products designed to deal with this scenario - but why doesn't Norton? It seems that their transition to XP was rushed and incomplete - something understandable in the 2002 version, but less forgivable in the 2003.

That said, I'm glad to have the virus protection, the disk assessment, and the other tools, and through Amazon it's a fair price just for those.

Compared to the 2002 version, there is nothing exceptional about this 2003 version of Norton SystemWorks Professional. It is just a better organized 2002 model with minor additions. Like the core 2002 base, it maintained its traditional AntiVirus, Utilities, CleanSweep, and Ghost components. Overall, it remains a good software, but surely not a-must-have upgrade, especially if you are happy with an earlier version that is not more than three years old. However, for new intending users and those with versions older than three years, grab it if you can. The price is not out of reach.

Having purchased and installed this product on a Windows 98SE OS system, I would warn anyone away from this product until Sysmatec
releases a corrected version. Already on the Symantec web site people are posting problems that the Sysmatec Tech's don't have answers for, and don't know when they will. So my advice is to stay away from this product until it's fixed.

My hOme Xp systems became very unstable(lockups,freezes,etc.) after installing this product. Gave support a chance to help fix the problem after installing latest Norton patches/updates but they didn;t help or seemed dis-interested. I de-installed the product(from my two systems) and never had these instabilities again. They need to test their products much better so home PC users don;t expereience these headaches...lucky I was more computer technical than most users otherwise the system would still be unstable...

I have used and applauded Norton tools since way back in the Peter Norton days.

This "upgrade" is a real disappointment. I'm actively looking for another product.

First, it is a very minor, and mainly cosmetic, upgrade from SystemWorks 200x: if you have an older version stick with it.

Its installation, if you have an older version installed on your system, is horribly broken. Yes, you have to uninstall the previous version before you install this one -- which is something that could have easily been automated, I can't think of another program nowadays that makes you do this -- but even then it chokes. I had 4 or 5 rounds with Support trying to fix it before I gave up.

Basically it seems that if there is ANY registry key in the registry that belongs to the older version, certain components will fail. But the uninstall of a previous version (even SW 2002) leaves behind a TON of registry keys.

The tools that support points you to: SYMCLEAN, etc. do not remove them all. (SYMCLEAN failed to find anything to remove, even though there were hundreds of fairly obvious keys in the registry).

The 2003 installers happily report success, even though most of the installation failed. I had a completely clean install (according to the installer), but: Windoctor could not find any of its tests, SpeedDisk would not start at all, and Norton Disk Doctor started but would not run. Those are the 3 most important parts of the product, in my view.

I installed it on another computer of mine, and to be fair, it was a little better. SpeedDisk actually started, but it ran for 32 hours defragmenting a 20 gig drive before I killed it.

Very unprofessional and very disappointing. Don't waste your money.