18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Capable System Suite, April 9, 2002
This review is from: On-Track System Suite 4.0 (CD-ROM)
Initially when I was looking for something to protect my computer, I looked at the big names like McAfee and Symantec, but after pricing out what they were offering compared to Ontrack, Ontrack was by far the cheapest, and easiest to install and use. I like the full blown suite, rather than the piece meal approach. I have pretty much used everything (personal firewall, disk defrag, recovery disk), and I like the one-click features (well almost one-click). The only thing I find annoying is the fact that you have to click through (about 4 or 5 clicks -- means you cannot leave it unattended) the updates. I wish it could also be one click.
If you are looking for a set of utilities to use for your personal computer, I would recommend looking into this package as well.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Currently the best set of tools available, August 1, 2002
This review is from: On-Track System Suite 4.0 (CD-ROM)
I've used Norton Utilities as well as Ontrack's System Suite (and their Fix-It Utilities), and have found Ontrack's product much more reliable and have also got better results from it. One part which I haven't yet installed is the firewall, NetDefense, primarily because I'm happy with ZoneAlarm. I was, however, curious about Ontrack's VirusScanner, as I hadn't read much about it. Turns out it's provided by Trend Micro, makers of PC-Cillin. After trying Mcafee's viruscan and trashing two machines with it, I ran Norton AV 2002 next to Ontrack's Suite, and found that Ontrack recognized two viruses that NAV didn't. I already had these viruses stored away, and while it's not a very extensive test, it gave me confidence in its virus-detecting ability.
RegEdit is one tool in this suite that has proven itself to me over and over again, both on Win2000 and a slower machine using Win98SE. After deleting useless links and such from the registry of an older machine, I got almost twice the speed from it.
Jet Defrag does its job well, much faster than Microsoft's defrag tool, but you'd do well to heed Ontrack's warning to run system/disk check first.
EasyRecovery (lite edition) is one tool that will make you want more; it allows the recovery of up to 50 files in this edition -- The full-blown EasyRecovery Pro goes for around $.... And considering the results I've had, it's worth it. I've recovered files from formatted drives, deleted files, and everything except for full-formatted floppies and "erased" files (using a disk-erase utility). This edition saved me from losing valuable work on two Zip disks that were trashed on the network where I was going to school.
Overall, I gave the suite four stars because, like another reviewer, the updating routine is a major pain! On Win2000, it only took one reboot, but on Win98 it took no less than FIVE REBOOTS! C'mon, guys; there's got to be a better way! Once installed, however, it uses less system resources than it's predecessor and considerably less resources than its competition. For the price, it's more than worth it.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Far better than Norton 2002 for Windows XP, July 23, 2002
This review is from: On-Track System Suite 4.0 (CD-ROM)
After buying versions of Norton Systemworks including the 2002 version, I noticed that this package got a much higher rating than Norton Systemworks in a review by PC Magazine. So I decided to give it a try because some of the Norton utilities that I liked are not available to WinXP users. The jewel of the Ontrack Suite is a program called Registry Fixer. It finds and safely fixes (with the user's approval) many more potential problems than Norton WinDoctor. And the Ontrack Cleanup programs also do a much better job than Norton Cleansweep at finding and safely deleting many unneeded files. The first time you run the Registry Fixer or Cleanup, you'll be amazed at how many potential registry issues and deletable files are detected (even if you run these programs immediately after running the comparable Norton Systemworks programs). Norton dominates the market so much that I think they've gotten complacent (maybe arrogant) about keeping at the cutting edge in developing system utilities for Windows XP. All in all, when comparing Norton Systemworks and Ontrack System Suite 4, I think only the Norton Antivirus component and the Norton Speed Disk component are superior to the comparable programs in the Ontrack suite. If you're looking for a powerful set of tools to stablize and clean up your system, then I recommend this one without hesitation. And if you're a Windows XP user, then this suite offers so much more than Norton 2002.
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