PC utilities: Norton system works: looking for your opinion
Norton SystemWorks 2005 Premier
by noru2 - 5/13/05 7:42 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterHave used Norton SystemWorks for several years, with no problems. Installed the new SystemWorks Premier a month ago, and nothing seems to works right. GOBACK caused my PC to refuse to turn off whenI asked it to do so. Finally removed it. Norton Antivirus refused to do an automatic update. All previous issues have worked fine. Removed it and installed Grisoft AVG. It is working fine. Norton Ghost always boots with an error message that it cannot connect with all the drives.
It seems to me that Norton went from the leader (or close to it) to the bottom of the pile in one year.
I would have to rate it about 1 star out of 5.
Don't why they still Sell it?
by marshall0405t - 5/13/05 7:51 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI'll keep this brief. Norton system works not only caused my system to eventually crash but it also was spontaneously popping up with all kinds of "nortons just caught" crap and before putting it on I really wasn't having any problems at all. I thought it would be a good thing to have on my computer. It was recommended by someone so I tried it and at first it seemed harmless and had cool GUI's to work with but then it became apparent that there were issues developing and eventually caused me to loose everything and since my little venture with the product I have had many other people tell me the same thing. Recommend: System Suite 5.0 from V-Com. Check out product revues..on www.v-com.com
Just as many pros as cons
by Timbo69 - 5/13/05 8:05 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI've been a loyal user of Norton products since the 80's, long before Symantec came along (anyone remember Disc Commander?). I've been using NSW since it first came out. But the 2004 version was the last time. Don't get me wrong...it's been an invaluable tool that has made detailed maintenance much easier for me. But it has also caused more problems than it fixed. I don't know if perhaps it would run better on a brand spanking new machine (which mine is not), but all it's done is bogged it down, and caused numerous problems during shutdown. The truth is that all the Norton apps I'm using these days are causing problems on my machine, especially hanging during shutdown and I'm thinking about changing loyalties and software when my current subscription expires.
Norton
by MarDee - 5/13/05 8:13 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI used Norton products for several years.
After what happened to me a few months ago, thanks to Norton, I will NEVER use any of their products again & am advising others to do likewise. I have removed Norton from all 3 of my computers as it comes factory installed on some units.
I was working way one day...all of a sudden got this error message regarding a problem that Norton was having in the background and then the black screen of death. Absolutely NOTHING would bring it back to life. I had to spend perfectly good money at the repair shop to have them go in & wipe the hard drive & get me up & running again. I use this unit in my business and was essentially out of business for a week while all this was taking place. They too agreed that the problem was Norton ''inspired''.
Something else that I'd noticed and was verified by the repair tech... portions of Norton products stay in the system even after you've done a complete program delete. These nearly always have to have a professional remove them. This is a very annoying trait. Another good reason to AVOID NORTON.
I now use free software that I've downloaded and am extremely happy with the way my system is running.
A - Now Happy - Ex-Norton user
M. McDougal
Norton Sys. Works is a great software utility.
by thepunisher - 5/13/05 8:39 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI bought Norton Sys. Works '05 a couple of months ago and I think it's great. I am very pleased with its disk utilities. It has a disk optimizing feature that works with hard drives and/or flash drives. I perform this feature at least once a week to my hard drives and flash drives. This feature is similar to the defrag utility in Windows OS but it's faster. When I defraged my 120GB hard drive w/ Windows, it took about an hour and fifty minutes. Norton took about an hour and ten minutes. Norton Sys. Works comes w/ Antivirus that protects your PC from viruses to spyware, which is the #1 issue these days. Sys. Works also cleans out your Internet file cache which can take up disk space. The CheckIt Diagnostic tool check for errors in your PC's registry, system folders, shortcut links. If you run Windows, it will tell if it's out of date and need to download updates. Same goes with the antivirus. When it's done checking your system, it will tell you the number of errors for each area checked and ask you if you want to fixed them or not. Within seconds, Norton will repair the errors. Norton GoBack I haven't used, yet. It's basically Windows version of System Restore. However, unlike Windows, Norton GoBack lets you restore specific files and/or folders, and if you like, the entire drive as well. I've been an avid fan of Symantec's products. I rely on them and home and at work. I can't wait to purchase their Antispyware Ed. of Norton Internet Security.
I like NSW, with some provisos
by Kinda Geeky - 5/13/05 8:40 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterHi, S. I've used Norton products (Systemworks and Antivirus) for about 10 years and really appreciate them.
I upgraded to NSW 2005 about a month ago. I did not install Norton Go Back or Speedisk. I use Diskkeeper for defragging and backup the entire system to an external HD with Retrospect. You can choose which programs you want to install in the 2005 version of NSW.
The best improvement in 2005 is a feature (forget the name) that allows you to tweak setting. A lot like the TweakUI program but integrated into NSW 2005. Which is good, because TweakUI stopped working on XP SP2.
I like the Norton WinDoctor for keeping things running smoothly, Cleansweep to remove programs or to backup a copy of a program. I don't use DiskDoctor (the program that monitors the pc for various things) -- it just takes up too much of the processor.
Norton Antivirus has always worked well for me (I turn off automatic update, to cutdown on processor usage) and manually update twice a week on Sunday and Wednesday. Those seem to be the days that updates are released by Symantec.
Overall, I like the programs in NSW and think they are worth the money. Yes, some of the automated settings can be processor hogs, but you can turn them off. .
Also, I have never used Norton's firewall (sometimes included with NSW packages) and can't speak to it.
Good luck with your decision. You certainly have plenty of opinions here!
Brent
Norton System Works
by Charles Blews - 5/13/05 8:45 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI agree that Norton NSW can cause more problems than it solves ... However, my biggest complaint in 2005 is that one can no longer call for any kind of assist from Norton without a large charge - depending on your needs - I believe if memory serves, 69.00 up ... Along the way, they had a tie in with a company in Tampa Florida - only 14.95 ... This was reasonable for up to 3 hours of help ... Now it's something like 29 or 39.00 for 30 minutes ... If one is not very very careful about dotting the I's and crossing the T's you can be in serious trouble ... Just try to uninstall it so that you can make a clean install - well, that's a horror that can require the paid assist as mentioned... After all (at least on the southern CA market) NSW is free after rebates - I have used the rebates to purchase Norton's competitors - and in some cases used the free available things like AVG anti-virus or Zone Alarm fire wall ... I have had to revert to NSW #3 for GHOST - after all, if you know where to look, most of the Norton services are available with in the XP operating system - so, why spend the money (even if FREE) - My idea is to get deeper into XP for a better solution ... Hope all of this has been a help .... Charlie Blews
I have system works
by gblezy - 5/13/05 9:49 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI have had system works from norton for three years, it is a great program, I am running system works 2004 and it is about to expire and am planning on buying 2005. The Antivirus is as good as any I guess, but the rest of the stuff it does is great, it keeps your computer clean, and uncluttered with junk you don't need or want. It also fixes errors that you have made in the windows system files and everywhere else there can be errors. It does it's work one evening a week or more if you like it is totally up to you if you want to set it up automatically or not. All in all it is worth the money. Garry
Do you know what I like best about NSW?
by ConanTroutman - 5/13/05 10:17 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterNothing. I had a PC retail store/tech support shop for about 6 years and on several occasions, customers would come in and complain of various problems. If I noticed NSW on thier machine, the first thing I would do- right in front of the customer. I would un-install NSW and reboot. Almost always the problems would cease instantly. I can't honestly tell you that it causes the problems or if it works good in some situations because I never had the balls to put it on one of my own machines after seeing those results.
Maybe they should change the name to "Norton System Used to Work"
About using Norton System Works
by rchdiskandar - 5/13/05 10:22 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI am ISKANDAR RACHED from LEBANON, I am using Norton System Works 2004 on my laptop, its well protecting my computer after a long time suffering of viruses, and the best in it is the Go Back which is too much better than windows system restore, it restores you computer very accurately and without any errors any time u get a problem on your PC. I very much recommend it for a good protection.
Norton SystemWorks
by rbird - 5/13/05 10:48 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI have not had the greatest experience with System Works myself. It has degraded the performance of my system and some of the utilities won't even work, evidently due to some conflict. I basically was only using the AntiVirus software when I got hit by a couple of Trojans that took me down for a few days. Yes, everything was up to date and though I hated the 4 hour long scans, I would always scan my computer once a week. And the Trojan's were older ones, but Norton didn't stop.
I'm running the Zone Alarm Security Suite and very happy with it's performance so far. I'm still doing research, but I'm not going back to Norton until they make some major changes to their software.
I will NEVER install another Norton product.....
by VernonE - 5/13/05 11:02 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI started using various Norton products back in th DOS days and was very happy. But withina year of Peter Norton selling his interst in the company the company started to lose it's individuallist tone to a "corporate" impersonal model. That wasn't too bad by itself, but the quality of the products went downhill.
When I started having problems with "live update"s I tried to uninstall and found that thier uninstall did not do a clean uninstall, and reinstalling only created more problems. I had to do a complete system rebuild. Since that day no Norton product has touched my computer.
(I'm so sad becaused I loved reading Peter Norton's colunms and the software that he wrote or developed himself.)
I personally use ZoneAlarm Pro and Avast! Antivirus for my major internet security and would recommend both strongly. For other utilities I just hunt around for individual programs to address individual needs.
Norton system works
by jw1ls5n0129 - 5/13/05 11:19 AM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI have a little faith in it ,by that take "one button checkup" it comes up with say 1,000 fault then it repairs them ? but the next time the one button comes up with the same 1,000 faults ,it has never done any repairs ,go to the doctor and it says everything is OK
how can Norton say this its clear with the doctor but has 1,000 faults on the one button ? I have used Norton for many years but, I have heard so many bad things about it, and how many people have taken it off, and after they take it off how good the machine works.I may take it off just to see if it is so.It may be that its all in the mind and that we like to see "your computer has no faults" still if it slows the computer down then I can not see why Norton has not done some thing about it,this is not a lot of help just what has happened to me .Yohan129
Norton IS the problem! Norton IS the Virus Every time.
by bfranco - 5/13/05 12:02 PM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI've been using Norton forever on both Macs and PCs. It was once the best you could have. Now, it acts like a virus on both, slowing down the machines and causing more problems than solutions on any machine...period.
My machines are always the top of the food chain and upon installing Systemworks, they became the equivalent of a 10 year old PC. Uninstalling was the most frustratingly painful experience on the planet on both Windows and MacOS X as it spreads throughout your hard drive like a virus.
Since removing Systemworks, the machines are performing at their promised performance. No bugs, no crashes, no problems. There are many alternatives for AntiVirus and Maintenance on both Macs and PCs many of which have been mentioned by many people here already.
None of our machines at my office will have any Symantec products for the foreseable future, and we highly recommend against their use.
Norton System Works
by fredtech2 - 5/13/05 12:09 PM In reply to: Norton system works: looking for your opinion by sbaxterI don't have the newest version of Norton, but I do use an older version. I like it. It has saved me a lot of work and trouble. Don't add it if you have any other anti -virius software on your computer.
I believe Norton is the best.
fredtech2
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