Norton Systemworks 2005 - Will it help?

[Guest]

I just got done having to restore my laptop / XP Pro SP2 due to some system
corruption...bla, bla, bla. Anyway, I am looking for a piece of software to
maintain the integrity of the system and perform routine checks on system
health etc..

In the old MAC days Norton Systemworks saved our butts many times. They
have a new version of Systemworks for XP called Systemworks Premier. It's
feature are:
problems and protect data. This easy-to-use suite helps you eliminate
viruses, back up your files, and prevent computer problems. A new recovery
disk allows you to recover data even when Windows® won’t start up.

Key Features•One Button Checkup allows you to quickly identify and fix
common PC problems.•LiveUpdate™ automatically downloads protection updates to
defend your PC against new threats.

Norton AntiVirus™•NEW! Norton™ Internet Worm Protection blocks worms at
their attempted point of entry.•NEW! QuickScan detects and removes viruses
after new protection updates are installed.•Automatically removes viruses,
worms, and Trojan horses.•Scans and cleans instant message attachments,
incoming and outgoing email messages, and other files.•Detects spyware and
certain non-virus threats such as adware and keystroke logging programs.

Norton Utilities™•Optimizes and defragments files for faster hard drive
performance.•Detects and fixes many Windows® and disk problems automatically.

Norton GoBack™•NEW! SafeTry Mode creates a temporary environment that allows
you to test new programs and accept or reject changes to your system.•NEW!
Familiar, intuitive search bar makes it easy to find the files or folders you
want to restore.•Restores your disk drive to a previous healthy state after a
system crash, failed software installation, user error, virus attack, or
other problem.•Allows you to restore just the files or folders you need, or
an entire drive.

Norton Ghost™•NEW! “Hot imaging†lets you create backup images without
restarting Windows. (Available only on Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW!
Incremental backup updates save time and disk space. (Available only on
Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW! Scheduled backups keep the backup image up to
date. (Available only on Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW! Reboot a non-responsive
system in a Windows-based environment. Repair and rescue data on a damaged
NTFS volume.•Backs up everything on a hard drive or partition.•Works with a
wide range of hard drives and removable media.†

CheckIt® Diagnostics•NEW! Gives you a fast, thorough evaluation of your PC’s
hardware.

System Optimizer•NEW! Makes it easy to manage and customize Windows XP
settings from one simple interface.

Additional problem-solving tools•NEW! Norton Cleanup now deletes temporary
files and recently viewed Web pages in addition to other unneeded files left
over from Internet sessions.•Process Viewer displays detailed information
about Windows processes.•PerformanceTest(TM) benchmarks your computer’s
performance against similar machines.

----------------------

Has anyone had any experience with this program or suggest something else? I
did purchase Reg Mechanic and it did nothing for me during the time of the
system errors that all started when I found noen of my HP printers / drivers
would work (it gave me a system error when trying to print ---countless
posts on this community with helpful suggestions -- and many hours with good
a bad reps from HP forced me to nuke and pave the drive). Everything seems
good now. I just want a tool that I can rely on for system health. Plus....I
do like their anti-virus and spam control integrated into my Outlook 2002
program. Currently, I am using Spygate for a firewall, S&D and Adaware for
their purposes and AVG free addition for antivirus.

Thaks for any advise and / or comments!!

Regards,
Duane

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

IMHO, Norton SW is a great set of programs. Great, that is, at bogging down
your system so that the performance will remind you of trying to run Win98
on a 386. Ever since Symantec took over, it's never been the same. I would
avoid it and seek alternative programs.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Raymond J. Johnson Jr.]

I just got done having to restore my laptop / XP Pro SP2 due to some system
corruption...bla, bla, bla. Anyway, I am looking for a piece of software to
maintain the integrity of the system and perform routine checks on system
health etc..

In the old MAC days Norton Systemworks saved our butts many times. They
have a new version of Systemworks for XP called Systemworks Premier. It's
feature are:
problems and protect data. This easy-to-use suite helps you eliminate
viruses, back up your files, and prevent computer problems. A new recovery
disk allows you to recover data even when Windows® won’t start up.

Key Features•One Button Checkup allows you to quickly identify and fix
common PC problems.•LiveUpdate™ automatically downloads protection updates to
defend your PC against new threats.

Norton AntiVirus™•NEW! Norton™ Internet Worm Protection blocks worms at
their attempted point of entry.•NEW! QuickScan detects and removes viruses
after new protection updates are installed.•Automatically removes viruses,
worms, and Trojan horses.•Scans and cleans instant message attachments,
incoming and outgoing email messages, and other files.•Detects spyware and
certain non-virus threats such as adware and keystroke logging programs.

Norton Utilities™•Optimizes and defragments files for faster hard drive
performance.•Detects and fixes many Windows® and disk problems automatically.

Norton GoBack™•NEW! SafeTry Mode creates a temporary environment that allows
you to test new programs and accept or reject changes to your system.•NEW!
Familiar, intuitive search bar makes it easy to find the files or folders you
want to restore.•Restores your disk drive to a previous healthy state after a
system crash, failed software installation, user error, virus attack, or
other problem.•Allows you to restore just the files or folders you need, or
an entire drive.

Norton Ghost™•NEW! “Hot imaging†lets you create backup images without
restarting Windows. (Available only on Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW!
Incremental backup updates save time and disk space. (Available only on
Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW! Scheduled backups keep the backup image up to
date. (Available only on Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW! Reboot a non-responsive
system in a Windows-based environment. Repair and rescue data on a damaged
NTFS volume.•Backs up everything on a hard drive or partition.•Works with a
wide range of hard drives and removable media.†

CheckIt® Diagnostics•NEW! Gives you a fast, thorough evaluation of your PC’s
hardware.

System Optimizer•NEW! Makes it easy to manage and customize Windows XP
settings from one simple interface.

Additional problem-solving tools•NEW! Norton Cleanup now deletes temporary
files and recently viewed Web pages in addition to other unneeded files left
over from Internet sessions.•Process Viewer displays detailed information
about Windows processes.•PerformanceTest(TM) benchmarks your computer’s
performance against similar machines.

----------------------

Has anyone had any experience with this program or suggest something else? I
did purchase Reg Mechanic and it did nothing for me during the time of the
system errors that all started when I found noen of my HP printers / drivers
would work (it gave me a system error when trying to print ---countless
posts on this community with helpful suggestions -- and many hours with good
a bad reps from HP forced me to nuke and pave the drive). Everything seems
good now. I just want a tool that I can rely on for system health. Plus....I
do like their anti-virus and spam control integrated into my Outlook 2002
program. Currently, I am using Spygate for a firewall, S&D and Adaware for
their purposes and AVG free addition for antivirus.

Thaks for any advise and / or comments!!

Regards,
Duane

I didn't see the same problems with System Works that Rick describes
(and many others have as well). Just lucky I guess. But what I did find
was that most of it, apart from Ghost (I have System Works 2003 Pro) was
pretty useless. I kept AV alive and got rid of everything else. You
don't seem to have diagnosed the original problem, and to my knowledge
there really isn't any software package that will do what you want.
Routine maintenance is the key, I think. Do regular scans for viruses,
trojans and spyware. Use a good two-way software firewall. Leave the
registry alone--registry cleaners are designed mainly to separate
gullible people from their money. Keep your hard drive organized and
get rid of everything you don't use on a regular basis. Keep a good
image or backup of your important data. All of this except drive
imaging can be done with freeware, or with XP's own facilities.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I just got done having to restore my laptop / XP Pro SP2 due to some system
corruption...bla, bla, bla. Anyway, I am looking for a piece of software to
maintain the integrity of the system and perform routine checks on system
health etc..

In the old MAC days Norton Systemworks saved our butts many times. They
have a new version of Systemworks for XP called Systemworks Premier. It's
feature are:
problems and protect data. This easy-to-use suite helps you eliminate
viruses, back up your files, and prevent computer problems. A new recovery
disk allows you to recover data even when Windows® won’t start up.

Snake Oil.

Key Features•One Button Checkup allows you to quickly identify and fix
common PC problems.•LiveUpdate™ automatically downloads protection updates to
defend your PC against new threats.

Updates for the Symantec product only, though. Don't get mislead
into thinking that LiveUpdate also keeps your OS and other applications
up-to-date on patches.

Norton AntiVirus™•NEW! Norton™ Internet Worm Protection blocks worms at
their attempted point of entry.•NEW! QuickScan detects and removes viruses
after new protection updates are installed.•Automatically removes viruses,
worms, and Trojan horses.•Scans and cleans instant message attachments,
incoming and outgoing email messages, and other files.•Detects spyware and
certain non-virus threats such as adware and keystroke logging programs.

Once a reputable antivirus product, but I've not used it for a
couple years, now. It does consume at lot more system resources that do
several equally effective free antivirus solutions, such as Grisoft's AVG.

Norton Utilities™•Optimizes and defragments files for faster hard drive
performance.•Detects and fixes many Windows® and disk problems automatically.

Once a useful utility suite, back in the days of MS-DOS, when Peter
Norton was more than a picture on the box, Norton Utilities have been
becoming increasingly useless and redundant over the years. There's
little offered by NU that WinXP cannot already do natively. And some of
its features, like CrashGuard and CleanSweep (if they're still included)
cause far more problems then they prevent.

Norton GoBack™•NEW! SafeTry Mode creates a temporary environment that allows
you to test new programs and accept or reject changes to your system.•NEW!
Familiar, intuitive search bar makes it easy to find the files or folders you
want to restore.•Restores your disk drive to a previous healthy state after a
system crash, failed software installation, user error, virus attack, or
other problem.•Allows you to restore just the files or folders you need, or
an entire drive.

This might be a useful feature for you. Naturally, it can only
recover from those changes made after it's installation.

Norton Ghost™•NEW! “Hot imaging” lets you create backup images without
restarting Windows. (Available only on Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW!
Incremental backup updates save time and disk space. (Available only on
Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW! Scheduled backups keep the backup image up to
date. (Available only on Windows® XP/2000 Pro.)•NEW! Reboot a non-responsive
system in a Windows-based environment. Repair and rescue data on a damaged
NTFS volume.•Backs up everything on a hard drive or partition.•Works with a
wide range of hard drives and removable media.†

This is probably the single most useful component of the suite.
Used properly, it will enable you to restore your computer's OS and
software from almost any disaster.

CheckIt® Diagnostics•NEW! Gives you a fast, thorough evaluation of your PC’s
hardware.

More Snake Oil.

System Optimizer•NEW! Makes it easy to manage and customize Windows XP
settings from one simple interface.

Still more Snake Oil.

Additional problem-solving tools•NEW! Norton Cleanup now deletes temporary
files and recently viewed Web pages in addition to other unneeded files left
over from Internet sessions.•Process Viewer displays detailed information
about Windows processes.•PerformanceTest(TM) benchmarks your computer’s
performance against similar machines.

All redundant. There's nothing here (except for the benchmarking,
which is of questionable value) that you can't already do using native
Win2K tools.

Everything seems
good now. I just want a tool that I can rely on for system health.

That would be you, and your knowledge of safe computing.

Currently, I am using Spygate for a firewall, S&D and Adaware for
their purposes and AVG free addition for antivirus.

Then you really don't need to waste money on the Symantec product.


--

Bruce Chambers

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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[SFB - KB3MM]

I would never put a Norton/Symantec or McAfee product on any system I oqn or
am responsible for.