Showing posts with label systemworks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label systemworks. Show all posts

Norton Systemworks 2009 Premier Edition Review

Norton Systemworks 2009 Premier Edition
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I upgraded thinking that my "old" 2005 version just HAD to be running out of gas. Most of the features are similar to the old. Defrag runs at about the same speed and looks to be the same. Antivirus is MUCH better and checks the Symantec web site about every 15 minutes for updates. It doesn't scan the whole file system any faster than it used to, however. What threw me was that they hid Ghost. When I go to the Symantec toolbar on the installed programs menu, it says "empty". Well it is still there but it is called Backup and Restore. But don't turn loose the whole Backup and Restore with its schedule unless you are prepared to wait a LONG time every few days. Backup and Restore take its piece of the machine from the top and everything else running appears as slow as Molasses!! And the "compare" it makes with the previous backup is glacial. After half an hour and 3% completed, I cancelled it. It would have taken all night at that speed!. So I used the hidden Ghost to still do backups but I do it just like I used to. I manually do it every two weeks, and I save the previous one as well as the new on my external hard drive so that I always have two to fall back on. From what I can tell (haven't tested it) the Recovery CD that comes with SystemWorks will still boot from the CD drive for real disasters and it should "unwrap" my Ghost backup to a new hard drive if that ever became necessary. This time I installed Checkit and it seems great. I had forgotten to in 2005. All in all a solid product once you tell it who is boss!!

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Norton SystemWorksPremier provides fast, continuous protection against malicious threats, backs up everything on your PC, and boosts your computer's performance. Working quickly and quietly in the background, the included full version of Norton AntiVirus 2009 software has been completely re-engineered and sets a new standard for speed in its defense against viruses, spyware worms, bots, and other malicious threats. Rapid pulse updates and new Norton Insight utilize extensive online intelligence to target only those processes at risk, resulting in faster, fewer, and shorter scans. The new Norton Protection System employs a multilayered set of security technologies that work in concert to detect, identify, and block threats. The included full version of Norton Save & Restore 2.0 uses powerful disk imaging technology from Norton Ghost to create full system and file backups. If disaster strikes, you can quickly restore from system failures and recover lost or damaged files. Incremental and differential backups reduce system slowdown by backing up only files that have changed. And advanced compression and encryption minimize storage space and help keep sensitive documents safe. Norton SystemWorks utilities boost your PC's performance and keep it running at an optimized level. The utilities tools diagnose and fix Windows errors; defragment, clean, and repair hard drives; and remove unwanted Internet clutter such as cookies and web files. System Optimizer allows you to customize Windows settings according to the way you use your PC, and Process Viewer shows applications that are running to help you identify programs that are affecting performance.

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Norton SystemWorks 2008 Premier Edition 11.0 Review

Norton SystemWorks 2008 Premier Edition 11.0
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
It appears that Symantec has been resting on their laurels.
This is their flagship consumer application, and comes bundled with a modestly improved antivirus (new network and wireless intrusion-detection features). Ghost has been replaced by Save and Restore, and you get the extras, Passmark 6.1 and SmithMicro's CheckIt 7. GoBack is still there, but not installed by default.
It sports a new interface, with a DHTML menu-like slider with scrollbars in each section that took a bit to find what I was looking for. It has an option for a "classic" inteface - but it made me think of HTML 1.0 "classic".
This was a clean install on a clean install of XP SP2.
The install went much smoother than the 2006 version of the same product which I won't cover here. I'll just say it went much smoother.
The plusses: Bundled with some somewhat useful third party (Passmark, SmithMicro) tools.
I liked Save and Restore - which would save and restore to/from any drive - network, internal or external, and Save and Restore is versatile in that you can also specify folders, or the entire drive. Save and Restore could also be scheduled/configured in dozens of ways.
The antivirus (manual scan) was blazingly fast and the new ability of NAV to monitor and interact with my home/SOHO/Wireless network was a positive development.
Passmark (6.1, rebranded Symantec), is a good tool for benchmarking, and comparing my system to others (download free user-generated comparatives at the Passmark site). I learned that my X2 3800/Ati XT1600 (2 Ghz) is 38% slower than a 2.8 Extreme iMac with XP in Boot Camp, and 290% slower than a QX6800 with 7950GT (I didn't compare them all, several thousand to compare to!).
Mostly minuses: I tried to update system drivers - bluescreen city began. A reboot from a bluescreen was usually be followed by a prompt to run one or another function I had scheduled (Save and Restore, virus scan, defrag) - leading me to believe that the scheduler has some conflicts with my AMD machine (ATI/AMD) and the drivers (7.10 - 7.12). The dump error code was useless on both MS and Google to figure out.
I was unable to use System Restore (Microsoft's built-in tool) at all after installing it - it still ran and catalogued checkpoints, but would not roll them back, even after disabling NAV and SystemWorks protection.
Defrag, when it worked - usually took 2-3 passes to defrag. It frequently just froze.
Norton process viewer (with the "google this" feature that I loved) wouldn't auto-update with active processes - whatever was running when I opened the Norton process viewer was it. If I launched Acrobat, and wanted to see what modules where in use, I had to relaunch it. Bizarro!
One Button Checkup (Windoctor, registry section) decided that the BUNDLED CheckIt (third party) tool was all ganked up, and wanted to repair about 20 entries related to it.
The antivirus, even improved, still only "actively scans" inbound and outbound ports 25/110. No IMAP. No secure SMTP/POP (required by certain ISP's now). This doesn't affect send and receive other than the packet stream isn't scanned to/from. Even the free Avast! AV offers multiport/multiprotocol options. Sad.
SmithMicro's CheckIt 7 (bundled) decided that my 939 (K8) CPU was a K7 - the 2006 version got it right tho, what gives?
Regardless, I had a very unstable system, so as a last resort, I tried the Symantec "uninstall tool" - but traces were still left behind, BSOD city. I ended up doing a OEM wipe disk, and clean reinstall of the system. All is well again.
One feature I didn't try was the bult in "paid technician remote login". It just seemed kinda sick - paying Symantec to fix what Symantec seemingly broke.
I do accept the responsibility of reading the reviews (mostly negative) and plunging in anyhow, thinking back on the good old days when SystemWorks, well, worked very well!
Bottom line: This is more of a train wreck than a mashup of useful tools.
Your milage may vary - but I'd recommend steering clear of Norton "anything" until they come out of the 90s regarding the Internet and system usability/flexibility.
It needs a clean disable (or pass through for signed system and/or critical updates).
The feature it needs the most is a 100% "One-Button Checkout" (uninstall)

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Defend against spyware and viruses, enhance your computer's performance, and protect your valuable files with Norton SystemWorks Premier Edition. To block harmful threats, it automatically scans and cleans email and instant messaging attachments. To keep your computer healthy, Norton SystemWorks automatically diagnoses and fixes hard drive errors, removes unwanted Internet clutter, and allows you to optimize your Windows settings from a single screen. If disaster strikes, your computer and valuable data are safeguarded with automatic backup and recovery, allowing you to quickly restore from system failures or recover lost or damaged files.

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Norton Utilities 14.0 1 user/3 PC Review

Norton Utilities 14.0 1 user/3 PC
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This is not your father's (or older brother's) Norton Utilities. This is a waste of money and in reality just a bunch of shortcuts to built in Windows system utilities. If you want what was once called Norton Utilities (especially Win Doctor and System Doctor) buy yourself Norton Systemworks Basic or Standard. I was so unhappy with this package that I removed it from both computers I installed it on and installed Norton Systemworks 2008 and then sent NO14 back to Syamntec for a full refund.

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Quickly finds and fixes PC problems in 1-click. Prioritizes startup applications to accelerate PC boot time.

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