Symantec NORTON SYSTEMWORKS 2002 95/98/W2K/WME/NT

Reviewed by: Razzmatazz

Strengths: Excellent virus protection. Keeps system clean & healthy. Easy to use. Won't slow you down.

Weaknesses: None.

Overall: SystemWorks2002 has been great on my laptop PC. (PII-266MHz, 192MB RAM, 8GB HDD, WinXP Pro.) It automatically downloads the latest virus signatures, and has caught several email-based viruses; disinfecting them and clearly reporting the source & virus type. The system utilities are great. I set it up to automatically run a total system check on Friday evenings. It scans the disk for viruses, fixes registry errors & broken links, AND IT CLEANS CLUTTER FROM MY HARD DISK SAVING ME ABOUT 1GB! I used to run out of hard disk space because of all the Internet clutter that automatically accumulated on my PC, but not anymore. This feature alone makes it worth owning! The Norton Utilities are nice. You can recover files if you accidentally "permanently" delete them. (I have.) You can also optimize your hard disk to run faster. I haven't used the Roxio "Go Back" utility because that functionality is built into Windows XP. Besides, SystemWorks seems to keep my PC (registry) healthier so that I haven't needed to restore my PC (registry settings) to an earlier state. I used to have to do that occasionally before loading SystemWorks. I'm not sure if there's a correlation. SystemWorks does not slowdown my PC, except perhaps a bit when it checks my incoming emails for viruses. But that's normal. Checking files for viruses is work. It's so easy to use that I just bought another copy for my computer-illiterate parents-- for whom I am tech support!

Reviewed by: Dansk1

Strengths: Updates Virus Definitions in the background, indicated by a flag in lower right corner of screen. Performs One Button Checkup at prescheduled times, and attempts to repair any discrepancies.

Weaknesses: Every time it attempts to repair Registry Errors (57 errors) activity causes my computer to freeze or lock, forcing a hard reboot, since neither the Escape key or Control-Alt-Delete are functional.

Overall: Customer Support seems to be directed towards business owners, since help calls are accepted Monday through Friday, and the cost of toll calls for assistance are prohibitive to individuals.Have tried to reload the software several times, because every time the computer needs reboot one of many Installation windows appears in center of my computer screen and must be closed.Have tried to step through the Installation windows up through the "Finish" window, as a means of eliminating this problem, then reset the Windows 98 window, but next time the computer is locked-up and rebooted one of the Installation windows reappears.Have sent several e-mails to Symantec to hopefully resolve this problem, but never a response.Even with a financial rebate I would prefer to use some other System software until Symantecs has resolved the many 'glitches' I have encountered. Seems like MS experimental software.The annimated icons are impressive, but the success of the software is unimpressive.

Reviewed by: Xbudman

Strengths: Antivirus software

Weaknesses: Tech Support high priced by phone , poor response for online tech

Overall: Everything was fine till i installed Go Back 3 then i started having Shutdown problems. Tried to make contact by phone but could not afford the high price. So i tried online tech twice from 8/8/02 to 8/13/02 still no responce?????. All i can do now is uninstall go back 3 and the pc works fine. NO RESPONSE FROM SYMANTEC.

Reviewed by: GLM

Strengths: Great for getting you system going when you can't figure out what is wrong.

Weaknesses: You have to put a little effort in to get the most benefit.

Overall: I don't know how anyone that uses many different programs can get along without it. This version improves on prior version. I have two computers that have not had hard drive system problems in 3 years thanks to SystemWorks. Simple to use.

Reviewed by: sndg311

Strengths: anti -virus is simple to use and appears to catch problems before they arise. this product is very user friendly.

Overall: Go back is not compatable with hp models preloaded with xp and i have found that the win doctor portion of norton utilities causes and finds problems that were not there to begin with. I would recomemend the anti virus portion of this product only.