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Norton SystemWorks 2.0

Norton SystemWorks 2.0

List Price: $129.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SystemWorks fixes "Keys out of order"-and earns a thumbs up!
Review: ...For some reason...but probably related to powering on and off the Firewire CD burner, forcing Finder to restart, and having problems with Toast simultaneously, my VST 30GB SmartDisk went Kaplooey!... OS X would "see" it (a check of the console log indicated that it was being found but there was an "fsck failure"--such a helpful message) and report that I should use the Disk Utility on it. Disk Utility reported the oft-mentioned "Keys out of order" error message of death, claimed to fix it, and accomplished nothing after repeated verifications and repairs.

According to several websites, though Apple remains silent on the matter, the only way to fix this problem is to reformat the drive, an unacceptable proposition. I began the march through my utilities.

Norton Utilities 4.0 and 5.0 wouldn't touch it--the drive is Firewire and couldn't be seen without an attempt to mount it by the Finder causing the "format or forget it" message. Same for DiskWarrior 2.1. Techtools 3.0.5 wouldn't do it, either, for still yet the same reason. FWB HDT can't fix anything. Bottom line, anything running in Classic or OS 9 wouldn't do anything with the drive other than offer to format it for me and I had nothing native to OS X. So I ordered SystemWorks which claims to be the OS X utility for everything.

Surprisingly, it worked! It fixed the "keys of death" problem and (poof!) my drive was back and in good health. As best I can tell, no data were lost. In other words, I had a very, very positive experience. Where Disk Utility absolutely falls flat on its face, SystemWorks came through!

I highly recommend the product, even though I haven't checked out a single one of its other features.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Disk doctor, defregamentation, virus help
Review: As with most Mac software, this was easy to install and relatively easy to use. But be careful. With the new Mac OS X versions, you need to install the "classic" version protection as well. And unless you use the CD as the start up disk, you will get an error when you try to run the programs and you'll get no help.

That said, if you read the "read Me" file, you'll know better. Starting up the Mac properly (from the CD; holding down the 'C' key), I ran the disk doctor, the speed disk optimizer and the virus program with no fuss, no muss. Run the disk doctor first, before you optimize. The doctor made some quick fixes, the optimization program cleared up a severely fragmented hard disk drive, and the virus software detected and repaired numerous if previously undetected or noticed viruses. You should sit and watch the disk doctor program run through its paces as it offers fixes you need to approve before it makes its recommended changes. The optimization process takes perhaps a twenty to thirty minutes but can be run unaccompanied. The virus program found and fixed problems on its own. There are live updates for virus protection available for those who register and sign on. I'll get there later; in my experience Macs get few viruses and if you practice "safe mail" (throw out unsolicited or unknown source mail), I have been without virus problesm of note in my fifteen years on Macs. But, like he said in Hill Street Blues, "Let's be careful out there."

Finished with this, there was no immediate acceleration or noticeable difference in the speed or efficiency of my somewhat dated, iMac (333 MgH) although I work now with a much greater sense of confidence that my disks and files are safe and in order. This is an insurance and peace of mind package for me. I don't use the high-end, file recovery programs. Let's hope I won't need them, either.

For the upgrade rebate offer, make sure you keep the packaging and hope you can locate your old version of the software or a receipt. The rebate can cut the price by $[money].

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Do Not Use In New PowerMac !
Review: DANGER! DANGER! This software is not ready for primetime, at least on the new PowerMac G4 dual processor computer. I used my Mac seamlessly for 3 weeks. After loading Systemworks my computer freezes regularly and the disk drive I used Disk Doctor on crashes every five days or so (granted Disk Doctor can restore it, but that's still unsatisfactory). I am not the only one having these problems, just go to apple.com support and do a "Systemworks" search under OS X.

The freezes seem to be dependent on time. As the computer runs certain processes begin to slow (connecting to cameras, accessing drives, etc.) then it just freezes, requiring a reboot. This happens rather consistently. It has been suggested as a theory that Filesaver may somehow keep OS X from deleting temp files. The behavior I observe does support some sort of cache or memory over flow (I've got 512 MB so it's not my configuration causing this).

I'm hoping that an uninstall and a reintialization of the affected harddrive will restore me to normal ops. If not, I'll have to reinstall the operating system from scratch...

These are my observations, install this program at your own risk.

PS. The only reason I didn't give it a "1" is my computer did not burst into flames, I'm feeling rather generous today.

PSS.

What is up with the $50 price hike. I boughtit two weeks ago for $119?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: I bought SystemWorks because I was new to the Mac and thought this package was a good buy because of the software that it included. I was wrong. None of the utilities worked well and it didn't work as advertized. Spring Cleaning (one of the utilities I thought would be useful) worked but it was an older version. To make matters worse, the rebate I was supposed to get came back stating that I didn't meet the deadline even though I sent it 2 months prior to the expiration date. I will never buy another Norton product!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: No custom install for OS X
Review: I bought this for my G4 running 10.2.4, hoping to install the antivirus software and just have the disk doctor, etc available should a disaster happen. Unfortunately, this is not an option. If you have OS X, you must do a full install of everything, including things like FileSaver, that have cause me grief in the past. I confirmed this with Symantec's customer support. Fortunately, Symantec will refund your money within 60 days of purchase.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Woefully lacking -- save your money
Review: I had used Norton before OSX with no problem but now, it simply causes more problems than it fixes. It is impossible to create a repair boot CD and place an up-to-date version of Norton on it. This means that users of OS 10.2.x will be in trouble. Customer support for this product is also very poor. In short, Norton is no longer the standard for system or disk repair. I am still uncertain how I will run a proper maintenance on my G4 under OSX, thus I still use OS9 for my serious work. If Apple is serious about OSX, they should do something to alleviate this serious problem. Otherwise who would want to run OSX?!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Two Thumbs Up!
Review: I run Norton SystemWorks 2.0 on my Compaq using XP Home. Through a set of bizarre circumstances, I wound up contracting the Klem virus. It was corrupting my hard drive by the second and ruining ten year's of files: business and personal. I had no backup of the data (I know, I know!)...

Norton Systemworks analyzed the hard drive, identified the damaged files, isolated the infected ones, and through the Symantec website, rid my computer of the virus. What's more, it repaired all the damaged files!

I am grateful for this little utility package!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: May be great for Windows, but [not] for Macs
Review: I'm a fan of Norton Systemworks, and I've used it with every PC I've owned for years. Having said that, I was hoping that this functionality and ease-of-use would be the same for my new 17" Apple Powerbook G4. This is the newest Apple with 1Gig of Ram and all the upgrades. The Systemworks disk utilities won't run from the intalled version of the software, they must be run from the CD after you reboot using the CD as the startup disk....and guess what? You can't boot up from the CD if you're using the newest version of the Mac OS. You have to, believe it or not, create a separate disk partition or use an attached USB drive. I'm very disappointed, and I recommend users with new Macs look elsewhere for their disk utility program needs.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: May be great for Windows, but [not] for Macs
Review: I'm a fan of Norton Systemworks, and I've used it with every PC I've owned for years. Having said that, I was hoping that this functionality and ease-of-use would be the same for my new 17" Apple Powerbook G4. This is the newest Apple with 1Gig of Ram and all the upgrades. The Systemworks disk utilities won't run from the intalled version of the software, they must be run from the CD after you reboot using the CD as the startup disk....and guess what? You can't boot up from the CD if you're using the newest version of the Mac OS. You have to, believe it or not, create a separate disk partition or use an attached USB drive. I'm very disappointed, and I recommend users with new Macs look elsewhere for their disk utility program needs.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Some words about Symantec rebates
Review: If you are thinking about buying norton software simply because they are free after rebates, then reconsider it. Although it's well known Symantec makes reliable softwares, When we talk about their rebates, they are liars. Yes, liars ¨Cthey really deserve this. Based on my personal experience, I even think theirs are worse than the notorious I/O Magic's (aka, Hi-Val, Digital research). I bought several Norton softwares during last December, and submitted the upgrade rebates right away with required items, Guess what, until today I got only one of them, and it has been almost 6 months. I guess they are testing my memory but unfortunately I kept a good record of every rebate I submitted. That's what we should do if we are going to buy Symantec softwares with rebates involved, although the best thing I would recommend is to avoid as long as you can.


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