 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Norton SystemWorks 2001 Bernadette Houghton bernieh@iaccess.com.au |
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Every PC user needs a reliable set of utilities to keep his/her computer
running smoothly, and to fall back on if things go wrong. And go wrong they inevitably will - later, if not
sooner.
Norton SystemWorks 2001 is a bundle of essential utilities, comprising Norton Utilities 2001 (probably the
best known of all PC utilities), Norton AntiVirus 2001, Norton CleanSweep 2001 and a cut down version of
WinFax. That's the Standard Edition, which I'm reviewing here; the Professional Edition also includes a full
version of WinFax 10 and a copy of Norton Ghost for backup purposes.
When SystemWorks first arrived I was busy with other things, so after installing it and running a quick
checkup of my computer, I pretty much left it to itself for a few weeks. By the time I was ready to
investigate further, a month or so down the track, SystemWorks had intercepted four viruses, updated itself
without any intervention from me, and ran various tune-up utilities without any fuss. It wasn't quite all
light and roses along the way, but I was hugely impressed that SystemWorks did all this without my tinkering
with any of the default settings (well, except for removing Norton System Doctor from the startup folder,
which doesn't really count!).
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SystemWorks 2001 offers multi-platform support for Windows 9.x,
Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium. Not all the utilities work with all platforms; in
particular, many of the Norton Utilities tools won't run on Windows NT or Windows 2000. However, depending on
local system idiosyncrasies, they should all work with Windows 95.
There is invariably a catch-22 situation with data recovery software. Unless you already have the software
installed on your computer before you encounter a problem, there is a good chance you'll overwrite the very
data you're trying to save. With SystemWorks 2001, you can run many of the utilities directly from the CD
without having to first install the suite, and you can even boot from the CD itself if your computer's BIOS
supports this.
In this latest release, not all the components of the package have been updated. Most of the new and
enhanced features are concentrated in the SystemWorks integrator (the central interface for the various
components) or in Norton AntiVirus.
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One Button Checkup
The most significant new feature in SystemWorks 2001 is One Button Checkup, which offers a convenient way to
run a variety of quick checks, such as virus scans, disk space, fragmentation, registry conflicts and other
problems which can affect performance. Checkup doesn't do the same level of checking as do the individual
utilities, nor does it offer as much detail about problems it uncovers. To Microsoft's probable joy, it also
only runs with Internet Explorer 4.01 or later. Checkup can take a while to run, but unfortunately needs your
presence to prod it along during the repair stage. This is quite frustrating, since most of the prods involve
pushing an `OK' button here and there. Some minor tweaking with the settings of individual utilities can get
rid of some of these prompts, but you'll still need to look in on Checkup from time to time to ensure it
hasn't stalled to wait for a response from you.
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Web Services
A new menu option offers direct access to various Web sites dispensing system advice or offering data
security services. You don't have to own SystemWorks to access these sites and services, and there is a bit
of a catch - most of the sites offer only a very basic set of services for free, requiring a subscription for
anything beyond this. There is a link to ZDNet Updates - happily this time, a free site - which monitors
updates to your software and drivers, and advises you when updates are available. While you still don't need
to own SystemWorks to benefit from the site, it uses LiveUpdate as a go-between, simplifying the process
somewhat. There is also a link to a Symantec Hardware Advisor, which examines your PC and offers tips on fine
tuning it; Advisor is a little opportunistic, and is quick to recommend the purchase of other Symantec
products where it can!
LiveUpdate
LiveUpdate is still present, although LiveAdvisor had been dropped. LiveUpdate has been enhanced to the point
where it is a vital and indispensable tool. It can now automatically detect an open Internet connection, and
download and install the latest software updates without further ado. Having recently gone through the
lengthy and tortuous process of helping a computer-illiterate interstate friend de-kakworm her computer, I've
been waxing lyrical lately about this new feature. My friend had Norton AntiVirus 2000 installed on her
computer, but hadn't ever updated her virus definitions. Now, if she'd just had this latest edition of
LiveUpdate, the chances are that she never would have caught a virus in the first place, since LiveUpdate
would have ensured her virus definitions were current. All without any kind of intervention from her, since
LiveUpdate is set up for automatic operation by default. On my own behalf, I've really welcomed this ability
since it is such a hassle to keep my software up to date. I've found in the past that when LiveUpdate
prompted me to run it, it was invariably at an inconvenient time, so I'd put it off and then forget about it.
Now, it is no longer an issue. Yep, truly I love this feature.
Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities (NU) includes a collection of DOS and Windows diagnostic, remedial and performance
enhancement tools. With the exception of CrashGuard, which Symantec has decided not to support any longer,
all the old favourites are still present. You'll find Norton System Doctor, WinDoctor, Norton Registry
Editor, Disk Doctor and many others. Apart from CrashGuard's absence, NU 2001 appears to be the same as NU
2000. Even though SystemWorks 2001 is now supposed to support multiple platforms, I suspect that this claim
is more a marketing tactic than the result of any real enhancements to the software; at least as far as NU
are concerned. Quite a few of the Utilities, such as Image, Norton Diagnostics and Norton SpeedStart don't
support Windows NT and Windows 2000.
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As always with diagnostic software, NU found a whole host of
problems on my computer that I'd been unaware of and that hadn't appeared to affect its performance. Still,
it fixed them nicely, even if I noticed no difference afterwards! The biggest problem I encountered was with
some programs (e.g. Disk Doctor, Norton Unerase) conflicting with other memory-resident programs
(particularly Norton AntiVirus's AutoProtect), resulting in them restarting over and over again. I soon
learnt to disable all other programs before running certain utilities, but this took away some of the
convenience of One Button Checkup (of which Disk Doctor is one of the checks).
Over my years of using Norton Utilities, it has saved my sanity on a number of occasions. I've particularly
come to appreciate Norton Protection which, due to my bad habit of deleting files from DOS where they bypass
the Windows Recycle Bin, has saved some otherwise unrecoverable files. I've also been grateful for the DOS
utilities and Rescue Disk, although - touch wood - I haven't had to resort to them recently. These days, I
regularly fire up System Information when I need to identify which program is causing my computer to behave
sluggishly. I also gain a lot of benefit from the hard disk utilities such as SpeedDisk and Disk Doctor. And
although I've always been fond of tinkering with Norton System Doctor, I've learnt to remove it from my
startup folder as it tends to slow things down a little and get in the way.
Norton AntiVirus
Norton AntiVirus (NAV) has undergone a few enhancements, the most welcome of which is the ability to update
itself (via LiveUpdate) without any user intervention. Symantec claims that background virus scanning has
been also improved, with the new SmartScan technology reducing system impact by scanning only files with
executable code. Since I haven't tested NAV 2000, I can't back up this claim. I did find full virus scans
with NAV 2001 slow. Very slow. Agonisingly slow. Did I say slow? The impact on my system performance was also
obvious, so in the end, I rescheduled scans to take place in the witching hours of the morning, when I was
least likely to use the computer.
E-mail protection is improved. Apart from AutoProtect, which constantly runs in the background as you work,
you can now enable E-mail Protection which scans mail messages as they're downloaded. E-mail Protection
caught several infected messages on my computer mid-download and stalled the download until I'd dealt with
the problem. I was impressed with this feature, but ended up disabling it due to a recurring glitch. After my
computer had been on for some time (and particularly after the young ones had been playing some game or
other), NAV wouldn't let me download any mail at all. At first I addressed this problem by rebooting and then
re-connecting to my server. Soon I discovered I could work around it by temporarily disabling E-mail
Protection. In the end, it all became too much bother. My computer isn't left unprotected, however, since
AutoProtect remains active.
Another great thing about NAV is that it is pre-configured for optimal protection; a particularly valuable
feature if, like my interstate friend, you know nothing about the innards of your computer and have even less
desire to know. As I write this review, NAV has caught six viruses trying to sneak onto my computer in the
past couple of months. Considering that the one and only virus I've ever dealt with before was Keypress, long
ago in the days before Windows, I've either had more than my fair share of luck or it is an indication of how
bad virus activity has been recently.
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Norton CleanSweep
CleanSweep 2001, a de-cluttering and program removal tool, is virtually unchanged from CleanSweep 2000, which
I looked at in PC Update, June 2000. In fact, the only difference I could find was that the dialog boxes now
have a pretty patterned background! Since my review of CleanSweep, I've used Fast & Safe Cleanup
regularly, sometimes on a daily basis.
Conclusion
SystemWorks seems to be one of those programs where people, when you ask them what they think of it, tend to
shuffle off into one of two camps. There are those who hate it and claim it wrecked their system, and those
who can't praise it highly enough. How you feel about it will depend largely on your existing setup and your
computing habits. I installed SystemWorks on a fairly fresh system, having just a few weeks before done a
complete re-installation of Windows and all my applications.
I noticed performance degradation when some utilities were running (e.g. WinDoctor, SpeedDisk and NAV).
However, with the exception of the last two, I was able to continue work. I also found that after my computer
had been operating for some time, degradation was more significant and every few days this would reach a
point where I'd have to reboot and start afresh (in addition to daily reboots for other reasons).
It is a good idea to schedule system checkups to a time when you don't normally work at your computer. It is
quite unsettling to have a disk intensive activity start up when you're engrossed in writing the novel of the
century! Norton Scheduler is part of the package, but some of the individual programs also have their own
scheduler.
If you already have an older version of Norton SystemWorks, the main incentive to upgrade is to obtain the
latest version of LiveUpdate; although you can probably also do that by upgrading one of the individual
components of the package. The other new features in SystemWorks 2001 -most significant of which are One
Button Checkup and the enhancements to NAV - are nice but not substantial.
SystemWorks 2001 is quite a solid package despite a few weak spots. I don't think it is an appropriate
package for beginners, being far too complex and powerful. However, for experienced users it offers a
complete toolset of powerful housekeeping utilities with a reasonable support system behind them via
Symantec's
Web site.
Cost and Availability
Estimated retail price $162.50 (Standard Edition) and $217 (Professional Edition). Previous owners of Norton
AntiVirus, Norton Utilities, Norton CleanSweep or Norton SystemWorks are eligible for a rebate for $40 when
they upgrade to the Standard edition, or $50 when they upgrade to the Professional edition. Available from
local resellers or from Symantec's online store at
http://www.symantecstore.com. From here, you can also download a 30-day trial of Norton Utilities 2001
and Norton AntiVirus 2001.
Minimum System Requirements
Pentium 100; Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation with Service Pack 4 or Windows 2000 Professional;
32 MB RAM; 78-106 MB free hard disk space; CD-ROM drive; Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 required for One
Button Checkup.
Reprinted from the April 2001 issue of PC Update, the
magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
