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Norton Utilities was one of the first major makers of software to fill the utility gaps in Windows. As time has passed Windows has become more utility aware. XP now sports a firewall, although a basic one, and a few more ease of use utilities including a respectable defragmenter and system utilities that scan before Windows opens. All of this is good,but there are still gaps.
As the market became increasingly competitive, a number of good, excellent, mediocre and outright awful utilities have come to fill the voids left by Windows and the increasingly aging Norton Utilities. Sensing that they needed to literally, "keep up with the Joneses," Symantec has wisely added some new functionality to their system suite. The results are an improvement over last year's model. The burning question is are they enough?
For starters, the big new editions with the Premier Edition include a system optimizer, Smith Micro's Check It Diagnostics, a system performance checker and the inclusion of a few other programs to test and maintain the system thrown in for good measure. There is even a Power Tool like system tweaker incorporated into the suite.
Differentiating Norton SystemWorks 2005 from the Premier Edition is the inclusion of one program. The program missing from the basic model is Ghost 9. While both products feature Norton AntiVirus 2005, neither contains the Firewall or the AntiSpam. For some reason Symantec has never packaged their entire product line into one box. If you want the total protection, you need Premier Pro and Norton Security.
Installation is easy, but does require at least 200 MB plus of hard drive real estate and naturally more if you include the options. Ghost 9 can take up some serious room and Go Back demands some space as well. There is the option to install only those options you wish, however Go Back requires a separate installation.
As with the previous version, the One Button Checkup is pretty much intact. It runs a basic system check up for problems ranging from a filled Recycle Bin to a registry scan. It gives a good comprehensive overview of the kinds of issues that pop up during normal use. If you are familiar with the previous version, this should look more or less identical.
Norton Utilities heart can be found in SpeedDisk, a more elaborate disk defragmenter, System Doctor and the very useful Win Doctor. Easily the most essential and often missing from many power suites, this very important tool seeks invalid entries in the registry, and other abnormalities, that can cause crashes. It is fast, and offers up solutions and detailed information about what is being fixed and where. Should you not wish to make the suggested changes, or just a few, total configurability regarding how many suggestions you take are available. Again, if you are familiar with last year's model this one is more or less the same.
The always dependable Norton AntiVirus 2005 is here, but minus the companion piece Firewall. The functionality is the same here as it is an independent program. So do not feel you are getting a stripped down version of Norton AntiVirus 2005. It is complete.
Also enclosed is a complete version of Ghost 9. A program favored by pros, this allows you to create a duplicate drive that copies the contents of the source. You can save all of the data of a hard drive either to a partition or CD, DVD, USB device or Firewire device or on a network drive. New with version 9 are incremental backups, scheduled backups and the ability to create a backup without restarting Windows. This program basically makes it possible to store the entire contents of a drive efficiently.
Operating on a similar, but slightly different path, is Go Back. This utility is like the one built into Windows, but it offers a great deal more regarding what can be retrieved. Go Back basically saves the configuration of your system along with changes made to files. Should you make a change to a specific file, or need to revert your system to a specific time, you have the ability to change one file or an entire system. Unlike Windows version which is all or nothing, you can actually revert to specific versions of files.
If installing and uninstalling programs is a frequent occurrence, Go Back is a convenient way to try out a program before making lasting changes to your system. There is a mode where you can install the program, try it out, and if not pleased revert your system to its previous state in one mouse click. For those that need quick backups and detail, this is one way to insure that you keep everything intact.
While the program does not inflict any serious system drains, occasionally it does run while other programs are running. It can from time to time slow down your system. Although the program is only supposed to run during inactive times, it does sometimes run while you are in process. From my experiences, I noticed it caused no real loss of performance on an older P4 with 512 MB of RAM. I was surprised that it ran as unobtrusively as it did. Again, these are based on my experiences running it on a system that was filled with software and several processes running. I noticed little loss of function. In fact, I was surprised at how detailed this program can be and unobtrusive.
The only downside to Go Back is that it needs to claim ten percent of your hard drive, if not more for larger drives, and it can run when you are working, but rarely. Again, if you spend time adding and removing software, this is a must have, even if you have Windows XP or ME, particularly ME or anything older than XP. While XP is stable, given all of your software is current, ME and older versions are notorious for crashes. Until I upgraded to XP, system crashes, lock ups and such were daily events.
Disk Doctor, an important part of the suite, was something of a disappointment. When running and it required to reboot to have total access to my hard drive, the program started up the built-in utility that Windows XP ships with rather than Symantec's own offering. I felt totally disappointed about that, but then again these things happen.
On the very plus side, Norton Utilities does allow you to run basic functions from the CD. This is great if you are working on multiple systems and need to check out a few details. The only downside is that activation is now required. A more common feature on new software, Symantec has joined the activation bandwagon. If you want to install, you have to activate the program.
The total sum of the parts that make up Norton SystemWorks 2005 Premier make it a value, but only if you plan to purchase Norton AntiVirus, Ghost or any number of other utilities. In terms of updating, product consistency, Norton has done well with this new version. The much needed add-ons are nice extras and it is good to see them here. For total protection, one needs Premier Pro and the Internet Security package to be totally covered.
While some have proclaimed the security suite dead, Norton is proving that they have put some much need life into their long established product line. Minus a few complaints here and there, the program does not eat up system resources as older models did, and it ships with the excellent Norton Anti Virus. Overall this version does a solid job of keeping your computer in tip top shape. If you are considering updating, do. This is big improvement over the last model. Just from my experiences it seems to be a more stable less system hoggish program. Except for a few minor changes I would make, this is still one of the better all around performers in the utility market.
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