Norton Systemworks

I'm using XP Pro and have Systemworks 2002 Pro installed. I just finished running Speed Disk on my C: partition, and I find that there are still some fragmented files. Just for grins, I ran it again with the same result. What gives? Are there better disk defragmenters out there, or is what I have normal?
Second question: when I try to run Disk Doctor, I get an error message saying that the OS or some other program has control of my drive, and I need to uncheck the "Automatically fix errors" box. All I want to do is check disk health and do a surface scan. This version of Disk Doctor ran just fine when I had 98SE on another machine. Any ideas?

 

3 comments.

The version you have does not play nice with XP. You need a newer one.

The disk defrag app that ships with XP is good. Norton's is good. But they don't agree on how to best arrange the drive. The default (a light version of Diskeeper) does some housekeeping on the fly while the PC is running so after a few days, Norton will see the drive as badly fragged when it really isn't. I'd suggest just using the one that shipped with XP. Not wonderful but pretty good.

All you can do with the system drive (or any other drive that has system files - like lots do when folks have moved pagefile off the C: partition) is scan for errors. It cannot and will not allow any fixing while the GUI is running. It can be set to check and fix at next boot if you want and that's the thing to do if you find problems.

 

Does XP have a disk checking program? I can't find one under System Tools. I don't think it hurts to do a surface scan periodically to check for defective clusters. Are there any good alternatives to Norton, which doesn't seem to work on my system anyway?

 

chkdsk /r does surface checking in addition to lots of different file checks.

There are certainly alternatives to all the Norton features with the possible exception of GoBack.

And I've been less and less happy with the app myself since Peter Norton sold it to Symantec and then quit doing anything with it himself. They really haven't done well IMO even though I still run it. I'm not having problems right now and have enough resources to easily live with the load it puts on a PC but if I ever need to reload the OS, I'll use other things.

 

My thinking now is to dump Norton, which is also my anti-virus, and go to AVG. I've read good things on this BBS about AVG. The Windows defragger and chkdsk should suffice for preventive maintenance. Even if I upgrade to the paid version of AVG, it probably will be less than the latest Norton package. All the bells and whistles attached to Norton are nice, but I didn't use that many of them.

 

Just my 2 cents here. I use SystemWorks 2003 on my XP without any problems. I have only used XP's Scandisk and Defrag programs though. On my 98 system, I do use Norton's programs (also SW 2003) because I feel they work quicker.

The disk checking in XP comes up when you you right click on the drive, choose Properties, and the Tools tab. I run both the disk check and defrag once a week. Maybe more then needed, but I got into that habit with 98. I would suggest running the XP programs and leave the Norton programs alone, for this job.

Mike

 

FieldTech
XP defrags and does chkdsk on the fly. SFC, with your CD, can be helpful if System Files get really messed up. The XP maintainance utilities are actually quite good, and you should have no need for third party software to do regular clean up.

Norton Utilities left a bad taste in my mouth, and a lot of garbage on my c drive, because, I, like you, never dreamed that an "Uninstaller" would need to be followed up with pages of disclaimers, registry hacks and advice to avoid using the "Uninstaller" from Symantec.
Johanna
A former user of Norton Utilities with a mess in my registry, but a general reluctance to extract it, with tweezers, at this time.

 

It's nice to know there are others who think as I do. Last Sunday, I "uninstalled" Norton Systemworks. Let me tell you what a mess it left. We could not open a Word document: we'd get an error message that said NAV could not scan the document, some components of NAV may be missing (no fooling!). Please uninstall and reinstall. I posted in another forum at this BBS, and got a quick response. 30 minutes of research at the Symantec web site and 60 minutes of hacking my registry last night finally cured the problem. It'll be a cold day in the Kalahari before I ever buy another Norton product. My wife uses WinFax Pro, and she has some intermittent issues with that. I'm considering finding another fax program. Any suggestions?