THESE ARE THE REVIEWS
Believe the other reviews........, June 22, 2005
Reviewer:
J. Hubbard (Springfield, OR)
Brief resume - 3 years as a Senior Systems Engineer for a multimillion dollar integration reseller in my area, 5 years as the Regional Systems Administrator for a billion dollar chemical company, and 6 months as the Lead Engineer for a multi-million dollar dot.com Internet directory website.
I needed a copy of Norton Ghost that would work within Windows and not resort to a reboot into DOS. I decided to go ahead and try this software, despite the scathing reviews.
After using previous versions of almost every Symantec problem with few problems (going literally back to DOS), this one exploded in my face. After uninstalling System Works Premier 2003 and installing this, Add/Remove Programs would still open, however I could no longer see anything listed. I received countless errors after Windows (2000) booted and launching any portion of the program suite resulted in errors / crashes.
Since I was trying to install this on a dedicated ghost system (that had absolutely nothing besides Windows 2000 & System Works 2003 fully updated) installed on it, I went ahead and formatted the drive again with Windows 2000 and installed System Works 2005. I've had no problems whatsoever at this point. The Windows version of Ghost runs slow, but everything worked exactly as advertised.
I'm a little conflicted on how to rate this software. I'm going with 3 stars because it absolutely exploded when I tried to "upgrade" from a previous version even though I uninstalled it, however once installed it worked as advertised. If I was a normal computer user hoping to upgrade their software, this would have turned into a service call requiring about a hundred and fifty dollars worth of work.
Bottom line - If you don't mind formatting your hard drive, installing windows then this software, it seems to work. Otherwise, expect a bill for triple it's price from your local rent-a-nerd to undo the catastrophic blunders it almost certainly will make when you install it.
Great Set of Programs But Upgrade at Your Own Risk, October 14, 2004
Reviewer:
Bob J
I have been a user of Norton SystemWorks for several years now. The programs are great. In my experience Norton Antivirus is the best antivirus software program around. Norton Utilities does an excellent job of keeping my computer up and running. While I like these products there is no way that I can recommend Norton SystemWorks 2005. Like some of the other commenters have noted installing Norton SystemWorks 2005 was a nightmare. While I was able to install the other components of SystemWorks 2005 I could not install Norton Antivirus 2005. I had been previous running Norton SystemWorks 2003 and Norton Antivirus 2004. The uninstall program for Norton Antivirus 2004 left so much clutter on my computer that Norton Antivirus 2005 would not install. After digging around on the Symantec web site I was able to discover a link for technical support via email. Symantec's technical support was useless. After a couple days of trading emails and trying their useless suggestions I decided to wipe my hard drive and reloading Windows and all of my software, which actually took less time then trying all of technical support's useless suggestions.
After reloading Windows I was able to install SystemWorks 2005 without any problems. As I said at the beginning its a great program, but if you have a previous version of Norton Antivirus on your computer I would not recommend upgrading to SystemWorks 2005 or Norton Antivirus 2005.
Garbageware Extraordinaire, June 12, 2005
Reviewer:
Joe "Joe" (Huntsville, AL USA)
It's ironic that a primary component of this package is antivirus software. I've never had a virus trash my machine like this pig did. I installed it and, of course, it wouldn't work. It claimed I had installed it too many times. That was on the first install right out of the box. So I had a nice chat with someone in India whom I could barely understand and after much transoceanic negotiations she was able to do something that let me install. If I had only known...
Anyway, everything installed and it has been diligently protecting me from evil people for about a month or so. I am using an old 5400 RPM 20GB boot drive, I bought a nice new (big) drive and I wanted to swap my boot drive over to that. So I thought I'd use Ghost to clone a new boot drive, exactly as the program was supposed to operate. But first, I thought I'd run the utilities to clean everything up before cloning. If you own this package and ever decide to do that, have a friend tie you in a chair until the urge passes. It went through everything and shrieked in horror... "Your partition tables (on several disks) contains serious errors. Shall I fix it for you"? Regrettably, I said sure. It screwed everything up where I couldn't even boot. The system claimed nothing was bootable. After about several hours of dinking around with it, I removed every drive from the machine except the old 20GB and attempted to boot. It worked! Then I hooked the other (3) drives back up, one at a time, rebooting in between, and Win2K was able to figure out how to set everything right.
So now for cloning. Everything appeared to work fine until I tried to reboot using the new (cloned) disk. It seemed to go fine until time to load my personal settings and the like and it then ejected a message "Your system has no paging file... go in and fix it". Great. Except that it just hung with a black screen and no ability at all to do ANYTHING, much less fix the problem. Back to the old system. Internet search... found out how to fix that (it appeared to have to do with anti-piracy... more about that coming up). I finally got it to boot, come up all the way to my user account. Everything looked fine. And then the machine spontaneously rebooted. This happened several times, but once in a while it would make it all the way through. But then when rebooting later the same thing happened. So... every time I reboot the system, it may or may not come up. It seems to be about 1 time in 4 that it comes up OK. Otherwise it hangs in this silly reboot loop.
I know the story is already long, and I'll try to shorten it. After about a day fooling with it, somewhere along the line it came up and said "Your Norton stuff wasn't activated properly". Aha!! The horrible thing is back on the anti-piracy binge. I found that when it actually got out of the reboot loop, I was able to uninstall Norton's garbage. And guess what... it fixed everything. Except that now I had no antivirus protection, and the only way to get it back is go back through the nice people over in India and try to get them to allow me to reconnect to something I bought and paid for.
So in the end, I wound up throwing a perfectly good weekend down the toilet fooling with this garbage, went back to my old 20 GB boot drive and everything (including, I hope, the antivirus stuff) seems to be working, although I'm still cleaning up various little messes. What a complete waste. I have no problem with the idea that Norton wishes to protect their intellectual (???) property from piracy. It's too bad they did it in a way that renders the product virtually useless to legitimate owners.
The moral to the story... I won't be buying anything from Symantec/Norton again.
norton systemworks disaster, June 10, 2005
Reviewer:
Mark G. Jensen "lookingfora_antivirus?" (Moss Beach, CA United States)
with systemworks running in the background
a trojan horse took control of my display file in my control panel and the only background it allowed on my desktop was the one it would display, Smithold??html you need to buy spyware, you have a trojan horse infecting your... so i ran norton antivirus, nothing. no fix. ended up reloading the os. no norton antivirus app so i tried to reload systemworks, after having to remove norton. but, no norton antivirus. it wouldn't install..
Biggest waste of money yet!, June 1, 2005
Reviewer:
Deborah Rutkowski (Palmdale, CA USA)
I have used Norton products since Peter Norton was alive. It's saved my computer and my sanity more than once. Unfortunately, Symantec is no longer the company Peter Norton created. I could not even get this program loaded on either of my computers.
I always know that installation will not be trouble free when it comes to Symantec. But after numerous emails to a company that no longer really wants to provide customer service, and knowledge base entries that flat out said there was no solution at this time, it became clear that they really put a dog on the market this time. The program simply wouldn't install.
So, naturally, I wanted my money back. But ditso me sent Symantec my receipt for the rebate and didn't keep a copy. The argument that they already had the receipt since they sent a rebate didn't work, so I'm stuck with an expensive white elephant that does nothing at all but cause frustration.
And as many of you already know, it's not easy to uninstall left behind Symantec components.
Seriously people... do yourself a favor and JUST SAY NO to these companies that put beta software on the market at inflated prices and then expect you to find the flaws in their software.
I decided to upgrade to Zone Alarm Security Suite and I've never been happier. It runs leaner and faster and doesn't bog down my system like Symantec. The virus protection also caught some spyware. Something that Norton Antivirus never seemed able to do at all.
I can't express enough how frustrated I am every time I look at this box knowing that I will never use it.
JUST SAY NO!
Abysmal Tech Support -- Do Not Buy!!!, May 30, 2005
Reviewer:
Conejon (New York, NY)
WORST customer service experience I have ever had in my life. Not only did installation of their supposed upgrade (to NSW 2005 from 2004) severely damage my operating system (MS-xp_pro), but Norton refused responsibility and tried to palm me off on Microsoft Fee-Based Tech Support. After countless hours on the phone with Microsoft, we identified the problem squarely at Norton. I then had to fight for 3 days with Norton Fee-based Customer Service even to get a troubleshooter on the phone, who then led me through a wild goose chase of useless fixes. (This after being lied to for three days about the reasons for the delays -- that they were supposedly researching my issue.) If you already made the mistake of dealing with this despicable company, demand your money back!
Enjoy reinstalling Windows? Use Norton., May 23, 2005
Reviewer:
Diego Banducci (San Francisco, CA United States)
Will Symantec ever offer bug-free software?
I have used Norton since it originally came out, and saw the quality of the product suffer as the company was bought by Symantec. The appointment of a marketing guy from IBM as President has only made things worse. Symantec's objective is to hook you initially through rebates (I was able to obtain (...)in rebates -- meaning that the product was given to me), and then gouge you with obscene annual update fees. Meanwhile, it places several unremovable files on your disk that render it difficult, if not impossible, to get it off. And if you want a firewall or other added features, you have to buy them separately at exorbitant prices and update fees.
If you do install it, do NOT install any of the free bonus software, especially Go Back, which caused my computer to crash five years ago and has just done it again. Limit your installation to Anti Virus and Systemworks, and still expect the latter to degrade over time.
All of this offended me so much that I switched to Trend Micro's PC-Cillin Internet Security a year ago. That has a lot more features than Norton (including a firewall and spyware blocker), but a defective update around April 20th of this year crashed computers around the world. The company didn't tell anyone, including its shareholders, until April 26th. You could tell by the selling of stock by insiders that something was wrong, but couldn't tell what.
McAfee is playing the same game as Norton, unbundling software so that they can charge you separately for each element, selling the initial package at a steep discount, and then gouging you on the upgrade fees. The only difference is that their software is more unreliable than Symantec's.
Another alternative is System Suite by V Communications, which is more powerful than SystemWorks (among other things, it sweeps your registry of unused links). Norton is clearly worried about them, they're one of the few companies on Norton's competitive upgrade list. I tried it a couple of years ago and had some problems with it, but nothing like Norton.
So what to do? Personally, I plan to go back to PC Cillin Internet Security, which has more features than Norton (e.g., anti-Spyware and a Firewall), and supplement it with SystemWorks, but not Norton's anti-virus or other programs. Then I'm going to wait to see how good (or bad) Microsoft's new programs are.
complete and utter garbage!, May 16, 2005
Reviewer:
Kyle West (Broomfield, CO)
OK, let me preface this by saying that I used Norton tools way back before Symantec branded them, and Norton Utilities were THE MOST AWESOME THINGS you could have installed on your computer.
Long are those days gone. I have only used two products from this suite, Norton Ghost and Antivirus. What have they done to the program I used to love? Norton Ghost on the bootable CD now takes a good 2-3 minutes to load up, and about 30 seconds for a mouse click to take effect. The DOS based version that was the older version, although not quite as pretty, were actually usable. This now is so slow it is worthless. It took less time to reinstall Windows. (NOT A JOKE!) Let me add on that the one ghost image I did make, when verified thru the windows interface worked fine, but when I actually erased my data and tried to restore from this supposedly a-ok image, was considered corrupt and didn't work at all.
And lets not even get into the Anti-Virus program. I couldn't even get this to work thanks to their activation technology.
This was one of the biggest wastes of money I have ever spent. Here's hoping some computer savvy lawyer files a class-action lawsuit against Symantec for releasing such garbage. As for me, I'm selling my copy on eBay.
DO NOT INSTALL. REPEAT, DO NOT INSTALL!, April 13, 2005
Reviewer:
Unknown Comic
Even if you have already purchased this program, DO NOT INSTALL IT. Yes your money may be gone but your data will still be there. This program has rendered systems UNBOOTABLE. Meaning for some people who are not tech-savvy, they will be reformatting their drives and reinstalling Windows.
There is a case to be made that this is in fact a defective product. I would not be surprised to see a class action lawsuit. Wouldn't you be upset if you had to reformat your hard drive after trying to install software meant to protect you? As to the five star ratings you will find here - they are likely employees for the vendor (Symantec), so beware.
There are better ways to protect your data in any case, since even if you are running a utility, your hard drive can still fail. A simple method is to store photos etc at an online service that stores them at their original size. This way if your system fails, you can still get the photos back. Same for other types of documents - you can use Yahoo Briefcase, Gmail, burn to a CD, etc. At the very least, store your data on a separate hard drive (D: etc) distinct from that upon which you installed your OS (C: etc), so if you have to reformat/reinstall software, your data remains intact.
Symantec should be pulling this product from the market, they must obviously know at this point the product is defective and will destroy many users' systems. Oh and if you want to call them and tell them you will be paying for the call. How this product made it through testing is beyond me.
WORSE THAN THE HOLOCAUST, April 11, 2005
Reviewer:
Tim Kastelein "okvomit" (Marshalltown, IA USA)
This is by far the most buggy, speed draining, useless garbage software ever written. Symantec has slowly morphed into a junk software vendor interested only in selling you useless gimmicky crap that breaks your computer. I am a computer technician and I see over 1,500 computers a year. Of the ones with this software installed, (perhaps 75 or more), NONE of them has functioned properly with this sloppy monstrosity on it. Symantec thinks since they own the trademark Norton, people will buy it's software because of it's once well-earned name recognition. And alas; they are right. The mindless masses eagerly shell over an exurbanite amount of money to adopt a little yellow box with the word NORTON on it, but beware - don't even get the BOX close to your computer. There should be a class action lawsuit against this crooked company. Anyone who gives this product good reviews either is in a persistent vegetative state or works for Symantec. Horrible, Horrible, Horrible. Period.
Useless "Customer Service"; Many Wasted Hours, March 22, 2005
Reviewer:
M. Grue - S
Man, do I wish I had read reviews before switching from SystemWorks 2002 to 2005. It was recommended to me by a family member to purchase the software rather than just subscribing for updates... BIG mistake.
Before I had a perfectly working GoBack. Now it won't even install (since I had to uninstall the old version to install the new one). Guess I'm relying on system restore now.
The Antivirus installed... after quite a bit of time. But at least that is working, which is the only reason I'm giving 2 stars instead of 1. But I definitely DO NOT recommend the product. Subscribe for the updates if you have an older version or get something else entirely. Trust me. It's not worth the headache. And their web customer service doesn't provide any useful insight. I refuse to pay another $30 to talk to the phone support.
SystemWorks 2005 one of the worst, March 3, 2005
Reviewer:
Robert J. Pekar (Chicago, IL)
I work with computers, and I have yet to have a successful install of NSW 2005 on over 50 computers. If you desire successful install you must reformat your hard drive and then install NSW 2005 first before any other programs. On several of my clients I elected just to update the NSW 2004 anti virus subscription, so much easier. Don't waste your time with this version. Norton also, had similar problems with their 2003 version, which they repeated denied had any problems, but searching the web found problem after problem with installation.
Symantec and Nortons Last Version, February 22, 2005
Reviewer:
P. Smith (Iowa)
The reason some users have had problems with this program is that they are installing or re-installing the same or updated versions of Norton System Works. That is because Symantec/Norton leaves so much junk behind in uninstalling that it conflicts with itself, either slowing up or rendering the whole operating system unbootable. When you try to get help from their technical support they blame it on a corrupted MicroSoft installer file and send you a half-dozen pieces of obfuscating, boilerplate "solutions" that will get anyone less than an expert to wind up with an unusable system. Many people solve it either by re-formatting the drive--if they have a recent backup--or by using reedit to delete every Norton or Symantec entry of more than 500, selecting them one at a time. And that still leaves files in half-dozen locations, many of which are "in use" and not delectable. My guess is that this is their idea of copy protection or instant obsolescence. But it doesn't end there: Ironically, I got the program to update my old Quarterdeck Clean Sweep--what they call Clean Up--only to find after-the-fact that the program would not work with a modern dual cpu setup, though there was no mention of this in the System Requirements. Ghost and GoBack also wouldn't work for me for who knows what reason and I already knew better than to trust their AV program. Over the years I've watched Symantec buy and immediately screw up a host of excellent programs--MACE, DesqView, FastBack, Norton, Clean Sweep, and now Partition Magic and Drive/Ghost. I've begun to suspect that Symantec isn't really a legitimate business but a corporate shell created to throttle and bury any good small independent firm's programs that competitively annoy the biggies. No firm can be this incompetent.
Reinstall, December 25, 2004
Reviewer:
Kenneth B. Stevens
This software is crap! I had to uninstall it in order to install a Windows update and cannot reinstall the software. Getting any help from Symantec is impossible. I done buying anything associated with Symantec. I don't need the aggravation.
Similar Install Problems - Avoid Wasting Your Time, December 23, 2004
Reviewer:
NoMore Norton "NoMore" (USA)
I had similar install problems at mentioned in the other reviews. I had to wipe out all prior versions of Symantec products manually to get this to install correctly (i.e. playing with registry files). The program now works, but I still get an error message regarding a missing .dll at startup. I did have Norton Antivirus 2004 installed prior to the upgrade (followed directions on uninstalling prior versions, did not work). It also fouled up my internet connection, but I found a website to fix the problem (again, more registry hacking into TCP/IP setting).
If you are an intermediate to advanced computer user with a few hours to spare give it a try, but this is the last Norton product I will ever purchase(after using Norton products for 10+ years). Norton Antivirus 2004 was a resource hog, Systemworks 2005 has a buggy install. The only reason I stuck with Norton was it cost, practically zero to upgrade each year (...) but it's not worth the trouble anymore. I would say you get what you pay for, but considering the retail price of this is (...)...save your money and buy something else.
2005 Better than 2004 - Installation Nightmare - Beware, December 23, 2004
Reviewer:
Michael McClain
Nastiest program install I've ever had; exceeding the difficulty of the 2004 install. Autoprotect did not work. Uninstalled and reinstalled the program 5 times, deleted files on the hard drive; and (perspiration) hacked the registry all at the direction of Symantec's online help directives. 4 hours later, finally got the program to install correctly. 2005 was an upgrade from SystemWorks 2004.
Symantec lost my business on my laptop last year. Unless there are glowing reviews for future versions of this product, they've lost it on my desktop too.
Agree with the other reviewers; this product is not for the average PC user; once you have it installed, it does take less resources; and it's a shame a fine product is brought to shambles by installation nightmares; as I too am a long time Norton user since back in the DOS days..., however, two years of nasty upgrade installation problems... bye Norton... aka Symantec.
Resource Hog, December 7, 2004
Reviewer:
L. Baker "JaspertheOgre" (Houston, TX United States)
I've been using Norton products since the dos days and have upgraded regularly over the years. After a DISASTROUS and completely failed attempt to upgrade both Systemworks and Internet security 2005, I took a hard look at my 2004 versions of the same programs. I have since done a clean reinstall of windows, (trying to upgrade to 2005 completely messed up my os), and all my software. I have upgraded to a combo modem/router with firewall and no longer have a need for Norton Internet security, (if you use dsl and do NOT have a "2wire" brand dsl modem router, GET ONE!). I've upgraded Windows to XP Pro. THE BACKUP FEATURE IN XP PRO IS WORTH THE PRICE OF THE UPGRADE! I backed up 17GB to external hard drive in 30 minutes. So no longer need Norton Ghost. I now use McAfee Antivirus, Spybot(freeware) and Adaware(freeware) and get better protection and lower system resource cost. I've found that Windows Disk Defragmenter does a fine job, so no longer need Speed Disk. Let me tell you, by dumping Norton Internet Security, Ghost, Antivirus and Speedisk, like some others have said, I have a new computer. I have about 80mb of additional ram,(after accounting for replacement software), and surfing the net has become FUN again. You'll see offers of Norton products for free after rebates. DON'T DO IT, unless you want it just for a couple of the smaller utilities like web tools, wipe free space or Windoctor, which is what I have reinstalled. The real costs are hogged system resources and lost/wasted time dealing with bloated software that wants to completely take over your computer. After relying on Norton for over ten years it was HARD to give it up! And while I'm glad I did I'm sorry I had to. Norton needs to scale back, slim down and give us back our computers. When they've done that I'll take another look.
P.S. Since doing the complete backup with Windows XP PRO Backup/ASR (automated system recovery), I've had occasion to do a complete restore 🙂. Easy, intuitive and flawless! Had my computer back in 1 hour.
NSW 2005 installation routines are worse than broken ..., December 5, 2004
Reviewer:
D. Wengrovitz (Arlington, VA)
I've used Norton Systemworks (and Norton Utilities) for years, however, this year I bought the product without reading all the reviews on Amazon. Boy am I sorry. The installation routines for this year's version product are just plain broken. Whoever tested this could not possibly have given it a "thumbs up" to be released. In my small world, even the common testing use cases failed (e.g., clean upgrade from last version, compatibility with other Symantec products, clean de-installs, etc.).
I had Norton Internet Security 2005 and Norton Systemworks 2004 Pro previously installed on my machine. Trying to install this version of Norton Systemworks generated all sorts of problems. In addition, it broke the one feature of Systemworks 2004 I used the most, Password Manager (sadly, that product isn't even included in this year's version of Systemworks). Not only does this product not cleanly install, but when you try to remove it to clean up all that it messed up it gets worse. It even removes what was installed with other Symantec products (when I de-installed NSW 2005 it removed the version of Norton Antivirus that I installed with Norton Internet Security 2005).
I can't say it enough. Read the Amazon reviews on this product. It is worse than broken. I've worked with information technology and software development for more than 20 years and this product should never have been released in its current form. After 6 hours of trying various combinations to get NIS 2005, NSW 2005, and Norton Password Manager 2004 to work I've finally given up. NSW 2005 is going in the trash and I'm reinstalling NSW 2004 Pro.
Symantec, I'm sorry to be so blunt. At one time, the Peter Norton name meant something to consumers that were looking for useful and high quality utilities for their PC. Apparently, those days are long gone. If you are looking for utilities that make your PC run better, either spend your money elsewhere or wait until Symantec pays more attention to their quality assurance and testing efforts.
WORTHLESS, December 4, 2004
Reviewer:
Harry Drasin (Pacific Palisades, California United States)
I have been using their products for many years, but this year's edition simply does not install. I have wasted hours trying to get this to work. The solutions in their knowledge base are ineffective. It's the weekend, so of course there's no technical support -- even when there is -- there is a charge of $30. Save your time and money -- buy something else.
Huge Disappoint from Symantec, November 27, 2004
Reviewer:
Kevin Bachler "Caveman Chess" (Park Ridge, Illinois, U.S.A.)
I have been a loyal user of Symantec products for many years, and am a knowledgeable user - though not an IT person, I do build my own computers, etc. I am extremely disappointed in NSW 2005 and NAV 2005. The product simply does not install correctly, and there is more than one installation problem, which you can find by using Google. In my case, I worked with Norton support for some time, uninstalling and reinstalling the product, and doing significant registry maintenance to insure that all references to ANY past Norton products were removed. The software still did not install correctly. (I continue to get a message about a missing navemail.dll, even though NAV 2005 does not use this dll.)
I finally pointed out to Symantec that there is significant information on the Internet about the problems with NSW 2005 /NAV 2005 installation, and therefore asked for my money back on a DOWNLOADED copy. Without argument or hesitation, Symantec agreed, which tells me that not only did they want to make me happy, but they also must know that there are significant product issues.
I hope Symantec fixes this problem, and gets their act together. I have liked their products in the past. But this is a very poor product and I would recommend that mainstream users check out mainstream alternatives such as McAfee or Computer Associates.
Useless except for Ghost 9, November 8, 2004
Reviewer:
C. Carroll
Ghost 9 is a significant upgrade, but the remaining components have compatibility and performance problems, I uninstalled them and switched to Fix-It and Pc-cillin antivirus.
Great programs, but extremely painful to install, November 6, 2004
Reviewer:
MRG
I recently purchased Norton SystemWorks 2005 Premier to upgrade from Norton SystemWorks 2003 and Norton AntiVirus 2004. There are definitely some major improvements in the programs, especially in Norton Ghost, which no longer comes as an MS-DOS based program.
However...
The installation for this was VERY painful. During the first installation, I received numerous errors, after which it claimed it had completed successfully. After rebooting I kept getting an error message saying that NavEmail.dll was missing. Uninstalling and reinstalling did not help. Symantec technical support was of no help. Eventually I ended up deleting all Symantec registry keys and manually deleting all Symantec software from my hard drive before reinstalling and getting everything to work.
I write this review as a software engineer, one who is technically savvy, and I have never had as much trouble getting a program to install as I had with this one. I doubt average Joe User would be willing to deal with this pain.
Symantec has some serious work to do in their Software Q/A team. Either that or their marketing team was too forceful in releasing a product that was not ready for prime time.
terrible to upgrade-revise, October 25, 2004
Reviewer:
T. Lauver (Pennsylvania)
The product itself with all the features are great and useful, and I was excited to get the new version of Ghost.
What is hard to swallow is the fact that if you are upgrading a Symantec product to this one, it renders your PC useless. I rebooted after the uninstall/install s/w process, and at least the OS booted up initially. I noticed that when the OS started, my internet connection was not functioning. I wasn't pleased with this, and knew as an IT professional it was the software that was responsible. The registration screen locked up and I was forced into rebooting. It was at this point that the OS couldn't boot up, and I ended up reinstalling both operating systems I had on my one hard drive.
There is no acceptable reason in this happening, and Symantec should be embarrassed about this. I read other reviews and find I'm not alone in experiencing this problem. Shame on Symantec and their apparent disregard to this issue. No reasonable software company wouldn't stumble upon this in testing and not do anything about it.
The reason why I even bought this product was so that I could use Ghost and create images of my logical drives to avoid what this install process just forced me to do, which was to reinstall all my apps from scratch.
Great Set of Programs But Upgrade at Your Own Risk, October 14, 2004
Reviewer:
Bob J
I have been a user of Norton SystemWorks for several years now. The programs are great. In my experience Norton Antivirus is the best antivirus software program around. Norton Utilities does an excellent job of keeping my computer up and running. While I like these products there is no way that I can recommend Norton SystemWorks 2005. Like some of the other commenters have noted installing Norton SystemWorks 2005 was a nightmare. While I was able to install the other components of SystemWorks 2005 I could not install Norton Antivirus 2005. I had been previous running Norton SystemWorks 2003 and Norton Antivirus 2004. The uninstall program for Norton Antivirus 2004 left so much clutter on my computer that Norton Antivirus 2005 would not install. After digging around on the Symantec web site I was able to discover a link for technical support via email. Symantec's technical support was useless. After a couple days of trading emails and trying their useless suggestions I decided to wipe my hard drive and reloading Windows and all of my software, which actually took less time then trying all of technical support's useless suggestions.
After reloading Windows I was able to install SystemWorks 2005 without any problems. As I said at the beginning its a great program, but if you have a previous version of Norton Antivirus on your computer I would not recommend upgrading to SystemWorks 2005 or Norton Antivirus 2005.
SystemWorks 2005, October 13, 2004
Reviewer:
Unhappy "George" (Virginia)
System: Athlon 3000+, 512 meg ram, 160 gig HD, Windows XP Home SP2.
Checked the Symantec FAQs which say that SystemWorks is compatible with XP SP2, so I bought it.
Loaded SystemWorks 2005, which uninstalled my NAV 2004, and could not access the internet. The instruction book does not contain any instructions to configure SystemWorks and does not list any trouble line telephone numbers. It only says to go on the internet for troubleshooting help. Since I couldn't use the internet, I was stuck.
Had a friend go on the internet and get a trouble number, which would cost $30 for help. Called the number (1-800-927-4019) and listened to music for 3½ hours. No one ever answered; thank goodness for speakerphones.
Uninstalled SystemWorks and still didn't have internet access. Tried to reinstall NAV 2004 but apparently SystemWorks left residue so NAV 2004 wouldn't load. Tried to reinstall SystemWorks and it wouldn't install either.
Had to use manufacturer's recovery disc and reset my system back to zero and then spend two days reloading, updating and configuring all of my applications.
Will never again buy another Symantec product. The support is non-existent
Useless bloatware except for Ghost 9, October 8, 2004
Reviewer:
C. Carroll (Orleans, CA USA)
I purchased this, installed it, and after hours of struggling with compatibility issues, have uninstalled everything except for Ghost 9 (which is a significant upgrade from Ghost 2003, because Symantec bought out another company's better drive imaging product and gave it their own brand). Luckily the price after rebates on Systemworks is about the same as for Ghost alone. Antivirus 2005 has all the problems reported for 2004, compatibility problems with other programs and it slows your system down significantly. I have switched to Vcom's Fix-It Utilities (better than Norton Utilities) and plan on buying Trend Micro's PC-cillin to replace the antivirus bundled with Fix-It Utilities.
Another customer lost by Symantec.
