Norton Systemworks 2003 - Good or Evil?

Ok.... a query if you please

Was advised to install Systemworks last year by one of our members, which i did..... only to be told by another I.T bod that he'd come across many a troubled caller that had their PCs messed up by using it

I've gone from windows 98 to XP Pro...... but have been reluctant to install Systemworks to date.... want to stop umming and ahhing... so am asking you incredibly experienced people what your thoughts are

i found that while Systemworks was easy to use, and seemed to deal with issues that my old PC had, my old system was too wrecked for me to see any real advantage to having it I've also read that there can be problems with XP Pro...... i've read around the forum and heard the songs of praise for this software..... but thought i'd ask outright before i do the deed

So..... Norton Systemworks....... saint or sinner? Anyone having problems with it and XP Pro?

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by kink

So..... Norton Systemworks....... saint or sinner? Anyone having problems with it and XP Pro?

I've not used the full Systemworks suite, but I've used Norton Antivirus 2004 (& 2003 before that) on Win XP Pro & Home without problem.

[dilli-theclaw]

I run norton system works 2003 on 2 of my pc's and 2004 on my wifes pc and my laptop.... all have XP on them (the laptop is the home edition - the others are the pro one) I've nerver had a single problem.

Originally Posted by Tezcatlipoca

I've not used the full Systemworks suite, but I've used Norton Antivirus 2004 (& 2003 before that) on Win XP Pro & Home without problem.

Thanks Already have McAfee running...... considering letting Norton's antivirus loose too..... but it's the rest of the package i'm considering..... i love my pc as it is....... want it to stay that way

Originally Posted by dilligaf1701

I run norton system works 2003 on 2 of my pc's and 2004 on my wifes pc and my laptop.... all have XP on them (the laptop is the home edition - the others are the pro one) I've nerver had a single problem.

Cool not sure what the other reviews and the criticism were refering to then

A number of people I deal with say Norton is another word for evil.

[Chris W]

the one thing i think is evil about norton is their pay per incident technical support, i speak to people at work who are having problems with Symantec products that they have paid for (and IMHO they are expensive for what they are) and i begrudge refering them to Symantec. Their online support is difficult to navigate, and phone support is charged at £18 per incident. I don't think this is right, seeing as people have paid for the product, and in some cases paid to extend their subscription, i think they should be entitled to decent technical support.

[ian@huth]

Norton Systemworks is OK as long as you don't let it fix anything automatically for you. Always choose to select how it fixes something.

[DES_1001]

i've used systemworks 2001,2003 and now 2004pro never had any problems with any of them,i would recomend norton very highly! but it does use a fair bit of your system resources!

[Defiant]

Dont bother with anthing called Norton. Your friend who works in IT is right. Just dont do it. WINXP doesn't need it

Originally Posted by Pem

A number of people I deal with say Norton is another word for evil.

I'm not sure - I just got 'Internet Security 2003' with a new motherboard, I'll let you know how it goes

[abailey152]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

Norton Systemworks is OK as long as you don't let it fix anything automatically for you. Always choose to select how it fixes something.

Good advice. I am especially careful when it comes to "cleaning" the registry.

[Shaun]

I use the internet security product ATM, and before that I used the standalone NAV and NIF, I've not had any trouble at all, and some of the parental controls are great if there are little un's about.

M why don;t you make a back up of your PC and then try it, if it goes boobies sky wards then you can take it back

Oh, and it's nice to see you around here again

[ntl customer]

The latest versions of NSW, NAV and NPF are unnecessary resource hogs.

I'd steer well clear

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

the one thing i think is evil about norton is their pay per incident technical support, i speak to people at work who are having problems with Symantec products that they have paid for (and IMHO they are expensive for what they are) and i begrudge refering them to Symantec. Their online support is difficult to navigate, and phone support is charged at £18 per incident. I don't think this is right, seeing as people have paid for the product, and in some cases paid to extend their subscription, i think they should be entitled to decent technical support.

Their site is easily navigatable for me
I use NAV2004 at home, and corporate NAV at work, along with PCanywhere.
Never had a problem with NAV, PCA has thrown up some problems but the fixes for them have always been easy to find, and free.

At NTL they use McAfee, which merrily stood by and let nimbda and other viruses propogate throughout their corporate network.
If it wasn't for a contractor having NAV on his laptop, we'd never have known what was causing all the problems.
Had a friend with McAfee too, and the hassle she had to go through to update virus definitions etc was alarming!

[dilli-theclaw]

It could be worse - I know quite a few people who don't bother with ANY anti-virus software, because 'it won't affect me' - or 'i'm not worth sending a virus to'

Then they get infected - and have to pay me to fix it