User Reviews

1. Review Date: 2009-08-18

   I had a SystemWorks 2006 retail box lying around which I never installed and finally decided to install it into my WinXP Pro SP3 system. SW2006 includes GoBack. I have been using Norton Utilities since the DOS days. I can tell you Symantec's programming quality has dropped dramatically since SystemWorks 2004. It seems every release of SystemWorks has bugs in it and SW 2006 is especially poor. I have a dual-boot system so I decided not to install GB. Because of Symantec's now poor reputation, I do not install programs I don't need from them.
   
   For SystemWorks 2006, I cannot use their Norton Disk Doctor and Norton System Doctor. I use Partition Magic's "hidden" partitions for backups. SW2006's NDD and NSD do not work with them. BTW, while I do not have a Dell, most Dell's use a "hidden" partition so NDD and NSD probably won't work with them either.
   
   What's interesting is, in my other O/S, Win98SE, both SW2004's NDD and NSD do work correctly with no problems. For SW2006, I also cannot use LiveUpdate to update their "Trusted Application List", the last item on the list. LU 3.5.0.64, the latest version which I manually upgraded to, will not work. The original LU 3.0.x which came in the box doesn't work either. All LU does during the upgrade is freeze for 30 minutes after which it simply quits.
   
   Another loss of function from SW2004 to SW2006 is the removal of Norton Registry Editor. I like SW2004's NRE because it allows you to set bookmarks. NRE is no longer included in SW2006 and probably later editions too.
   
   In addition, there is a lot of programming bloat in SW2006, even more than in 2004. Before I installed SW2006 in WinXP Pro SP2, it would boot in 90 seconds. Now it takes 140 seconds. That may not seem like a large increase, but it is irritating. Furthermore, SW2006 places 7 separate EXE's in RAM along with their accompanying DLL's. That amounts to 7 separate chances for conflicts, bugs and it can slow the system. They can also cause video playback to stutter, even with NAV disabled. If this happens to you, in WinXP's Task Manager Processes Tab, increase your video player's Priority from Normal to Realtime and see if that helps.
   
   Because I cannot use NDD and NSD, NRE is no longer included, and I did not install GB, there is not much left for me to use. Because Symantec has such poor programmers, I would recommend against using WinDoctor. You never know what damage it can do. I also don't use Norton Protection so SW2006's UnErase Wizard doesn't work, in contrast to Win98SE's SW2004 where UEW does work. BTW, I have a mixture of NTFS and FAT32 partitions in WinXP so SW2006's UEW should still work on the FAT32 partitions but it doesn't. Because I am an advanced user, I don't need CleanUp. I prefer to know what I am deleting. I am left with NAV, Norton Speed Disk, and Wipe Info. This is a sad contrast to what I have available in Win98SE and SW2004. I always use NSD in 98SE as an auto-hide bar on the bottom of the screen. I was not expecting this.
   
   Because I paid for SystemWorks 2006, I intend to use it until the NAV subscription runs out. Then I'll uninstall it and buy the latest version, either Norton SystemWorks 2009 Standard Edition or probably SW2010. Hopefully all the bugs will be gone, although I doubt it. I've come to the point where, if the next version I buy has bugs in it, I'll start looking for another company.
   
   
   User: Cypherdude
   Rating:
   Summary: Numerous Bugs and Major Loss of Function Compared to SW2004
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

2. Review Date: 2008-07-27

   Steer clear of Norton/Symatec products. My HP came with Norton SystemWorks 2006 trial version and I thought it wss fine. Assumed the installation of the product would be quick and painless. Don't remember all that went wrong, but one thing is that I was told by customer support after the fact that I should have uninstalled the trial version before installing the version I had purchased. It took forever to install even when there weren't problems. After suffering with a computer that had slowed to a crawl I was able to determine that it was due to a setting in my Norton Internet Security 2006 program. I finally stopped using it even though I had purchased a two-year version. The Windows uninstall program chugged along for quite a while before announcing that the program could not be removed. Got the Norton removal tool from the web and that's what I'm doing right now. I had not been using the product for months, but it is so hard to get rid of, that I hadn't done so.
   
   User: Marilyn Johnson
   Rating:
   Summary: Forced to give it a star
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

3. Review Date: 2007-12-08

   Systemworks traditionally has done everything with satisfaction for me. But I recently tried trend micros pc-cillin 2007 internet security and I thought that was edge above all the other software out there I've tried. I catches just about everything.
   
   User: Brian A. Troyk
   Rating:
   Summary: Good anitvirus software
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

4. Review Date: 2007-04-20

   I can't even comment on the actual System Works application because I never got it to run - it ruined my system right after install! Once I installed it, it asked for a reboot, then came back wtih "Load Error! Press a key to reboot..." which just lead to the error message again, and again, and again.
   
   A chat with tech support (after an hour wait) revealed that there are problems with the GoBack files, so I had to create a bootable CD, and do all kind of things which I haven't been able to do yet since my burner software doesn't have Image capability - necessary for creating this bootable cd.
   
   Don't buy it, don't install it, don't use it - uninstall everything Norton/Symantec and never go back. I'll be lucky if I ever get my computer working again.....Thanks Symantec!!!!!
   
   User: Jason A. Nowak
   Rating:
   Summary: System WORTHLESS is more like it
   Helpful Votes: 1
   Total Votes: 1
   

5. Review Date: 2007-04-19

   After over a year and a half including renewing for updates I've now discarded Norton SW 2006. it was problamatic and a waste of money. It conflicts with Partition magic another Symantec product and will not work with many MS updates. My system is now operating trouble free since I've uninstalled NSW. Previously my computer was eratic and crashed frquently.
   
   User: Robert D. Oakley
   Rating:
   Summary: It is not what it used to be
   Helpful Votes: 0
   Total Votes: 0
   

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Product Details

1. Multi-purpose solution keeps computer healthy and personal info safe
2. Antivirus protection guards against dangerous viruses and spyware
3. Scans email and IM attachments for virus threats
4. Automatically downloads updates to protect against new threats
5. Restores computer to pre-crash state after system failures

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