Symantec System Works

I would like to get an opinion from anyone that has used System works.Can you please tell me the plusses and minuses.And if there is any alternate Utility similiar to this.
Thanks in advance.

 

I was running NSW 2005, so I'll try to give you some info about it if I can. I also have NSW 2006, but I'm still trying to decide if I want to install it or not.

First, you get not only SystemWorks, but you are getting NAV and Goback also in the NSW package. What I don't really like is you have to install NAV with NSW, it would be better if you could choose to not install NAV with NSW and use a different AV all together. But Goback can be installed separately or own its own, if you want to.

Many of the NSW features can be done with Windows already, so it doesn't add too many new features to what the OS can already provide. One of the exceptions to this is Norton Windoctor. I find NWD to be a very useful part of NSW to look for and fix Windows problems, like with your registry for example. Much better than anything like you can do with free programs like Ccleaner, though Ccleaner is still a good app and a good program to have anyway.

GoBack is another exception and it is far better than anything that could be done with system restore. Goback alone is worth the price of NSW IMO. I know others around here say get ShadowSurfer, DeepFreeze or FirstDefense, but I still prefer GoBack to these programs, partly I suppose because I can often get NSW (and Goback) for free.

NSW is of course a massive resource hog as with most other Symantec products and many of its processess are very difficult to shutdown should you want to. While this may be good in the event of malware infection, at other times it can be quite a pain in the a**. It simply has too many (mem hogging) running processes IMO.

The $70 price at the Symantec website is way overpriced. You can often get the latest retail boxed version much cheaper at stores like BestBuy. I've seen it many times for free after upgrade or $20 to $40 dollars without the upgrade rebate at different stores.

The good news is, you could get a cheap copy of NSW and just run it right off the cd, with no install. This is a good way to run many of the better parts (like NWD) of NSW without having to install NSW on your or anyone elses computer!

Maybe other can give you more options on alternatives. I suppose something like KAV or NOD32 + Tune-Up Utilities + DeepFreeze or ShadowSurfer would be a close alternative set up.

 

The package works very well but is extremely bloated and will slow down your system as it runs. Although in the least, it will keep your system going....

However, if you want, try this package:

Diskeeper Pro
Registry Mechanic
AVG AntiVirus
Acronis TrueImage

Those three work just as well and without sucking your system resources dry like SystemWorks.

 

I often read that Norton is bloated. I believe it, but does anyone have any figures that indicate the memory usage?
Could an application slow a system and yet use little memory?

Thanks,
Jerry

 

Before I installed Norton AntiVirus alone (I opted not to install the full package), my memory usage for windows was at ~90MB. After installing just antivirus, my memory usage jumped to 160MB. Installing the remaining packages, my Windows memory usage jumped to ~230MB.

From ~90 to ~230MB memory usage... that will just kill. Small applications that are programmed with efficient modules will not take a lot of memory and will work well. AVG AntiVirus is an example of such a program. And did i mention that it is also FREE? go to http://free.grisoft.com/

 

Hi singularity2006,

Thanks for that information. It is the first time I have seen figures. That is a lot of memory. I agree that is bloated.
FWIW, on my machine, NOD used 22,216k, and KAV 6 uses 11,757k. Others may have different figures, but those are what I experienced.

I know a lot of people who use AVG. None has had an infection. Every now and then one will say that a virus or trojan tried to infect, but AVG caught it and eliminated it. In addition, the price is right.

Jerry

 

You can install SystemWorks without NAV by copying the contents of the CD to your hard drive. Then delete the NAV and virus defs directories. After that you just double click setup.exe and install what you want. Since you deleted NAV it obviously won't be able to find and install it. This works with NSW2003 (I've done it on four different machines), but I don't see why it shouldn't work on the newer versions as well.

 

Symantec now ship Norton SystemWorks Basic which is NSW without NAV (useful if you already have anti-virus).

 

I am currently using Norton SystemWorks 2006, I hate the new feature called "Norton Protection Centre".

I find it very irritating & the best part - there is no option in the GUI to turn it off *.


* For those using Norton Products 2006, you can use this method to disable it:

Here

 

I used Norton products for 15-20 years and watched them change from useful, powerful products (for their time) into products that take over your computer and do not do anything that other utilities will do without the overhead and associated problems.

After Systemworks 2003 which wasn't too bad, I took them all off my computer with great difficulty and replaced them with SystemSuite and System Mechanic. Never missed them nor do I miss all the problems they caused.