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My copy of the Norton Utilities 2001 (NU2001) software installed automatically and easily from its CD. (I'm running Windows 98 on a 350 MHz Pentium II system with 64 Mb of RAM.) Most of NU2001's functionality worked right the first time I tried it. A corrupted program file cause one function to not work; overcoming this problem required reinstalling the program but that was easy and it took only two or three minutes.
Most of this product's several functions performed quickly and effectively the first time I tried to run them. (I haven't needed to refer to the product manual even once yet.) In fact, when I first ran this product it found 52 errors in my system registry. My system had been functioning so poorly that I thought my C: drive was failing. NU2001 corrected all the registry errors automatically and now my system runs properly. I consider NU2001's suite of functions clearly superior to the Microsoft registry-repair and disk-scan functions that came with my copy of Windows 98.
NU2001's best feature may be its manual. It is very well written and very well organized. It may be the most professional software manual I've ever seen, and I've been "into" computers for about 20 years. This manual is a credit to Norton/Symantec and I salute everyone involved in producing it. It is _excellent_ documentation for the average, non-technical computer user. It is simplified, brief, and to the point; it offers step by step, non-technical instructions. It is absolutely excellent!
Now that I've run NU2001 for a while I can attest to its clear value, but I also found a few flaws.
The Rescue Disk function has yet to produce a set of rescue disks that will boot my system. In fact, NU2001 could not even format the new floppy in my A: drive, even though DOS formatted it immediately and without difficulty. Eventually I successfully created a Rescue Disk set but it would not boot my system. Subsequently, at random intervals, I created and tested four or five new Rescue Disk sets but none has ever rebooted my system.
Twice, after the product optimized my registry and proceeded with an automatic shutdown, the shutdown process "hung" and I had to hit my computer's Reset button. That step caused new registry errors. While NU2001 fixed the new errors easily, this extra repair step wastes time. I am becoming less and less tolerant of the time it wastes.
The Anti-Virus function appears to work fine but some of its on-screen prompts are imprecise or otherwise inadequate. Its automatic on-line anti-virus updating process also seems to work properly but the download function's on-screen prompts are puzzling -- I think they are either counter-intuitive or they require too much decision-making on arcane technical points -- or a needed (helpful) prompt is conspicuous by its absence.
While most of the product's on-screen prompts are at least good, I found some to be vague or too complicated. Other prompts seemed poorly written (programmer-ese?). Still other on-screen layouts and prompts seemed to me like they'd been chosen for their "beauty" rather than for their functionality.
The rebate form seems confusing to me, almost as if it had been deliberately written this way to discourage customers from filling it out and mailing it in.
Since I've done some programming myself, I can empathize with programmers who may be pressured my management to quickly complete a project to satisfy marketing or other business demands. However, that pressure on programmers can and often does result in problems for customers who use the product. I suspect that at Norton/Symantec there are two camps: One camp wants to do ship only the best possible overall program design, one with only professionally-written on-screen prompts, a product optimized for ease of use by non-technical customers. The other camp wants to just get the package out the door and into the market, period, and doesn't care about how much trouble customers might have using the product -- this might be called the "Grab the money and run" camp. With NU2001, I suspect both camps may have influenced the product's creation. So while you should have some very satisfying moments with this product, also prepare for at least a little frustration.
In conclusion, I think this product is a good investment. It does several valuable things, it does them well, it does them efficiently, and it does most of them without excessive demand for technical understanding or other interaction by the user. In spite of several flaws, I think Norton Utilities 2001 can be a valuable resource for the most casual computer user as well as professionals. I'm very glad it is available, I'm equally glad I bought it, and I have no qualms about recommending it to others.
P.S. Attention Norton/Symantic management: I'd gladly pay for a NU2001 upgrade (overhaul!) which uses _only_ prompts incorporated into _intuitive_ on-screen layouts, and which are written by _only_ professional writers, and which use _only_ non-technical language. I respectfully submit that the people who wrote the NU2001 manual might be your best guide in this regard.
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Norton Utilities 2001 5.0 makes fixing and preventing PC problems automatic and easy. New features for this version include support for Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000. Use powerful tools easily to solve problems, even when your hard drive isn't working, by launching Norton Utilities 2001 directly from its bootable CD. Also, run key utilities directly from the CD to save disk space. Norton System Doctor can work continuously in the background to keep your PC running smoothly. System Doctor finds potential disk and system problems; and, in many cases, can take proactive measures automatically to prevent a minor problem from becoming serious. With Norton Speed Disk, you can improve overall PC performance by optimizing your hard drive and putting the most needed files near the front of the disk for faster access, which significantly decreases loading time for applications and documents. Subsequent optimizations are even faster, so it's easy to keep a hard drive working efficiently. And the Norton Protected Recycle Bin provides a comprehensive recovery system for files, including those that have been rendered destroyed by a malicious virus.
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