Norton Utilities
Encyclopedia
Norton Utilities is a utility software
suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. The current version 15 of Norton Utilities Premier Edition for Windows XP/Vista/7 was released December 27, 2010.
Peter Norton
published the first version for DOS
, The Norton Utilities, Release 1, in 1982. Release 2 came out about a year later, subsequent to the first hard drives for the IBM PC line. Peter Norton's company
was sold to Symantec
in 1990. However his name remains as a "brand" for Symantec's range of utility and security software for home users.
by restoring the first letter of the directory entry (a feature of the FAT file system
used in MS-DOS
, albeit one that was not originally documented). The UNERASE utility was what launched NU on its path to success. Quoting Peter Norton, "Why did The Norton Utilities become such popular software? Well, industry wisdom has it that software becomes standard either by providing superior capabilities or by solving problems that were previously unsolvable. In 1982, when I sat down at my PC to write Unerase, I was solving a common problem to which there was no readily available solution."
14 programs were included, on three floppy disks, list price $80:
Following this release Peter Norton was made Utilities Editor of PC Magazine
.
Release 4.0 (1987, list $99.95) added four new programs:
Norton Disk Doctor was the major addition in this 1988 release.
It also includes Wipedisk, Wipefile, Batch Enhancer
and a sector level disk editor
, a system information diagnostic utility, and a disk caching program (NCACHE), which was between 10 - 50% faster than Microsoft's SMARTDrive
when properly configured.
replacement for COMMAND.COM called NDOS. This version also allowed the choice of "classic" names (such as FF.EXE) or longer names (such as FINDFAST.EXE); these were configurable in the updated version of the Norton Integrator menu system.
Norton Utilities 6.0 supports DOS 5 and Windows 3.1. It includes Windows Program Manager support, but the tools are still DOS-based, so a set of icons were supplied.
It includes Norton Disk Doctor, Disk Editor, Disk Tools, Speed Disk, Norton Cache, Disk Monitor, Diskreet, NDisk, System Information, NDOS.
The speed of Speed Disk was faster than previous release.
Diskreet supports Data Encryption Standard
.
System Information now includes more detailed information on installed system.
UnErase takes advantage of DOS 5.0's Delete Tracking and Mirror File features to recover data. However, MS-DOS 5.0 added a new UNDELETE.exe program, licensed from Norton competitor Central Point Software
, which took advantage of the same Delete Sentry control and Deletion-tracking files. (The DOS ERASE command is the same as the DEL (Delete) command.) Windows 95
's Recycle Bin soon further reduced the value of UnErase.
, Stacker
, and SuperStor disk compression tools.
It includes Norton Disk Doctor, Disk Editor, Undelete, SmartCan, NDOS, System Information, File Find, Norton Change Directory.
Speed Disk remained as well, although SPEEDISK.exe was licensed by Microsoft
and incorporated into MS-DOS
as DEFRAG.exe in MS-DOS 6 onward.
Release 7.0 had revised user interfaces for the utilities that feature a menu-driven user interface. Also some of these tools now did not need to run in full-screen-mode but just displayed a window in the center of the screen, like the disk formatter or the disk duplicator utility.
Disk Editor now includes Advanced Recovery Mode.
DOS Utilities include Norton Disk Doctor, System Information, Change Directory, FileFind, Diskreet, DUPDISK, File Fix, NDOS, Batch Enhancer, Norton Integrator, Speed Disk.
Windows utilities include Norton Disk Doctor, Speed Disk, System Watch, File Compare, INI Tracker, INI Tuner, INI editor, INI Advisor
As a native Windows 95 tool, it supports VFAT file system used by Windows 95.
It includes Norton Image, Norton System Doctor, Norton Protection, Rescue Disk, System Information, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton UnErase, Space Wizard, Speed Disk, System Information. DOS tools include Disk Editor, Disk Doctor, Pre-Installation TuneUp.
CD-ROM version was announced on 1996-01-15. It adds Disk Companion, Memory Companion, and Norton Utilities Companion over floppy disk version.
Disk tools included with this release are not compatible with FAT32.
The Windows version of 'Speed Disk' works with much greater speed than Microsoft's supplied defrag program, as it moved groups of clusters, not single clusters as Microsoft's Windows Disk Defragmenter
. Changes in the way Windows operates meant that many of the old utilities were either dropped completely or replaced with GUI based versions. However, with the advent of Windows XP onwards, Norton's 'Speed Disk' reverted back to single-cluster defragmentation.
It supports Windows 95.
It includes Norton CrashGuard with Anti-Freeze, Norton System Genie, Norton AntiVirus, LiveUpdate, System Genie, Registry Editor, System Doctor, System Benchmark, Disk Benchmark, Multimedia Benchmark, Speed Disk, Space Wizard.
Disk utilities now support FAT32.
A LiveUpdate fix was released for Norton Utilities 2.0 for Windows 95.
It includes Norton Disk Doctor, Norton Speed Disk, Norton System Information, Norton System Doctor, Norton Protection/UnErase, Live Update.
Norton Disk Doctor, Speed Disk support FAT 16 and NTFS file systems.
It does not include DOS Unerase, so files deleted from FAT partition needs to be handled by Norton Utilities for Windows 95/98.
It includes Norton WinDoctor, Norton Web Services, LiveUpdate Pro, Norton CrashGuard 3.0, Norton Zip Rescue, Norton System Doctor, Norton SpeedStart, Norton Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk.
Via the use of LiveUpdate, a Speed Disk patch is available to take advantage of Windows 98's application launch enhancements.
Although the 'for Windows' name was dropped from the products, it still appears in support sites.
It supports Windows 95 and 98.
It includes Norton SystemCheck, Registry Doctor Scan, Norton WinDoctor, Connection Doctor, Norton WipeInfo, Norton CrashGuard 4.0, Norton Zip Rescue, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton UnErase, a six-month subscription to Norton Web Services for only $6.95.
Early order includes Net Nanny
Internet filter software.
It supports Windows 95 and 98.
It includes Norton SpeedDisk, Norton System Check, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton Zip Rescue, free 3-month subscription to Norton Web Services.
It supports Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000.
It includes Norton SpeedDisk, Norton Optimization Wizard, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton WinDoctor, Norton System Doctor, and Norton System Check.
Disk tools now support USB and FireWire drives via Windows.
It supports Windows 98 and higher, up to Windows 2000 and XP.
It includes Norton SpeedDisk, Norton System Doctor, Norton UnErase, Norton DiskDoctor, Norton WinDoctor, System Information, Wipe Info.
2005.
It supports Windows 98 or higher.
It includes Norton Protection, Speed Disk, Norton Optimization Wizard, Norton System Doctor, UnErase Wizard, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton WinDoctor, System Information, Wipe Info, Image, Norton File Compare, Norton Registry Editor, Norton Registry Tracker, and Explorer Shell Extension.
The program supports Windows XP , Vista (32/64-bit).
It includes Registry Defragmenter, Registry Cleaners, Disk Cleaner, Disk Defragmenter, Startup Manager, Service Manager, Restore Center, System Optimizer, Process Viewer, and Performance Test.
The product licence was changed to allow it to be used on up to 3 household PCs.
It also Includes the features of the Norton Utilities plus the Norton Online Backup. It is also compatible with Windows 7. It was released on October 14, 2009.
, providing much of the same features as the equivalent Windows version.
The included disk tools support the HFS file system only. Support for the Apple Hard Disk 20 was not explicitly mentioned.
When Apple released System 7, Norton Utilities for the Macintosh needed to be updated in order to run safely. This proved to be a recurring story in the history of the utility; early versions were highly regarded for a while, but proved to be hazardous when used with newer disk structures and operating systems before being updated.
It includes Disk Editor, Norton Backup for Macintosh. It also added features in Symantec Utilities for Macintosh II.
This version was bundled with Small Business Macintosh 6500/250 and 4400/200.
It runs on Mac with Motorola 68020-68040 CPUs and Power Mac G3 using Mac OS 7.1-8.6.
It includes Norton Crashguard, Speed Disk, Norton Disk Doctor, Disk Editor, FileSaver, UnErase, Volume Recover, Wipe Info, System Info, DiskLight, FastFind.
Norton CrashGuard replaced Norton Fastback and Floppier.
It supports PowerPC Mac (up to G3) using Mac OS 7.5 and above (up to 8.6).
It includes Norton Disk Doctor, File Saver, Unerase, and Volume Recover, Norton CrashGuard.
It supports PowerPC Mac G3 and G4 using Mac OS 8.0-9.1.
Update was available to make the tools compatible with Mac OS 9.
It supports PowerPC Mac using Mac OS 8.1 and above.
It includes Norton FileSaver, Speed Disk.
It runs on Mac OS 8, 9, and new OS X support. OS X tools run on PowerPC G3 Mac (except Beige G3). However, the OS X tools have not been tested on Mac OS X later than 10.2.6, and is known to be incompatible with Mac OS X v10.3
(Panther).
It includes Norton Utilities 6.0, Norton Disk Doctor, Speed Disk, FileSaver, UnErase, Volume Recover, LiveUpdate.
Speed Disk does not run on Mac OS X, except by booting with Norton Utilities 7.0 CD.
All OS X tools are now native OS X-based, but it can still boot CD that can boot into Mac OS 9.
It includes Wipe Info, Speed Disk, Volume Recover, Norton FileSaver, UnErase, LiveUpdate.
8.0.1 added support of Mac OS X 10.3.
8.0.2 added support of G5 model Macintosh released before December 2004, 1.25 GHz eMac, and various Mac G4 notebooks. However, some tools may present errors when running Mac OS X 10.4.
It supports non-SCSI drives (HD20, MacBottom, HyperDrive are explicitly listed) and also supports MFS floppy disks in a limited way.
It runs on Mac 512Ke, Plus, SE, Mac II (i.e. not 512K or 128K) with System v4.1 and Finder v5.3 or higher.
It runs on 1MB Macintosh with System 4.2 or higher.
It includes similar recovery tools, but lacked the high degree of file-recovery automation available with Norton Utilities for Macintosh.
developed a Unix
version of Norton Utilities, in cooperation with Segue Software and INTERACTIVE Systems Corp
. This version of Norton Utilities was available up to 1992, when Interactive Systems stopped marketing the software. In February 1994, AlmondSeed Software Inc. licensed the software and released it as "The Almond Utilities for UNIX". AlmondSeed Software released the Utilities for SCO UNIX
and Sun Solaris.
Utility software
Utility software is system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. A single piece of utility software is usually called a utility or tool....
suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. The current version 15 of Norton Utilities Premier Edition for Windows XP/Vista/7 was released December 27, 2010.
Peter Norton
Peter Norton
Peter Norton is an American programmer, software publisher, author, and philanthropist. He is best known for the computer programs and books that bear his name. Norton sold his PC-Software business to Symantec Corporation in 1990....
published the first version for DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, The Norton Utilities, Release 1, in 1982. Release 2 came out about a year later, subsequent to the first hard drives for the IBM PC line. Peter Norton's company
Peter Norton Computing
Peter Norton Computing, Inc., was a software company founded by Peter Norton. The first and most notable software package it produced is the Norton Utilities. Another very popular software was Norton Commander, especially the DOS version. In 1990, the company was acquired by Symantec. The...
was sold to Symantec
Symantec
Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
in 1990. However his name remains as a "brand" for Symantec's range of utility and security software for home users.
1.0
The initial 1982 release supported DOS 1.x and featured the UNERASE utility. This allowed files to be undeletedUndeletion
Undeletion is a feature for restoring computer files which have been removed from a file system by file deletion. Deleted data can be recovered on many file systems, but not all file systems provide an undeletion feature. Recovering data without an undeletion facility is usually called data...
by restoring the first letter of the directory entry (a feature of the FAT file system
File Allocation Table
File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of...
used in MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
, albeit one that was not originally documented). The UNERASE utility was what launched NU on its path to success. Quoting Peter Norton, "Why did The Norton Utilities become such popular software? Well, industry wisdom has it that software becomes standard either by providing superior capabilities or by solving problems that were previously unsolvable. In 1982, when I sat down at my PC to write Unerase, I was solving a common problem to which there was no readily available solution."
14 programs were included, on three floppy disks, list price $80:
- UnErase, recovers erased files
- FileFix, repairs damaged files
- DiskLook, complete floppy disk displays and maps
- SecMod, easy changes to floppy disks
- FileHide, interactive hidden file control
- BatHide, automatic hidden file control
- TimeMark, displays date, time, elapsed time
- ScrAtr, sets DOS to work in any colors
- Reverse, work in black on white
- Clear, clears the screen for clarity
- FileSort, keeps floppy disk files by date or name
- DiskOpt, speeds floppy disk access
- Beep, causes the PC speaker to beep
- Print, prints files
Following this release Peter Norton was made Utilities Editor of PC Magazine
PC Magazine
PC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
.
2.0
The main feature of this version supporting DOS 2.x was FILEFIND, used for searching for files. The PRINT program was renamed LPRINT to avoid conflict with the DOS command introduced in MS-DOS 2.0 as PRINT.COM.3.0
This version, released in 1984, included Directory Sort, Disk Test, File Attributes, File Find, File Size, Line Print, List Directories, System Information, Text Search, Volume Label, Wipe Disk and Wipe File.4.0
- Ask, used for batch fileBatch fileIn DOS, OS/2, and Microsoft Windows, batch file is the name given to a type of script file, a text file containing a series of commands to be executed by the command interpreter....
programming - File Info, add descriptions up to 65 characters long to each file
- Norton Change Directory, displays a graphic directory tree; change, remove, rename or make directories
- Norton Integrator, a menu system to tie the utilities together. Previously the utilities were accessed by typing the command name (usually a cryptic 2 character name such as FF) at the DOS prompt.
Advanced Edition (4.0)
This version (list $150), released simultaneously with 4.0 standard edition, added Speed Disk, a disk defragmenter, and Format Recover.Advanced Edition (4.5)
It also includes Wipedisk, Wipefile, Batch Enhancer
Batch Enhancer
BATCH ENHANCER is an applet launched by Norton Utilities to graphically enhance the presentation of batch files...
and a sector level disk editor
Disk editor
A disk editor is a computer program that allows its user to read, edit, and write raw data on disk drives ; as such, they are sometimes called sector editors, since the read/write routines built into the electronics of most disk drives require to read/write data in...
, a system information diagnostic utility, and a disk caching program (NCACHE), which was between 10 - 50% faster than Microsoft's SMARTDrive
SmartDrive
SmartDrive was a disk caching program that shipped with MS-DOS versions 4.01 through 6.22 and Windows 3.x. It improved disk transfer rates by storing frequently accessed data in the main memory. Early versions of SmartDrive were loaded through a CONFIG.SYS device driver named SMARTDRV.SYS...
when properly configured.
5.0
Release 5.0 included more features, including a utility to perform low level formatting on hard disks, and changes such as password protection on the more "dangerous" utilities. It also included a licensed version of the 4DOS4DOS
4DOS is a command line interpreter by JP Software, designed to replace the default command interpreter COMMAND.COM in DOS and Windows 95/98/Me. The 4DOS family of programs are meant to replace the default command processor. 4OS2 and 4NT replace CMD.EXE in OS/2 and Windows NT respectively...
replacement for COMMAND.COM called NDOS. This version also allowed the choice of "classic" names (such as FF.EXE) or longer names (such as FINDFAST.EXE); these were configurable in the updated version of the Norton Integrator menu system.
6.0
It includes Norton Disk Doctor, Disk Editor, Disk Tools, Speed Disk, Norton Cache, Disk Monitor, Diskreet, NDisk, System Information, NDOS.
The speed of Speed Disk was faster than previous release.
Diskreet supports Data Encryption Standard
Data Encryption Standard
The Data Encryption Standard is a block cipher that uses shared secret encryption. It was selected by the National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally. It is...
.
System Information now includes more detailed information on installed system.
UnErase takes advantage of DOS 5.0's Delete Tracking and Mirror File features to recover data. However, MS-DOS 5.0 added a new UNDELETE.exe program, licensed from Norton competitor Central Point Software
Central Point Software
Central Point Software, Inc. was a leading software utilities maker for the PC market, supplying utilities software for the DOS and Microsoft Windows markets. It also made Apple II copy programs.-History:...
, which took advantage of the same Delete Sentry control and Deletion-tracking files. (The DOS ERASE command is the same as the DEL (Delete) command.) Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
's Recycle Bin soon further reduced the value of UnErase.
7.0
It supports MS-DOS 6.0, DoubleSpaceDoubleSpace
DriveSpace is a disk compression utility supplied with MS-DOS starting from version 6.0. The purpose of DriveSpace is to increase the amount of data the user could store on disks, by transparently compressing and decompressing data on-the-fly. It is primarily intended for use with hard drives, but...
, Stacker
Stac Electronics
Stac Electronics, originally incorporated as State of the Art Consulting and later shortened to Stac, Inc, was a technology company founded in 1983...
, and SuperStor disk compression tools.
It includes Norton Disk Doctor, Disk Editor, Undelete, SmartCan, NDOS, System Information, File Find, Norton Change Directory.
Speed Disk remained as well, although SPEEDISK.exe was licensed by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and incorporated into MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
as DEFRAG.exe in MS-DOS 6 onward.
Release 7.0 had revised user interfaces for the utilities that feature a menu-driven user interface. Also some of these tools now did not need to run in full-screen-mode but just displayed a window in the center of the screen, like the disk formatter or the disk duplicator utility.
Disk Editor now includes Advanced Recovery Mode.
8.0 for DOS/Windows 3.x
Release 8.0 was nearly the same as 7.0, but added Windows 3.1 utilities.DOS Utilities include Norton Disk Doctor, System Information, Change Directory, FileFind, Diskreet, DUPDISK, File Fix, NDOS, Batch Enhancer, Norton Integrator, Speed Disk.
Windows utilities include Norton Disk Doctor, Speed Disk, System Watch, File Compare, INI Tracker, INI Tuner, INI editor, INI Advisor
Norton Utilities 1.0 for Windows 95
The original Windows 95 version was released in 1995-08-?.As a native Windows 95 tool, it supports VFAT file system used by Windows 95.
It includes Norton Image, Norton System Doctor, Norton Protection, Rescue Disk, System Information, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton UnErase, Space Wizard, Speed Disk, System Information. DOS tools include Disk Editor, Disk Doctor, Pre-Installation TuneUp.
CD-ROM version was announced on 1996-01-15. It adds Disk Companion, Memory Companion, and Norton Utilities Companion over floppy disk version.
Disk tools included with this release are not compatible with FAT32.
The Windows version of 'Speed Disk' works with much greater speed than Microsoft's supplied defrag program, as it moved groups of clusters, not single clusters as Microsoft's Windows Disk Defragmenter
Windows Disk Defragmenter
Disk Defragmenter is a utility in Microsoft Windows designed to increase access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique called defragmentation. Defragmenting a disk minimizes head travel, which reduces the time it takes to read files from and...
. Changes in the way Windows operates meant that many of the old utilities were either dropped completely or replaced with GUI based versions. However, with the advent of Windows XP onwards, Norton's 'Speed Disk' reverted back to single-cluster defragmentation.
Norton Utilities 2.0 for Windows 95
It was announced on 1996-10-07.It supports Windows 95.
It includes Norton CrashGuard with Anti-Freeze, Norton System Genie, Norton AntiVirus, LiveUpdate, System Genie, Registry Editor, System Doctor, System Benchmark, Disk Benchmark, Multimedia Benchmark, Speed Disk, Space Wizard.
Disk utilities now support FAT32.
A LiveUpdate fix was released for Norton Utilities 2.0 for Windows 95.
Norton Utilities for Windows NT 4.0
Originally called Norton Utilities 2.0 for Windows NT during prerelease, it was announced on 1997-01-27.It includes Norton Disk Doctor, Norton Speed Disk, Norton System Information, Norton System Doctor, Norton Protection/UnErase, Live Update.
Norton Disk Doctor, Speed Disk support FAT 16 and NTFS file systems.
It does not include DOS Unerase, so files deleted from FAT partition needs to be handled by Norton Utilities for Windows 95/98.
Norton Utilities 3.0 for Windows 95
It was announced on 1997-11-10.It includes Norton WinDoctor, Norton Web Services, LiveUpdate Pro, Norton CrashGuard 3.0, Norton Zip Rescue, Norton System Doctor, Norton SpeedStart, Norton Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk.
Via the use of LiveUpdate, a Speed Disk patch is available to take advantage of Windows 98's application launch enhancements.
Marketing
Symantec announced it had sponsored a bug-a-thon between USC and UCLA during the final development stages of the latest product release of Norton Utilities 3.0. The software began shipping on November 21, 1997.Norton Utilities 4.0
It was announced on 1999-02-16.Although the 'for Windows' name was dropped from the products, it still appears in support sites.
It supports Windows 95 and 98.
It includes Norton SystemCheck, Registry Doctor Scan, Norton WinDoctor, Connection Doctor, Norton WipeInfo, Norton CrashGuard 4.0, Norton Zip Rescue, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton UnErase, a six-month subscription to Norton Web Services for only $6.95.
Marketing
On 1999-05-13, Symantec offered price reduction and rebates on Norton SystemWorks 2.0 and Norton Utilities 4.0.Early order includes Net Nanny
Net Nanny
Net Nanny is a brand of content-control software marketed primarily at parents as a way to control a child's computer activity. The flagship product allows a computer owner to block and filter Internet content, place time limits on use, and block desktop PC games.-History:The original version of...
Internet filter software.
Norton Utilities 2000 (4.5)
It was announced on 1999-08-23.It supports Windows 95 and 98.
It includes Norton SpeedDisk, Norton System Check, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton Zip Rescue, free 3-month subscription to Norton Web Services.
Norton Utilities 2001 (5.0)
It was announced on 2000-08-29.It supports Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000.
It includes Norton SpeedDisk, Norton Optimization Wizard, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton WinDoctor, Norton System Doctor, and Norton System Check.
Disk tools now support USB and FireWire drives via Windows.
Norton Utilities 2002 (6.0)
This product was not announced.It supports Windows 98 and higher, up to Windows 2000 and XP.
It includes Norton SpeedDisk, Norton System Doctor, Norton UnErase, Norton DiskDoctor, Norton WinDoctor, System Information, Wipe Info.
Norton Utilities 2005
It was only included with Norton SystemWorksNorton SystemWorks
Norton SystemWorks is a discontinued system utility suite by Symantec. It expanded the tools found in Norton Utilities, and added other Symantec software titles, primarily anti-virus, and later backup software for the high-end versions.-Norton NT Tools:...
2005.
It supports Windows 98 or higher.
It includes Norton Protection, Speed Disk, Norton Optimization Wizard, Norton System Doctor, UnErase Wizard, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton WinDoctor, System Information, Wipe Info, Image, Norton File Compare, Norton Registry Editor, Norton Registry Tracker, and Explorer Shell Extension.
Norton Utilities (14.0)
The revival of Norton Utilities as standalone software was announced on 2009-02-03.The program supports Windows XP , Vista (32/64-bit).
It includes Registry Defragmenter, Registry Cleaners, Disk Cleaner, Disk Defragmenter, Startup Manager, Service Manager, Restore Center, System Optimizer, Process Viewer, and Performance Test.
The product licence was changed to allow it to be used on up to 3 household PCs.
Receptions
PC Pro rated Norton Utilities 14 with 1 star (out of 6) for "an overpriced collection of optimization tools that falls far short of its promise". IT Reviews called the package "light on features compared to rivals" and it questioned the "usefulness of some of the monitoring utilities". PC Advisor criticised Norton Utilities 14 for delivering "little that you can't already do with Windows," although it did acknowledge that it brought two things to the table: "The registry tools, which are useful, and the performance monitor, which is interesting but not always useful".Premier edition
Symantec has released a version of Norton Utilities which is called Norton Utilities Premier Edition.It also Includes the features of the Norton Utilities plus the Norton Online Backup. It is also compatible with Windows 7. It was released on October 14, 2009.
Norton Utilities (15.0)
Norton Utilities 15.0 includes features from Norton Systemworks. It includes Norton Speed Disk, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton UnErase, Registry Restore, Registry Defragmenter, Registry Cleaner, Disk Cleaner, Disk Defragmenter, Startup Manager, Service Manager, Restore Center, System Optimizer, Process Viewer, and Performance Test. This version also includes a new GUI.Norton Utilities for Macintosh
Norton Utilities for Macintosh was a separate utility suite for the Mac OSMac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
, providing much of the same features as the equivalent Windows version.
1.0
Originally released in 1990, requiring a Mac Plus with 1MiB system memory.The included disk tools support the HFS file system only. Support for the Apple Hard Disk 20 was not explicitly mentioned.
When Apple released System 7, Norton Utilities for the Macintosh needed to be updated in order to run safely. This proved to be a recurring story in the history of the utility; early versions were highly regarded for a while, but proved to be hazardous when used with newer disk structures and operating systems before being updated.
2.0
Originally released in 1992.It includes Disk Editor, Norton Backup for Macintosh. It also added features in Symantec Utilities for Macintosh II.
3.x
3.0 was originally released in August 1994. It supports PowerPC but Speed Disk 3.0 can cause data loss.- Version 3.1 was released in September 1994, correcting problems with Speed Disk
3.2
It was released in October 1995, which supports larger than 4 GiB.This version was bundled with Small Business Macintosh 6500/250 and 4400/200.
- Version 3.2.1 Update from 3.2
- Version 3.2.3 Update from 3.2.x
- Version 3.2.4 Update from 3.2.x fix for Mac OS 7.6
3.5
It was announced on 1997-05-12.It runs on Mac with Motorola 68020-68040 CPUs and Power Mac G3 using Mac OS 7.1-8.6.
It includes Norton Crashguard, Speed Disk, Norton Disk Doctor, Disk Editor, FileSaver, UnErase, Volume Recover, Wipe Info, System Info, DiskLight, FastFind.
Norton CrashGuard replaced Norton Fastback and Floppier.
- Version 3.5.1 released in July 1997, support Mac OS 8
- Version 3.5.2 released in November 1997, improves support of HFS+ file system.
- Version 3.5.3 released in January 1998, identical to 3.5.2, only the version of the OS on the CD; this is the latest version which support Macintosh 68K computers
4.0
It was announced on 1998-09-14. For the first time, the tools are now run on native PowerPC Macintosh computers. It adds support of Mac OS Extended Format and HFS+ file system.It supports PowerPC Mac (up to G3) using Mac OS 7.5 and above (up to 8.6).
It includes Norton Disk Doctor, File Saver, Unerase, and Volume Recover, Norton CrashGuard.
- Version 4.0.1 released October 1998
- Version 4.0.2 released December 1998
- Version 4.0.3 released February 1999
- Version 4.0.4 released June 1999
5.0
It was announced on 1999-07-21.It supports PowerPC Mac G3 and G4 using Mac OS 8.0-9.1.
Update was available to make the tools compatible with Mac OS 9.
- Version 5.0.2 released November 1999, was released to correct an issue with FileSaver and issues with the invisible FileSaver data files
- Version 5.0.3 released June 2000, addresses further early iBook issues and DiskLight
6.0
It was announced on 2000-10-25.It supports PowerPC Mac using Mac OS 8.1 and above.
It includes Norton FileSaver, Speed Disk.
- Version 6.0.2 released June 2001
- Version 6.0.3 released October 2001
- Version 6.0.4 latest version which support Mac OS classic (Mac OS 8.1 through 9.2.2)
7.0
The product was not announced.It runs on Mac OS 8, 9, and new OS X support. OS X tools run on PowerPC G3 Mac (except Beige G3). However, the OS X tools have not been tested on Mac OS X later than 10.2.6, and is known to be incompatible with Mac OS X v10.3
Mac OS X v10.3
Mac OS X Panther is the fourth major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server operating system. It followed Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar" and preceded Mac OS X Tiger...
(Panther).
It includes Norton Utilities 6.0, Norton Disk Doctor, Speed Disk, FileSaver, UnErase, Volume Recover, LiveUpdate.
Speed Disk does not run on Mac OS X, except by booting with Norton Utilities 7.0 CD.
8.0
The product was not announced. The package itself was simply label 'Norton Utilities 8.0', but it was called Norton Utilities for Macintosh 8.0 in support pages.All OS X tools are now native OS X-based, but it can still boot CD that can boot into Mac OS 9.
It includes Wipe Info, Speed Disk, Volume Recover, Norton FileSaver, UnErase, LiveUpdate.
8.0.1 added support of Mac OS X 10.3.
8.0.2 added support of G5 model Macintosh released before December 2004, 1.25 GHz eMac, and various Mac G4 notebooks. However, some tools may present errors when running Mac OS X 10.4.
End of life
In 2004, Symantec confirmed it had stopped developing Norton Utilities for Macintosh and Norton SystemWorks for Macintosh, and concentrate its efforts solely on Internet security products for the Mac.Symantec Utilities for Macintosh
Symantec Utilities for Macintosh (SUM) was a set of system utilities from Symantec, developed before Symantec had acquired Peter Norton Computing. Later SUM tools may have shared code with Norton Utilities for Macintosh.1.1
It was published in 1988.It supports non-SCSI drives (HD20, MacBottom, HyperDrive are explicitly listed) and also supports MFS floppy disks in a limited way.
It runs on Mac 512Ke, Plus, SE, Mac II (i.e. not 512K or 128K) with System v4.1 and Finder v5.3 or higher.
2.0
It was released after Symantec had acquired Peter Norton Computing, in year 1990.It runs on 1MB Macintosh with System 4.2 or higher.
It includes similar recovery tools, but lacked the high degree of file-recovery automation available with Norton Utilities for Macintosh.
Norton Utilities for Unix
In 1990, Peter Norton ComputingPeter Norton Computing
Peter Norton Computing, Inc., was a software company founded by Peter Norton. The first and most notable software package it produced is the Norton Utilities. Another very popular software was Norton Commander, especially the DOS version. In 1990, the company was acquired by Symantec. The...
developed a Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
version of Norton Utilities, in cooperation with Segue Software and INTERACTIVE Systems Corp
INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation was a US-based software company and the first vendor of the Unix operating system outside AT&T, operating from Santa Monica, CA....
. This version of Norton Utilities was available up to 1992, when Interactive Systems stopped marketing the software. In February 1994, AlmondSeed Software Inc. licensed the software and released it as "The Almond Utilities for UNIX". AlmondSeed Software released the Utilities for SCO UNIX
SCO OpenServer
SCO OpenServer, previously SCO UNIX and SCO Open Desktop , is, misleadingly, a closed source version of the Unix computer operating system developed by Santa Cruz Operation and now maintained by the SCO Group....
and Sun Solaris.
Current
- Acronis Disk Director Suite (AcronisAcronisAcronis, Inc. is an international computer software company, dealing in the area of computer backup, disaster recovery, bare-metal restore, system deployment, and storage management in both Windows and Linux systems.-History:...
) - Registry Mechanic (PC Tools Ltd.PC Tools (company)PC Tools , formerly known as WinGuides.com, is a software company headquartered in Australia with offices in the USA, UK, Ireland and Ukraine. It develops and distributes security and optimization software for the Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows platforms. There are over 200 employees...
) - System Mechanic (iolo technologies)
- TuneUp UtilitiesTuneUp UtilitiesTuneUp Utilities is a utility software suite for Microsoft Windows designed to help manage, maintain, optimize, configure and troubleshoot a computer system. It is produced and developed by TuneUp Software GmbH, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany and co-founded by Tibor Schiemann and Christoph...
(TuneUp Software GmbH)