Product: Norton SytemWorks 2001
Company: Symantec
Website: http://www.symantec.com
Estimated Street Price: $59.95
Review By: Julien JAY

SystemWorks 2001 GUI

The first time you launch Norton SytemWorks 2001 you’ll be prompted to check if there are updates available for your software on the Internet: this step is strongly recommended so your viruses’ definitions will be up to date. Updates are always retrieved by the well known LiveUpdate that now carries the build number 1.6 since it was slightly streamlined (it has a new interface and is clearer).  

New LiveUpdate Module

The new interface of SystemWorks 2001 is wonderful and displays blue buttons. One thing is instantly notable: the LiveAdvisor tool of Norton SystemWorks 2000 has been ditched and it’s good since it was really useless. From the SystemWorks 2001 toolbar you can launch the Norton Rescue applet, LiveUpdate or change the settings of each individual program in the suite. You can access the help file easily. The most interesting part of the SystemWorks 2001 GUI is that it regroups all Norton Software in a same interface due to the exclusive Norton Symmetry technology. So you can run different Norton applications from a single place easily! Indeed the SystemWorks 2001 GUI shows in its left margin four buttons that are assigned to Norton Antivirus, Norton CleanSweep, Norton Utilities and Symantec Web. When you click a Norton program button all the different possible actions will be displayed in the right part of the GUI and you’ll have to make your choice! A new feature of Norton SytemWorks 2001 is the One button Checkup that replaces the confusing ‘Norton SystemCheck’ component of the previous version: with a single click on this button your system will be entirely analysed with 10 separate scans while the SystemWorks 2001 GUI displays the status of the checkup with a gauge and an animated background. During this checkup almost every area of your system will be carefully analyzed to ensure it’s a Healthy PC: Registry, Hard disk fragmentation, free hard disk space, shortcuts integrity, hard disk integrity and more. If errors are found, Norton SystemWorks 2001 will automatically fix them if you decide to, by pressing the correct button. Another good thing to know is that you can schedule automatic checkups. 

Norton SystemWorks 2001

Note SystemWorks 2001 contains a Symantec Web tab that links to the free Norton Web Services that will analyse your current software and hardware configuration in order to let you know which updates are available for your system. Links to XDrive (free hard disk storage), Expertcity.com and promise mark are also offered.  

Symantec Web panel of Norton SystemWorks 2001

Due to the Norton SymMetry technology all other Norton Software will integrate themselves to the SystemWorks GUI: it's the case for Norton Internet Security, Norton Personal Firewall, Norton Ghost, etc. Even older versions of this software will adopt the new look & feel of SystemWorks 2001.