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Norton Utilities
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The Norton Utilities releases are collections of software utilities.
The current version 14 of Norton Utilities for Windows XP/Vista was released February 3, 2009.
Peter Norton published the first version for DOS, The Norton Utilities, Release 1, ca 1981. Release 2 came out several years later, subsequent to the first hard drives for the IBM PC line. Peter Norton's company was sold to Symantec in 1990.
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Encyclopedia
The Norton Utilities releases are collections of software utilities.
The current version 14 of Norton Utilities for Windows XP/Vista was released February 3, 2009.
Peter Norton published the first version for DOS, The Norton Utilities, Release 1, ca 1981. Release 2 came out several years 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.
Norton Utilities for DOS/Windows
A number of programs in the Norton Utilities package were licensed by Microsoft over the years and incorporated into MS-DOS. One example is SPEEDISK.exe, which Microsoft licensed as DEFRAG.exe in MS-DOS 6 onward.
Release 1.0
The initial release featured the UNERASE utility. This allowed files to be undeleted 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.
Other utilities included the following:
- ASK, used for batch file programming
- BEEP, causes the PC speaker to beep
- VERIFY
Following this release Peter Norton was made Utilities Editor of PC Magazine.
Release 2.0
The main feature of this version was FILEFIND, used for searching for files.
Release 4.0
Release 4.0 included a number of features including Norton Disk Doctor, a disk defragmenter (SPEEDISK), 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. This version also included a menu system to tie the utilities together called the Norton Integrator (NI). Previously the utilities were accessed by typing the command name (usually a cryptic 2 character name such as FF) at the DOS prompt.
Release 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 4DOS 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.
Release 7.0
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.
Release 8.0
Release 8.0 was nearly the same as 7.0, but added a few Windows 3.1 utilities, like Norton Disk Doctor, Speed Disk, SystemWatch, FileCompare and some INI file tools called INI-Tracker, INI-Tuner and INI-Advisor.
Norton Utilities/SystemWorks for Windows
The Windows version of Norton Utilities was originally released for Microsoft Windows 95. Norton was in need of a major update as the VFAT system used by Windows 95 to provide long file names was incompatible with utilities such as Norton Utilities' 'SPEEDISK.EXE'. However, the Windows version, called '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.
Norton SystemWorks started off as a collection of tools which also included Norton AntiVirus, Norton Utilities, and a number of other utilities that expanded as Symantec purchased more utilities companies. SystemWorks continues to be a suite of utilities, but Norton Utilities is no longer available as a separate package.
Release 14.0
After a hiatus of many years, Symantec shipped v14 of Norton Utilities for Windows XP/Vista on February 3, 2009, boasting that it's a unique tool which will "reclaim system memory, accelerate startup time, free up disk space and boost overall system performance." Its tools include Registry Defragmenter, Registry Cleaners, Disk Cleaner, Disk Defragmenter, Startup Manager, Service Manager, Restore Center, System Optimizer, Process Viewer, and Performance Test.
Norton Utilities for the Macintosh
Norton Utilities for Macintosh was a separate utility suite for the Mac OS, providing much of the same features as the equivalent Windows version. Version 1.0 for the Macintosh was released in 1990. 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 this utility; early versions was highly regarded for a while, but proved to be specifically hazardous to use with newer disk structures and operating systems.
Version 3.0 released in August 1994, support PowerPC but Speed Disk 3.0 can cause data loss.
Version 3.1 released in September 1994, corrected Speed Disk
Version 3.2 released in October 1995, support for volumes larger than 4 GB
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
Version 3.5 released in April 1997, introduce Norton CrashGuard, the first to ship on CD-ROM
Version 3.5.1 released in July 1997, support Mac OS 8
Version 3.5.2 released in November 1997, support HFS+
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
Version 4.0 released September 1998, all primary utilities in Version 4.0 are PowerPC native
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
Version 5.0 released August 1999
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
Version 6.0
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)
Recent versions were known as simply Symantec Utilities for Macintosh, after Symantec bought the product in the late 1990s. After Mac OS X v10.3 (Panther) was released Norton Utilities was eventually listed as being incompatible, and some time later it was quietly discontinued.
There was also a SystemWorks suite for the Mac OS, encompassing Allume Systems' Spring Cleaning and Retrospect in addition to Symantec's own Norton Utilities. It too was eventually discontinued some time after the release of Mac OS X Panther, although with such little publicity that it remained listed on some Symantec web sites for more than a year afterwards. Spring Cleaning and Retrospect continue to be sold separately.
Norton Utilities for Unix
In 1990, Peter Norton Computing 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.
Competitors
Current
- Acronis disk director
- iolo technologies System Mechanic
- Disk Utility (built into Mac OS X)
- GnuWin32
- Windows built-in tools, Windows Support Tools, and Windows Resource Kit Tools
Historical
- Central Point Software's PC Tools
- Paul Mace Software's Mace Utilities
- Helix Software's Nuts and Bolts Utilities (later incorporated into McAfee Utilities and then McAfee Office when Helix was acquired by Network Associates)
- McAfee's PC Medic
- Ontrack SystemSuite
External links
- - Symantec.com
- - Symantec.com Knowledge Base
- - Symantec.com Knowledge Base
- - Symantec.com Knowledge Base
- - About This Particular Macintosh
- - Symantec.com Press
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