Others say...

"Hours of Aggrevation!"
I followed all the rules, removed my prior versions, etc. The install was utter aggrevation... hours spent wasted to no avail and multiple reboots all to no avail. A technician finally "took over" my machine and installed it. Next day it needed activation again and the activation failed with a generic error message. Another call and another technician. It is finally working (I think). When these virus definitions expire, I will switch to something else. I will never buy Norton again.

"BEWARE of Norton SystemWorks !"
I have used Norton for the past 20 years, but no more. I took my CD out of the box, but it did not work.

I contacted Symantec live chat and got the technician 'Sreedevi' who said that he could take control of my computer and install the program, however, I need a custom install and need the CD. I was refused, I asked for a manager and was told he was out on 'emergency' so I am out the bucks with no program. I will never, ever buy a Norton product again, there is no customer service not even for faulty software.

"Your Reviews Helped Me Avoid Problems"
This is a time when product reviews helped me avoid the pitfalls that plagued fellow reviewers. Had you good folks not commented on the product I would probably be beating my head against the wall trying to get it to work.

Based on what the rest of you said I removed my old Systemworks before doing the install. I used the Add/Remove program in Control Panel to make sure that everything was deleted. And you are right Norton doesn't even tell us to uninstall and that info really helped me avoid a major headache. One comment I wanted to share was I tried to download the upgrade from home and I'm on dialup. It's a huge program of about 125 MB so I would recommend that if you had a wireless laptop you head to Starbucks or some local free wifi, grab yourself a drink and a croissant or donut and find a comfy chair. Trying to download it at home on Dial Up it took several hours to get it just half way. The good thing is the download manager let me pick up where I left off. I headed to my nearest laundromat that offers free wifi and finished the job.

I actually like the product so far, but I do think Norton needs to include information on uninstalling old versions first and I sure as heck would have appreciated it if they had told me how big the download would be.

Eartlink still lives for some of us, but that's a whole other nightmare I won't bore you with. You really need a high speed connection for this kind of software. I can't wait for FIOS!

"Great program to use, but a pain to delete my old version."
I've been using Norton SystemWorks Basic for many years and have been very happy with the way it functions on Windows XP. After reading other reviews, I decided to first delete my old SystemWorks 2006 before attempting the installation of the new CD SystemWorks Standard Edition, v11.

About 2/3 of the way through the deletion, I got an error message saying that the deletion was aborted. This was time consuming, and unfortunately predictable. The Error message directed me to the Symantec Website to download their Uninstall Tool. Deletion of the old program using this Symantec Uninstall Tool then went very smoothly. I agree with the disappointment expressed by a previous reviewer. Symantec should make this product to include an Uninstall Tool on the CD, or better yet have an automatic uninstall of previous versions as a part of the new installation process.

The good news is that the installation of both the new SystemWorks and the Antivirus programs went without a hitch and they are working great. These two segments have been separated in the new software installation, resulting in their own separate desktop icons. This separation surprised me, but they do the job. I am very happy with this newest version of SystemWorks. The Standard Version also catches and removes spyware and adware. I'd give 5 stars for the functioning of Systemworks Standard Edition, v.11, but give only 3 stars for the problems related to deletion and installation. Overall, I'm awarding four stars to this product.


"A pain to install"
I've been using Norton products for over 15 years. When I tried to install Systemworks 2008 Standard from CD, I got the install screen, clicked on install, and...nothing. After going on-line and wading through the Symantec support menus, I finally found out that you had to uninstall any previous version prior to installing this one. No where in the skimpy installation manual that came with the product does it say this. After downloading the uninstall tool, running it, rebooting, and attempting the install again, Systemworks was working. I then tried to install AntiVirus, but about 90% of the way through the installation it aborted and said it had "encountered a problem". A link was provided to Symantec, but when chose my product (Systemworks 2008 Standard) all I got was a blank page.

So I ran the uninstall tool again. This time when it was done, I checked the Symantec directory under Program Files and found it was still there and contained several files. I deleted them, ran the uninstall tool again, and rebooted. This time I installed AntiVirus first, then Systemworks, and it all worked fine.

I don't see why Symantec couldn't have this product search for and uninstall previous versions, or at least provide the uninstall tool on the CD.