The Norton Utilities releases are collections of software utilities.
The current version 14 of Norton Utilities Premier Edition for Windows XP/Vista/7 was released October 14, 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 3.1
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.
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.
2.0
The main feature of this version was FILEFIND, used for searching for files.
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.
4.5
Advanced Edition also includes Wipedisk, Wipefile, and SpeedDisk.
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.
6.0
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, Diskret, NDisk, System Information, NDOS.
The speed of Speed Disk was faster than previous release.
Diskret supports Data Encryption Standard.
System Information now includes more detailed information on installed system.
7.0
It supports MS-DOS 6.0, DoubleSpace, Stacker, and SuperStor disk compression tools.
It includes Norton Disk Doctor, SpeedDisk, Disk Editor, Undelete, SmartCan, NDOS, System Information, File Find, Norton Change Directory.
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 for Windows 95 and later
See also: Norton SystemWorksNorton 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. 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.
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 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 2003
It was only included with Norton SystemWorks 2003.
Norton Utilities 2004
It was only included with Norton SystemWorks 2004.
Norton Utilities 2005
It was only included with Norton SystemWorks 2005.
It supports Windows 98 or higher.
It includes Norton Protection,
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