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Norton Utilities

mindido

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Have a quick question for the current techs out there. I have an old 20 GB HD that appeared to be having a few problems so I replaced it for a friend. Years ago, I would have used Nortons Disk Doctor and Speed Disk to check the disk for problems (they used to work pretty well and I considered them pretty reliable). This weekend I went to buy a version only to find that NU is now packaged with a bunch of other crap that I definitely don't want on a machine.

Any suggestions on where to get a version of NU (for XP) or an app that does the same thing as well as the old NU?
 

Cman

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I used to like Norton, but lately it seems that every problem I try to help a friend with somehow involves Norton screwing things up, so now its starting to piss me off.

The only Symantec product I like is NAV and that is simply because they have a good virus DB and its updated frequently and reliably. Other than that THEY SUCK! The firewall is the worst ever and pretty much everything else they make is trash.

Its also a resource hog and even if you have a new-ish fast computer, it still takes half the damn resources
 

chiefs1968

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I used to use Nortons too, but I quit for the same reasons..too much other crap comes with it. I now use AVG, it's free and very reliable.
As far as the disk checking problem, If XP'S Check Disking doesn't fix it, you might as well try and zero it out.
 

Cman

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DOS based programs are usually best for that sort of thing. I'm not sure what the Norton one is like, but if you can avoid GUI, it would be good.
 

mindido

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I agree with you guys completely. Its just that Norton Utilities' Speeddisk and Disk Doctor used to be pretty darn good about checking a disks condition, fixing it (if possible) and then optimizing it. That used to come in pretty handy and saved me buying new HD's a few times. I'm just trying to find out if there are any similar apps out there today. And, if so, are they any good?

I could, of course, just trash the 20 GB HD but, if I can fix it (and I'm not really positive that there's really anything wrong with it) then I can use it in the future.

CMan,

I have old DOS versions of NU but none of them will work with XP's disk format (I think these are all for FAT 32 or earlier). So I don't imagine that booting these into DOS ver. of XP will do much other than possibly wreck the HD.
 

l3lasphemer

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I use Easy Recovery Professional, it has all the diagnostic features that you would need, also it is designed as a data recovery program, you can do disk diagnostics as well as recover data.
 

Parker10

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Have you tried the new version of TuneUp Utilities 2007. It has now an intergrated Disk Doctor for Windows 2000/XP.
 

Cman

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Yeah, I always forget about NTFS not working with DOS. Anyway, you could still do it if the hard drive was empty. If you are trying to save your XP install it won't work, but if you are formatting the drive, it doesnt matter what file system is used (the new XP install will convert it again)
 

UltraLisk

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Dont get anything Norton.

For AV get AVG (its better, faster, finds more, uses less memory and its free).
 

mindido

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Hoo boy, where to start? I guess at the beginning,

l3lasphemer,

Easy Recovery Professional

Have you ever used it for checking the condition of a HD? Does it give you good, reliable info? I checked the website and it looks interesting but I'd be interested in your experience and opinions.

Parker10,

TuneUp Utilities 2007. It has now an intergrated Disk Doctor for Windows 2000/XP

I checked their website and couldn't find anything on their Disk Doctor function. Have you used it for disk analysis? And was it any good? And reliable?

CMan,

Your idea seems pretty good. I just have to figure out how to do it. The drive currently has XP on it but I could just hook it up and reformat it to FAT 32. I think those old NU apps are on floppy so all I'd have to do is try running it off the floppy (I think that would work as long as its not Fat 16 or something).

greg0r82,

Checked your reference and the app looks like a work in progress. It seems to require more of a learning curve than I really have time for at the moment. Have you used it? It would seem worth learning but, at the moment, I just don't have the time. And it seems like an app that you really don't want to mess with as the guy says it can be dangerous.

Anyway, thanks to all for the info. Much appreciated.
 

Cman

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If you press F8 while your computer is booting, you should be presented with startup options. One of the options should be to enter the command prompt (ie. DOS)

Or if you can get your hands on a Win 9x boot disk, that should do the trick. You can boot to DOS from it.

You dont' have to follow my advice, its just one option and isn't necessarily the best option
 

mindido

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CMan,

I'm thinking that I'll probably have to go back to an older version of Win or maybe even DOS (do I still even have them?) to check that drive. I looked at the websites of the apps the guys suggested and its probably best for me (being an old fart) to just go with something I know and trust for such an operation. And I think I do have some old 9.x boot disks around here somewhere. Now......just where did I put those?
 

GrapJ

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mindido said:
I have an old 20 GB HD that appeared to be having a few problems so I replaced it for a friend.

I'm probably missing something...

all actions are fysical actions, it means it can only be done in one way, why do you want to use NU? Every app created for a certain purpose in that proces will do it the same way.

Did you try to copy the content off?
Why not just format the disk?
I assume your using XP?
Whats the exact "problem" with the disk?
 

mindido

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GrapJ,

NU, a few years ago, was a really good app for analyzing disk problems. I used it for a lot of years and really came to rely on it. It always seemed to give good results. The drive I need to test was (apparently) giving the previous owner some problems but I'm not really sure that it has problems. Over the weekend I was able to reformat it once as NTFS and again as FAT 32. Both formats seemed to go OK but the drive did seem to make a few noises once in a while that were a bit troubling.

I would like to stick this drive in another machine eventually but I can't do that until I know for sure that its not going to crap out on someone a few days after I stick it in. So thats why I'm looking for some app that can test the drive and tell me with reasonable certainty that the drive is either good or bad. NU used to have that capability.

Hope that clears things up.
 

GrapJ

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I cannot help you but i had to check it.
i had to go thru a lot of disks but found one
It's nostalgia


I ended using norton and pctools in 1998
While searching for exact data i found the original files
it still works, some other programs do too.
The programs that i now use for checking bits on a disk (diskperformance) is not free.
So i could give you a name but you will have to pay to get the program.

Noisy harddisks are common, sometimes a HD is used as RAM, it then makes the same noise as the disk in the beginning of this clip.
 

swede68

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Now THAT is actually a great post Grap. Very interesting...Always knew that HD's were complex, but that is amazing. Does is still play my old 45's? Kidding... :) Do you know what type of HD that is?. Thx...
 

mindido

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GrapJ,

I must have quit using NU around the same time. I found two old copies of NU over the weekend and they were both DOS versions (6 and 7). I was just going to reformat the drive again and install DOS 6.2 and NU 7 on it, and then check it, but the 6.2 version I have required a previous DOS installed on the drive. And I guess I got rid of all the previous versions. Typical.

Any idea where I could DL DOS 5 or later?
 

mindido

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Cman said:
You can use a Win 9x boot disk in place of DOS

http://www.bootdisk.com

Thanks Cman, I've bookmarked that site and will get back to it shortly.

I was talking with an acquaintance yesterday that told me that all HD mfg's have a downloadable file that can be used to test their drives. Haven't had a chance to check it out yet but I'll let everyone know the results for future reference.
 
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