Product Reviews

Most Mac users never back up their hard disks or even their working documents. When disaster strikes - invariably just as you're reaching a tight deadline - the only hope is your favourite disk utility. Norton Utilities for Macintosh remains the best-selling disk utility for the Mac, although it has seen happier times. Version 5 is its chance of redemption after the nightmare version 4 had to struggle through when Apple introduced the 'extended' file system (HFS+).

This new version appears generally stable, reliable and effective. It has gone through an extended period of testing and proved itself capable of some impressive resurrections when in the advanced beta-test stage. If you still feared Norton might sneak up and trash an ailing hard disk, then you can have restored confidence in this release. During testing on disks with genuine problems, Norton 5 found all the errors claimed by Disk First Aid and TechTool Pro, and didn't report any spurious ones, whether working on both traditionally formatted disks or under HFS+.

There are still a few tiny exceptions, though: if you have a PowerBook 1400 or 5300 you'll have to check the 'Never Save' preferences for Disk Doctor's Undo Fixes and Undo Damaged Files. If you click on the Examine button without doing this, Norton will freeze. Another freeze can be precipitated by turning off the File Saver control panel and extensions using Extensions Manager. Surprisingly, File Saver is unable to handle this if it's scheduled to update its hidden recovery files at shutdown, and will just freeze your Mac.

The composition of the suite of tools remains largely unchanged: Disk Doctor can check any mounted volumes, whether SCSI, ATA/IDE, USB or FireWire (IEEE 1394), with a fastidiousness which prevents it from being fast. Appearing for the first time is the ability to undo some of its fixes, although this

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is disappointingly limited in scope.

Norton continues to offer to change the names of files which start with a period, a practice which was once deprecated by Apple, although many applications now rely on this; such overprotective meddling can't be undone. Local file problems, such as damaged resource forks, are also misclassified as 'serious errors', despite the fact they don't usually reflect anything more sinister in terms of disk integrity. Although Disk Doctor now allows you to repair most problems on the startup disk, the File Saver integrity checks can't be run on it (apparently because the startup disk is in use), which is a bit bizarre.

Speed Disk, the industry standard disk defragmenter, has been enhanced by the addition of directory structure optimisation, which is claimed to improve the performance of defragged disks. System Info, the benchmark performance tool, UnErase, Volume Recover and Wipe Info continue with only minor improvements. Volume Recover is completely dependent on the information recorded by the File Saver control panel and extensions, but provided File Saver's hidden files are undamaged, can accomplish full disk recovery after the most serious crashes.

The Fast Find tool is an anachronism since the advent of Sherlock, and it's a shame it's still bundled, while a simple backup utility isn't. You'll probably wish to ignore the ancient DiskLight, too.

Also provided on the installation CD-ROM, but not normally installed, is Norton Disk Editor, a techie's tool which allows you to inspect and alter all manner of low-level disk and file information. There are still no tools to match TechTool Pro; Norton blithely ignores potential problems with the Desktop database files, PRAM, System Folder integrity, and hardware testing. For those still dependent on floppy disks, images are provided on the CD-ROM, which itself can be used as a startup disk by virtue of the presence of Mac OS 8.6.

Symantec has now extended its outstanding and proven system of live online updating to encompass its Mac products, and has integrated the latest release of Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh into the opening menu dialog box. Supported by aggressive bundle pricing, it should make the combination a compelling purchase for Mac users. If only it offered as much as its rivals, you'd never have to look elsewhere to supplement the program's too-traditional functionality. But at least you can rely on Norton again.