June 12, 2003

Considering how much money PC gamers are willing to fork over for their killer rigs, it’s amazing just how many people then fail to perform basic maintenance. For gamers who would like to get the most out of their investment but don’t have the time to learn the inner workings of their PC, Symantec’s Norton SystemWorks 2003 provides a quick and effective solution.

From increasing speed to protecting your PC, the Norton line of products covers all the bases while requiring minimal effort from the user. Below, we’ll walk you through the basics of optimizing your gaming experience with Norton SystemWorks2003. Starting at the moment of installation and ending with satisfaction you’ll get from knowing that your PC is fully optimized, we’ll show you how to get back the performance and stability you once enjoyed when your system was still new.

Installation:

Norton SystemWorks 2003 is mercifully easy to install. Since the way you install has a lot to do with what OS you are using I’ll just give you a few rules-of-thumb. Firstly, install everything. Later on you may want to remove features that you do not find yourself using but for now try out everything. Secondly, if you’re an Windows 9X Norton will suggest that you create a set of Rescue Disks. Please do try as they will likely save you plenty of headaches further down the road.

Getting Started:

Now let’s get started! First off, we need to make sure that your Norton software up-to-date. To do this, we’ll simply employee Live Update by following the directions below.

    Live Update:

    1. Make sure that you are connected to the internet.
    2. You’ll almost certainly need to reboot your computer afterwards so save any files you may be working on and close all other programs (aside from any that you need to remain connected to the web such as AOL).
    3. There should now be a “Norton SystemWorks” icon on your desktop. Double click it and let’s get started!
    4. With Norton SystemWorks 2003 loaded, you’ll notice a yellow bar near the top of the window with buttons labeled “Home”, “Live Update” and so on. Left click the “Live Update” button.
    5. A new screen will pop up that lets you select which programs you want to update. Since we want to update all of your Norton Products, simply left click the “Next” button.
    6. Live Update will now contact Symantec’s servers and check for updates. Since this is your first time running Live Update, there will be updates available and the window will change to show which programs can now be updated. Again, we’re here to update everything so click the “Next” button.
    7. Live Update will now download and install the available updates. Once it has completed, you will notified and you’ll need to click the “Finish” button. If a major update has occurred you will also be prompted to reboot. Do so now.
Well done! With your computer having been rebooted, start up Norton System Works 2003. Now we will begin to get your computer in shape!
    System Checkup:

    1. With SystemWorks started, you’ll notice a large yellow button near the lower right corner of the SystemWorks window labeled “Begin Checkup”. Click it.
    2. SystemWorks is now scanning your system for a wide variety of errors and inconsistencies. Once the scan has been completed, Norton will display a brief summary of the errors it found. Click “Begin Fix”.
    3. Once the process is completed click “Rescan” just to be safe.
    4. Should more errors be found, click “Begin Fix”.
    5. Click “Close”.
    6. Reboot you’re computer.
Congratulations! You’ve just taken a huge step towards a more stable and speedy computer. Now let’s do a quick bit of cleaning!
    CleanSweep:

    1. With SystemWorks started, look at the vertical line of buttons of the left-hand side of the SystemWorks window. Locate and left click the one marked “Norton CleanSweep”.
    2. Below the button will now appear a submenu but there is no need to concern yourself with that. To the right, you will see an option called “Fast and Safe Cleanup”. Left click anywhere on the aforementioned words.
    3. A new menu has now popped up. There is plenty of information here but you want to look at the small grey box near the center. Inside it will say how much room is left on your hard drive and how much information can be safely freed up. For instance, “Drive C has 23.60 GB free & 1.19 MB can be freed” means that I have almost 24 gigabytes free on my hard drive (referred to as “Drive C”) and that CleanSweep can clear up an extra 1.19 megabytes.
    4. To the right you will see a button labeled “Clean Now”. Left click that.
    5. CleanSweep will now cleanup your hard drive. You will be informed when it is completed. Click “Okay” and then “Close” (located below the “Clean Now” button).
Excellent work! With all the little glitches that had formed in your computer now gone and with the useless data swept away, it’s time for the “biggie”.
    SpeedDisk:

    1. You’ll now be defragging your hard drive. This will significantly improve your computers performance in many areas. The first defrag is always the longest so you might want to make sure something good is on TV before you start!
    2. Turn off any programs you have running in the background and start up Norton SystemWorks 2003.
    3. In the row of yellow buttons along the left-hand side of the menu, you see a button labeled “Norton Utilities”. Left click it.
    4. As with CleanSweep, a new submenu will drop down but for now feel free to neglect it. You’re here for the “Speed Disk” options in the center of the menu. Left click “Speed Disk”.
    5. You’re now in the belly of the beast. There is plenty of interesting information here but for now just take notice of the large box to the right filled with grey and white bars. This represents your hard drive and where the data is located on it. You’ll also notice a button labeled “Start Optimizing”. Click it now.
    6. You’re computer is on its way to becoming a lean, mean gaming machine. Go make yourself a sandwich, take a nap, watch a movie or whatever suits your tastes while Norton SystemWorks does its thing!
You’re Done!

Brilliant, you now are now the proud owner of well tuned PC! So now what? Well, that really depends on how involved you want to get into the upkeep of your PC. If you’ve kept “System Doctor” on and would rather just move on, so be it. It’s still a good idea to follow these steps once a month or so, but Norton software is highly automated and will tell you what needs to be done and when. If you’re a gamer who wants to ensure peak performance, make it a habit to follow this tutorial before installing any game. It’s also a good idea to clean anything you no longer need off of your hard drive beforehand. Uninstalling unwanted programs and deleting unused media files helps keep your computer organized and speeds up each disk defrag.

You will also want to experiment with what Norton SystemWorks starts automatically each time Windows boots up. Take a look at the “Options” menu and read up on what features do and if you really need them. I for one keep Norton running at a bare minimum to keep my PC’s resources free, but each user is different so don’t be afraid to experiment!

John Carswell