files which end up pointing (entirely or partially) at the same cluster chain - this always involves data loss, but it’s better than CHKDSK which would only tell the user about the problem (users then had to copy the files manually and delete the originals). ScanDisk can “repair” cross-linked files, i.e.The Norton Utilities started off in 1982 as a small set of DOS disk tools written by Peter Norton, who also published several DOS internals books.There are quite a few differences between the MS-DOS CHKDSK and ScanDisk, beyond the latter’s friendlier interface. Throughout the series, the product often featured an image of Peter Norton taking his iconic "crossed arm" pose. In 1990, the product was sold to Symantec, after which Peter Norton had little to do with the "Norton" branded products. These tools addressed commonly needed advanced disk keeping abilities that were lacking from DOS, such as undeleting files and file system repair.įrom there, Norton Utilities grew to be one of the most "must-have" tools for power users in the late 80s and early 90s. Norton utilities 1.x has yet to be spotted in the wild, but Winworld recently added several 2.x versions. Released in 1983, Norton Utilities 2.x includes a variety of useful disk tools such as undelete, a file attribute editor, and sector editor. Unlike most IBM PC software of the time, Norton Utilities 2.0 shipped on a "flippy disk", a disk compatible with single sided drives that could be flipped over to read the second side. This was common on the Apple II, but less so on the IBM PC. PC disk systems required the disk jacket to have a second index opening, and IBM PCs were rapidly upgraded to double sided drives. Norton Utilities 2.0 supports IBM PC-DOS 2.0, but also maintains compatibility with IBM PC-DOS 1.00. This helped ensure it could run on any IBM PC or hardware compatible system. Norton Utilities 2.0 seemed kind of rough and unpolished. Released in 1984, 3.0 improved the friendliness and polish reflecting that it was a successful commercial product now.Ĥ.0 and 4.5, continued to grow. 4.0 Added Norton Integrator, a friendly shell for launching the utility programs. The "Advanced" versions included a disk defragmentation tool that could both speed up disk access and make data recovery easier later on.Ĥ.5, released in 1988 added Norton Disk Doctor, and included support for FAT drives up to 2GB used by IBM PC-DOS 4.0.Īt this point Norton Utilities had become a "must have" tool for any serious power user. The increases in disk sizes and the increase in buggy unstable software may have helped.Ĥ.5 seemed to be a very well tested, solid product. Because of its relatively low memory footprint and speed, even today it is still considered the ideal disk tool for any IBM PC/XT class computer. Version 6.0 was the last to run on 8088/8086 machines, but had a higher memory footprint. Hint: To save a LOT of drive space, you may compress the Norton Utilities 4.5 executable with PKLITE. The FAT file system did not change again until Windows 95 OSR/2 added FAT32, keeping Norton 4.5 relevant for a long time. Even with a FAT32 hard drive, its disk tools can still run on floppy disks or removable media under 2GB.īy this time, Norton Utilities was competing with a number of similar disk tool bundles, such as Central Point Software's PC Tools, and the MACE Utilities. In 1990, Peter Norton Computing released a package of similar disk utilities for the Apple Macintosh.
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