SystemWorks Premier crashes system during startup

[Grizzled_Geezer]

I installed Symantec's SystemWorks Premier 2005 (replacing SystemWorks 2001) over the weekend. Everything seemed to be going okay until yesterday afternoon.

For no obvious reason, Outlook Express crashed. I then found that clicking desktop icons did not run those programs.

I restarted, but when the boot reached the point at which the SystemWorks programs were loaded, the system crashed to the BSoD. It did this every time I restarted.

I tried booting to Safe Mode, but, again, nothing would run (I wanted to get to Add-Remove Programs), and the hard drive's light was on continuously.

Finally, after restarting several times, the Ghost component of SystemWorks failed to load properly, and the system did not crash. Regaining control, I used Add-Remove Programs to uninstall SystemWorks. Needless to say, the computer restarted perfectly and appears to be none the worse for wear.

I can't find anything about this in the Symantec knowledge base (natch), and I'm reluctant to pay $30 to actually talk to a tech (though the fee will be waived if Symantec decides the product was at fault).

Anybody out there know anything?

Thanks.

[johnwill]

No big surprise, Norton's products have gotten so bloated that it's difficult to keep them running properly.  I have a brand new NAV 2005 that won't install on either of my XP computers, the only saving grace is that it was free after rebate!  

[Grizzled_Geezer]

Thanks for your comments. I've had trouble with Norton products in the past, including a WinFax Pro 10 that repeatedly crashed the OS on booting, until I removed it.

I, too, got this software for free (assuming they honor the rebates). My main reason for purchasing it (as I was pretty happy with SystemWorks 2001, which gave me no problems) was that Ghost 9 is supposed to be able to create a bootable mirror of your hard drive. (That's what the instruction book says, anyhow.)

Perhaps someone will have an explanation of how to get SWP 2005 working right.