I've got a few suggestions for the Norton Utilities' next release...
First, when I installed it, I went through and glanced through all the options... but didn't see anything for the "Clean your Disks", so thought that it was a cache cleaner/scrubber. When I ran the "Start Scan", it zipped through and deleted the cache, history, FORM DATA, PASSWORDS, etc! Only when I CLICKED ON the "Clean Your Disks" did I see there were options, not just a way to run it. So how about, as a user is installing - or on the first run of - Norton Utilities, you take them on a guided trip through the options, settings, etc. so that they know about this in advance? I have now lost the form history for about six dozen web sites, and passwords for about two HUNDRED because this wasn't obvious. It should be deselected by default, not selected, unless - as I said - you take the user through the settings on initial startup. I am NOT HAPPY AT ALL that I lost all that information!
Second, the clean closes Google Chrome when you clean. It doesn't ASK you to close it - it KILLS THE PROCESS! So imagine my surprise when the box comes up asking if I want to clean... I'm in the middle of typing a long response in a message forum... and suddenly, *POOF* Chrome is gone. I thought it crashed... then the scan finished. By then, I'd launched the application again - and it ran through a SECOND time (surprise again!) and closed Chrome a SECOND time! So now, before I click "Start Scan" I have to make sure I don't have anything open that COULD be lost.
Third: It appears to delete the DOWNLOADED EXECUTABLES separate from the IE cache. This means that I may now have lost several downloaded programs, because they were in the download folder. This is unacceptable behavior for default settings! This wasn't in the cache, but in the download folder. The setting? "Clean Your Disks -> Browsers -> Internet Explorer -> "Downloaded Program Files". Again, not seen before the clean went through. And again, this should be a user choice to turn ON, not something we need to turn OFF.
Fourth - THE LOG FILES DON'T APPEND! I went to find out what else it had cleaned, but all that was in the log was the last (double) scan that didn't do anything but close the browser on me, because it had all been done the first time around. (Why did it scan the second time? I've no idea... because there is no option for it, and I've gone through EVERYTHING now.) Why does it not append to the log, or keep the last 5 scans, or something along those lines? I have no history of what was cleaned because it got wiped out the instant the second scan started.
And last, it keeps telling me the disk health is low because I've not defragged in ... wow, 7 days! And "Boot Optimize" - how often do you need to do that? Because it did it the first time I went through, and now it's red again. "Bleach free space" is also in the red - but I don't have time for it to bleach the free space on a 2GB HD! Maybe that should be an option that doesn't affect the "System Health" meter? Currently it says "Low" and those are the only things wrong... Registry health green - Last compact 4 days ago - run history cleared - document history cleared - Bleach free space RED - Disk repair green - Disk defrag RED - Boot Optimizer RED
And before someone tells me to RTFM, I've been in IT support for years... many years... (That's over 10 for you who don't realize that we don't like to count them after that.) I've never seen anything like this! Even CCleaner gives you the lowdown on what it's going to remove before it removes! Norton didn't even give me a list - it just went with the defaulted options. I've had earlier versions of Norton that didn't go through and clear your PASSWORDS out... I've always had to delete those myself. 200 passwords, Poof! Good thing it didn't burn through my shortcuts.... but I'm probably going to have to get about 175+ of these reset now.
Thank you for your product... it does a SUPER SUPER job - even stuff no IDIOT would think would be a defaulted item! Now I'm going to get to work trying to recover some of the things wiped out!
Thank you, Norton!