Norton System Doctor or equivalent

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JUst what does Norton System Doctor do?
Is there a better product of its type?

I searched the Symantec web site and did not find any product named System Doctor. Is it part of another Symantec product? If so, which one?

I am looking for software that will help me search for the cause of the Post beeps I’ve been getting (since my gut feeling is that the beeps are the result of some screwed up software/CMOS setting).

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System Doctor is part of the Norton Utilities.
It can run in the background, but I don’t use it at all.
Perhaps others can explain in detail what it does.

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Thanx.

I’ll visit the Symantec site to see the product info.

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According to the Norton SystemWorks 2001 manual – This is what Norton System Doctor will do:
Detect potential disk and system problems and take preventive measures to avoid serious trouble automatically. Norton System Doctor monitors and analyzes various parts of your computer, including disk and CPU usage, disk integrity, system integrity, network throughput, Internet site access time and more.

IMHO – Norton System Doctor is not worth the resources it sucks up when running.

The difference between Genius and Stupidity:
A Genius knows their limits.
- Albert Einstein

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That’s why I don’t use it.

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I’m currently on hold for over 30 minutes to talk to Symantec tech support to find out whether Norton Utilities would help.

There are rebates now on so the effective price is less than $20. Since my system is dual boot, I would install it under Win 98, see if it diagnoses any problems related to the beeps, then uninstall.

I too do not believe in running such software.

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Finally, got thru to Symantec tech support.
They confirmed what I expected, Norton Utilities won’t help me diagnose the beep problem.

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Just a thought, does your PC come with any diagnostics?

I know Compaq’s diags will test just about everything inside the box. From experience it hasn’t failed me yet, in fact it just IDed a memory stick as the cause of some obscure system error.

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I’ m not aware of any diagnostics.
It’s a Micron system.

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FWIW, have you tried PC911? Their forums can be helpful.

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Thanx.

Not yet.

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FWIW … I’ve been testing Symantec products for over 10 years. Every time I get System Works to test, I do a thorough job.
However, when I load up the released product, I do not allow System Doctor to load; I don’t use it. Even now, with a P4, 2.2 GHz 512 MB RAM system, I won’t use it. It simply takes too many resources, for what it gives in return.
As for the beep codes … there used to be little circuit boards that you put into an empty slot, and they would monitor your POST and report, using a digital number display, what they found. They came with a list for each major BIOS manufacturer, so that you can look up the numeric code and find the problem from the list.
I would look at JDR Micro – http://www.jdr.com – to see if they sell these gizmos any more. Or, possibly Black Box.

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I’ve used Norton Utilities, then System Doctor versions as they become available since the 80’s. They get installed to do their thing manually (not auto started at boot) except for the Antivirus checking agent.
Utilities like WinDoctor (Windows System Checker) and Speed Disk (Defrag) have kept my PC running well and efficiently. I also like Cleansweep (Program deleter and disk cleanup). Whenever I get an indication of a potential problem (like a crash, BSOD, or other hiccups) Windoctor gets run. It invariably finds several problems and fixes them. Then the PC is happy for another couple of months or so.
As you may have gathered, I’m a committed Norton Utilities and Systemworks fan.

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Howard,

Here is a site that deals with beep codes:

http://lhttp://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/index.htm

Maybe there is an answer here.

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THanx.

A more complete list of the beeps is at http://www.phoenix.com

I’m getting 1 long, 2 short, pause, 1 beep, so I ASSuME the code is 1-2 which means

“Search for option ROMs. One long, two short beeps on checksum failure.”

Not sure what that means.

Even tho I have a USB device, the USB port is disabled.
I wonder if that could be the problem. Win 2000 does not seem to care, the device works. But maybe Post cares.

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This beep code thing is very interesting so I read Mark Minasi’s book The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide and I found on p. 173 (old copy–3rd Ed.) that you may be getting two warnings here. The first is the 1 long, 2 short indicating a video cable problem; and the last 1 beep, also related to the video adapter or the cable to the monitor. I wonder if swapping out the cable would be worth a shot.

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It’s 1 long, 2 shorts, followed by a pause, then a beep.
I believe the final beep is the one that always occurs.

It could be a video cable problem as it is difficult to connect the cable to the card, not a good fit. But it’s always been that way. I’ll reconnect and reseat after I replace the CPU.

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**Edited by KT to fix hyperlink**

THanx.

Micron has shipped me a new Processor, since the heat sink has become detatched.

It’s possible that the Processor is generating too much heat and has affected, say, the video card, which is right below the processor.

I have also purchased additional memory, so I could swap that with the current memory to verify that memory is not at fault. However, I’ve already run the DocMemory program from http://www.simmtester.com and no problems were found after a few hours of running the test.

After I replace the processor, if the problem persists, I’ll have to pull out and reseat the boards, perhaps only the video card.

Sysyem does boot despite the beeps, I guess I should be happy about that. But we grinchesare not allowed to display glee, it would violate one of the main
tenets of our religion.

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