Raxco

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Raxco Software Inc. was a Gaithersburg, Maryland software company. Founded in 1978,[1] the company's products have been sold internationally.[2]

The company spun off one division as Axent Technologies; the latter was "acquired by venture capital firms in 1988."[3] Meanwhile Raxco continued with its own product offerings. PerfectDisk became its flagship software package.[4][5]

Raxco transitioned from its 1980s[6] and 1990s VAX[7] (VMS)[8][9] and OpenVMS[10][11] software product line, and did a Management buyout[12] to become a private,[1] independent company.

Interim ownerships[edit]

From the later 1990s thru the early 2000s, corporate ownership of the two organizations transitioned:

  • Raxco spun off one division (Axent)[3]
  • Axent Technologies Inc,[13]
  • Axent was acquired by Symantec[14]
  • Symantec dropped some of its acquisitions in 2001. At that point, the founders did a management buyout and got the company back again."[15]

Raxco, which had retained its identity, then changed its course from VAX/VMS to the PC/Server world in 2003.[16]

Raxco closed operations in May, 2024 [17]. All their standalone products will continue to work, but no activations will be made, and no updates or support will be offered. Subscription based products will remain functional until their expiration date.

Raxco Software, Inc.
IndustrySoftware
Founded1978
ProductsPerfectDisk, PerfectUpdater,
PerfectRegistry, PerfectGuard, InstantRescue, PerfectFileRecovery
Websitewww.raxco.com

History[edit]

During the 1980s,[6] using the collective name RAXCO Rabbit Software,[18] the company marketed a series of nine software packages for the VAX:

  • Resource Accounting
  • Capacity Planner / Performance Analyzer
  • Disk Monitor
  • High-Speed Backup
  • Disk-Optimizer [19]
  • Report Generator
  • System Accelerator[20]

Raxco's VAX product line was still active in the 1990s,[21] even as it was building and expanding its PC Product line.[22] By 2003 the PC desktop and server market became the company's focus.[23]

Product line[edit]

Aside from PerfectDisk,[24] the company also markets:

  • PerfectUpdater - improves system stability/minimizes hardware conflicts by detecting/installing appropriate drivers for unknown devices[25]
  • PerfectRegistry - Fix registry errors that slow down booting up[26][27]
  • PerfectGuard - Blocks/removes spyware, helps protect privacy[28]
  • InstantRescue - quicker rollback/system restore
  • PerfectFileRecovery - an advanced undelete tool

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Company Overview of Raxco Software, Inc". Bloomberg News.
  2. ^ Japanese site: "PowerX PerfectDisk".
  3. ^ a b Stan Hinden (February 19, 1996). "Software Firm Looks for Security in Public Offering". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ Les Freed (August 2002). "Defrag with PerfectDisk". PC Magazine. Vol. 21, no. 14. Ziff Davis. p. 56. ISSN 0888-8507.
  5. ^ "Raxco Rabbit Software, Monitors DEC VAX, Provides graphics analysis". Computerworld. October 19, 1987.
  6. ^ a b "RABBIT Software from RAXCO ... speed up response times, .. improve your through-put without having to purchase more (hardware)" "Snippet view". Computer Decisions. 1983.
  7. ^ "Raxco Rabbit Software, Monitors DEC VAX, Provides graphics analysis..." Computerworld. October 19, 1987.
  8. ^ Len Grzpanka (April 29, 1991). "Raxco releases enhanced VMS monitoring software". Digital News. pp. 27, 73.
  9. ^ pre-OpenVMS
  10. ^ "Raxco optimizes OpenVMS". Computerworld. October 24, 1994. p. 84.
  11. ^ "In 1991, Digital announced that the VAX/VMS operating system would ..."Michael D Duffy (2002). Getting Started with OpenVMS: A Guide for New Users. ISBN 0080507352.
  12. ^ led by Robert Nolan "Raxco Has Innovative Recipe for NT Market"., who back in 1991 – 1993 "Developed and managed channel sales partners for Raxco software products throughout Europe and Asia." "Robert Nolan".
  13. ^ "Axent: digital bodyguards". Forbes. May 20, 1998.
  14. ^ "Symantec Will Purchase Axent in $975 Million Stock Transaction". The New York Times. July 28, 2000.
  15. ^ Trevor Eddolls (December 17, 2007). "SOA still offering availability".
  16. ^ "Raxco is a noted name in the business of disk defragmentation." Jeremy Moskowitz (2006). Group Policy, Profiles, and IntelliMirror for Windows 2003, Windows ... ISBN 0470113219.
  17. ^ www.raxco.com
  18. ^ "Raxco Rabbit Software, Monitors DEC VAX, Provides graphics analysis..." Computerworld. October 19, 1987.
  19. ^ prior to PerfectDisk, which came a decade or so later!
  20. ^ full title: V.A.S.T. - VAX Accelerator Software Technology
  21. ^ "Raxco optimizes OpenVMS". Computerworld. October 24, 1994. p. 84.
  22. ^ "Raxco presents new PerfectDisk 2000". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. June 8, 1999.
  23. ^ "Raxco is a noted name in the business of disk defragmentation."Jeremy Moskowitz (2006). Group Policy, Profiles, and IntelliMirror for Windows 2003, Windows ... ISBN 0470113219.
  24. ^ Serdar Yegulalp (March 3, 2009). "What Windows 7 Needs To Succeed". InformationWeek.
  25. ^ introduced 2011 "RAXCO Markets New Product "Perfectupdater"".
  26. ^ Reviewed in "Review: PerfectRegistry aims to speed up your PC". PCworld. March 20, 2013.
  27. ^ noting that it "automatically creates a system restore point before fixing anything so you can undo the changes if needed."
  28. ^ Trademark file June 20, 2012 "PERFECTGUARD Trademark of Raxco Software, Inc".

External links[edit]

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