Raxco

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

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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
DefunctMay 2024
ProductsPerfectDisk, PerfectUpdater,
PerfectRegistry, PerfectGuard, InstantRescue, PerfectFileRecovery
Websitewww.raxco.com

History

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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

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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

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  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. ^ "Raxco Software". Archived from the original on May 11, 2024.
  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".
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