Utility sets have always been popular with users and publishers. Following Symantec's success with SUM (Symantec Utilities for Macintosh), Central Point collected a set of its best programs and is selling it as PC Tools Deluxe, the same name it used for utilities packages for DOS machines. However, the seven applications, two DAs, and two INITs included in this package are Mac programs, not ports from other systems. PC Tools Deluxe evolved from Central Point's best-selling Copy II Mac (see Quick Clicks, March '89).
Several of the better programs in Copy II Mac are also included with PC Tools Deluxe. One of the main reasons to buy a utilities package is to recover crashed disks or deleted files. PC Tools Deluxe uses a pair of applications that arc quite good at recovery, if you’ve taken some preparatory steps before your disk crashes or your files are deleted. The applications are called Mirror and Rebuild. Mirror creates and automatically updates an alternative disk map and directory. Rebuild uses that file to recreate what seems to be gone.
Both have bare-bones interfaces, but that doesn't matter. They're simple to use, and they work. The initial versions of Mirror had a few problems that resulted in unusable files in rare circumstances. Central Point sent free updates to all registered owners as soon as it fixed the problem.
There's still one problem with Mirror: it can't split the files it creates, and if you have 50 or 60 megabytes on a hard disk, the Mirror file will become too large to store on an 8OOK floppy. Recovery is always easier if you can work from a floppy, since Rebuild doesn't have to painstakingly search the hard disk for the Mirror file.
Deleted files are best taken care of by MacTools and its accompanying CPSDeleteTracking INIT. Again, you need to do some advance preparation if you plan to use this feature: Place the INIT in your System folder and restart the Mac.
MacTools is a powerful and respected Mac utility. It’s easy for beginners to use, and it has enough power to satisfy most advanced users. The disk includes the newest version (7.2) of this excellent tool.
Optimizer is a hard-disk defragmenter. It worked safely and quickly on the hard disks I used. However, it's not as effective as ALSoft's Disk Express, the only program that can totally defragment a full hard disk. Optimizer was updated to version 1.1 in the free mailing to registered users. It performed well in my tests: Fragmentation was always reduced to an acceptably small figure.
Locate is a DA that searches closed files, checking for filenames and arbitrary text strings. While no program of this type is truly quick (searching one megabyte per minute is excellent). Locate ranks near the top in speed. It can search in the background regardless of whether MultiFinder is running.
PC Backup is a fast hard-disk backup program (see “Hard-Disk Backup: Moving and Storing.” July ‘89). It can back up to floppies, other hard disks, the Apple tape drive, and removable cartridges. It lacks some of the advanced features of Redux and DiskFit, but it is a safe and capable program. It performs full and incremental backups as well as full and selective restores. These are all the backup features most users need.
Fast Copy is a close cousin of the latest version of Copy II Mac (all it lacks is the bit-copy option). It's a fast, well-proven disk-copy program (you can’t use it to copy individual files or sets of files). The Track Editor lets knowledgeable users repair some damaged files automatically.
PC Secure is a file-encryption program that comes in application and DA form. In the USA-only version, it uses the secure DES encryption scheme. It works only on files, not on folders or volumes.
I’m not a fan of encrypting files, believing that removing all possibility of physical access is a better solution, but if you have to encrypt a file (say, to mail it to someone), PC Secure is easy, virtually idiot-proof, and effective.
The documentation is the best Central Point has produced for a Mac product to date, but it's still difficult to get through in places and can be intimidating to a new user. The disk also includes an outdated version (3.6) of Apple’s Font/DA Mover: Everyone should be using version 3.8 or later.
PC Tools would be better if its elements were more integrated (like SUM's). It doesn’t have the smoothness Mac users have come to expect. Still, every harddisk owner should have and use the harddisk backup and recovery tools that are included. When you consider the price of PC Tools Deluxe and the amount a crash can cost you, it’s a bargain.
Hirame, Ellen. (August 1989). PC Tools Deluxe. MacUser. (pgs. 58, 62).
Central Point Software
Applications
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2020-09-15 / 
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PC_Tools_Deluxe_-_Mac.sit
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Mini vMac
