Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Raxco

Raxco Software Inc. was a Gaithersburg, Maryland software company. Founded in 1978, the company's products were sold internationally.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
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Raxco Software, Inc.
IndustrySoftware
Founded1978
DefunctMay 20241
ProductsPerfectDisk, PerfectUpdater,
PerfectRegistry, PerfectGuard, InstantRescue, PerfectFileRecovery
Websitewww.raxco.com

Raxco Software Inc. was a Gaithersburg, Maryland software company. Founded in 1978,2 the company's products were sold internationally.3

In 1995, a division of the company was split into the spin-off company Axent Technologies4, which was later acquired by Symantec in 2000.5 Raxco continued with its own product offerings. PerfectDisk becoming its flagship software package.67

Raxco transitioned away from its 1980s and 1990s VAX89/pre-OpenVMS VMS10 and OpenVMS1112 software product lines, and became private after a management buyout in 2001.213

Interim ownerships

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

  • 1995: Axent is formed as a spin-off company of Raxco4
  • 1995-2000: Axent Technologies Inc functions as an independent company14
  • 2000: Axent is acquired by Symantec5
  • 2001: Raxco becomes private after a management buyout.

Raxco then changed its course from VAX/VMS to the PC/Server industry in 2003.15

Raxco closed operations in May, 2024. All their standalone products will continue to work, but no product activations will be made, and no updates or support will be offered. Subscription-based products will remain functional until their expiration date.16

History

During the 1980s, using the collective name RAXCO Rabbit Software,17 the company marketed a series of nine software packages for the VAX:9

  • Resource Accounting
  • Capacity Planner / Performance Analyzer
  • Disk Monitor
  • High-Speed Backup
  • Disk-Optimizer NB 1
  • Report Generator
  • System AcceleratorNB 2

Raxco's VAX product line was still active in the 1990s,18 even as it was building and expanding its PC Product line.19 By 2003 the PC desktop and server market became the company's focus.20

Product line

Aside from PerfectDisk,21 the company also marketed:

  • PerfectUpdater - improves system stability/minimizes hardware conflicts by detecting/installing appropriate drivers for unknown devices22
  • PerfectRegistry - Fix registry errors that slow down booting up23NB 3
  • PerfectGuard - Blocks/removes spyware, helps protect privacy24
  • InstantRescue - quicker rollback/system restore
  • PerfectFileRecovery - an advanced undelete tool
Notes

Notes

  1. prior to PerfectDisk, which came a decade or so later!
  2. full title: V.A.S.T. - VAX Accelerator Software Technology
  3. noting that it "automatically creates a system restore point before fixing anything so you can undo the changes if needed."
References

References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20240618125913/https://raxco.com/
  2. "Company Overview of Raxco Software, Inc". Bloomberg News.
  3. Japanese site: "PowerX PerfectDisk". 3 October 2024.
  4. Stan Hinden (February 19, 1996). "Software Firm Looks for Security in Public Offering". The Washington Post.
  5. "Symantec Will Purchase Axent in $975 Million Stock Transaction". The New York Times. July 28, 2000.
  6. Les Freed (August 2002). "Defrag with PerfectDisk". PC Magazine. Vol. 21, no. 14. Ziff Davis. p. 56. ISSN 0888-8507.
  7. "Raxco Rabbit Software, Monitors DEC VAX, Provides graphics analysis". Computerworld. October 19, 1987.
  8. "Raxco Rabbit Software, Monitors DEC VAX, Provides graphics analysis..." Computerworld. October 19, 1987.
  9. "RABBIT Software from RAXCO ... speed up response times, .. improve your through-put without having to purchase more (hardware)" "Snippet view". Computer Decisions. 1983.
  10. Len Grzpanka (April 29, 1991). "Raxco releases enhanced VMS monitoring software". Digital News. pp. 27, 73.
  11. "Raxco optimizes OpenVMS". Computerworld. October 24, 1994. p. 84.
  12. "In 1991, Digital announced that the VAX/VMS operating system would ..."Michael D Duffy (2002). Getting Started with OpenVMS: A Guide for New Users. Elsevier. ISBN 0080507352.
  13. led by Robert Nolan "Raxco Has Innovative Recipe for NT Market". 17 July 1998., who back in 1991 – 1993 "Developed and managed channel sales partners for Raxco software products throughout Europe and Asia." "Robert Nolan".
  14. "Axent: digital bodyguards". Forbes. May 20, 1998.
  15. "Raxco is a noted name in the business of disk defragmentation." Jeremy Moskowitz (2006). Group Policy, Profiles, and IntelliMirror for Windows 2003, Windows ... John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0470113219.
  16. "Raxco Software". Archived from the original on May 11, 2024.
  17. "Raxco Rabbit Software, Monitors DEC VAX, Provides graphics analysis..." Computerworld. October 19, 1987.
  18. "Raxco optimizes OpenVMS". Computerworld. October 24, 1994. p. 84.
  19. "Raxco presents new PerfectDisk 2000". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. June 8, 1999.
  20. "Raxco is a noted name in the business of disk defragmentation."Jeremy Moskowitz (2006). Group Policy, Profiles, and IntelliMirror for Windows 2003, Windows ... John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0470113219.
  21. Serdar Yegulalp (March 3, 2009). "What Windows 7 Needs To Succeed". InformationWeek.
  22. introduced 2011 "RAXCO Markets New Product "Perfectupdater"".
  23. Reviewed in "Review: PerfectRegistry aims to speed up your PC". PCworld. March 20, 2013.
  24. Trademark file June 20, 2012 "PERFECTGUARD Trademark of Raxco Software, Inc".
External links