Norton the Disk Doctor Returns to Dispense Aid

Peter Norton, the “software saint” who seven years ago took an abrupt leave of the computer software industry he helped to build, will make a comeback this fall. Perhaps fittingly, his platform will be CD-ROM.

Culver City-based MediaX Corp. plans to announce today that it has contracted with Norton to publish a series of five titles featuring Norton teaching computer owners how to use and trouble-shoot problems with their machines and popular software.

Norton’s firm, Peter Norton Computing, established a genre of software known as utility programs that aims to overcome the shortcomings of computers. Thousands of panicked software users who were able to recover their lost work with his programs developed a strong sense of personal gratitude toward the entrepreneur, spontaneously anointing him to sainthood. One of his other programs is called Norton Disk Doctor.

But in 1989, at age 45, Norton resigned as chief executive, turning the reigns over to professional management. The firm was sold to Symantec in 1990 for $70 million.

One of Los Angeles’ few high-tech superstars, Norton has devoted much of his retirement to his role as patron of the arts in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Those who are neither art lovers nor computer users may know him from the Dewar’s Scotch ads plastered over freeway billboards in the early 1990s.

The MediaX series “Peter Norton--PC Guru” will mark Norton’s return to dispensing computer aid. This time, he’ll be assisted by multimedia technology, including links to Internet Web sites. It is hoped it won’t interfere with his ability to perform miracles.