Private company

Fifth Generation Systems

Logo: Fifth Generation Systems, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

American utility software company, 1984–1993

Fifth Generation Systems, Inc. was an American utility software and computer security company founded in October 1984 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by Robert Mitchell, Leroy Mitchell, Roger Ivey and Bruce Ray. The company developed a broad range of productivity and security tools for both Macintosh and PC platforms, with products spanning backup, file compression, disk management, font management and virus scanning. Symantec acquired Fifth Generation Systems on 4 October 1993 for US$53.8 million.2 It is headquartered in United States.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1984Founded1
  • Industrycomputer1
  • HeadquartersUnited States1

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

Fifth Generation Systems, Inc. was an American utility software and computer security company founded in October 1984 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by Robert Mitchell, Leroy Mitchell, Roger Ivey and Bruce Ray. The company developed a broad range of productivity and security tools for both Macintosh and PC platforms, with products spanning backup, file compression, disk management, font management and virus scanning. Symantec acquired Fifth Generation Systems on 4 October 1993 for US$53.8 million.2

Corporate structure

Fifth Generation Systems is part of a group headed by Gen Digital. 34 entities, 11 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Fifth Generation Systems was founded in 1984 and grew to become a significant publisher of system utilities through the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its flagship product, FastBack, was an early hard disk backup utility that competed directly with The Norton Backup from Symantec.

All four founders later departed following the acquisition of the company by Barry Bellue, who was subsequently accused of fraud and theft from company accounts.

Symantec acquired Fifth Generation Systems in October 1993 for US$53.8 million, absorbing its product lines into the Symantec and Norton portfolio.

From Wikipedia’s article on Fifth Generation Systems, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

FastBack (PC, Mac) — hard disk backup utility; competed with Norton Backup

DiskDoubler (Mac) — on-the-fly hard drive compression software

CopyDoubler (Mac) — system utility for accelerating file copies and managing copy queues

DiskLock (PC, Mac) — security software incorporating access control and encryption

Read the full text

Public Utilities (Mac) — disk optimisation, repair and data recovery, developed by Sentient Software

PowerStation (Mac)

Pyro! (Mac) — screensaver displaying fireworks and user-selectable animations

Search&Destroy (PC) — virus scanner for DOS and Windows, included in Novell DOS 7

Suitcase (Mac) — font management utility

Super Laser Spool and Super Spool (Mac) — print spoolers, acquired from Supermac Technology in 1990

Direct Access (PC) — menu system software for DOS

ABC SnapGraphix

From Wikipedia’s article on Fifth Generation Systems, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1984Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4