Once installed, Bitdefender 2009 uses a nine-step wizard to configure various aspects of the package.

This includes identity control to safeguard information such as credit card details and passwords, parental controls, and automatic updates before running a full scan for viruses and spyware.

When the initial scan is complete the main program fires up with an initial report on any problems that have been found.

The user is given a choice of basic or advanced views here, with the former particularly suited to beginners.

If any holes in security are detected there's an option to fix them with a single mouse-click and the tabbed interface will explain whether the problem lies with security, optimisation or the file manager.

This is a nice structure because it allows new users to correct issues easily but still offers the amount of information required to find out more if that's required.

Browsing through the range of categories reveals a series of tick-boxes designed to enable or disable various parts of the software, depending on how comprehensively you want it to monitor the computer. This is quite different to the approach taken by most other security suites but we liked the straightforward way in which the tools can be controlled.

The advanced view is more traditional as far as security programs go, offering specific access to the various components. These include security protection in the form of virus and spyware scanners, a firewall, spam remover and checks on general vulnerability.

There are also optimisation tools that include a disk defragmenter and registry scanner as well as backup, either to a disk or over the internet to round off what is an extremely impressive array of features. Everything is tied together very well and even in advanced mode it's fairly straightforward to adjust settings and configure the firewall and protection levels for your PC.

Bitdefender works quite differently, then, to many other security suites on the market but is an extremely effective way of combining the wide range of tools on offer. There was very little effect on performance and the unobtrusive approach manages to be refreshing while still providing peace of mind that the computer is effectively secured.