Symantec Norton Systemworks 2003

Systemworks 2003 comprises Norton Utilities, Norton Antivirus, Norton Cleansweep and Roxio Go Back, saving about £40 on their individual prices.

For that reason alone, Systemworks 2003 is attractive. There's also a 'Professional' version, which carries a £20 premium.

This includes all Systemworks' features plus Norton Ghost 2003, Process Viewer and Performance Test.

New features in 2003 are thin on the ground. However, Web Tools is worthy of mention.

One component of this is Connection Keep Alive, which sends packets across a dial-up internet connection at a default rate of roughly one per minute or any number of minutes you choose.

While not as sophisticated as Inkline Global's Stay Connected, Connection Keep Alive does prevent disconnection when you're not actively online and can be configured to connect to any address.

The other component of Web Tools is Web Cleanup, which makes it easy to clean up the detritus left behind by your internet surfing. It lets you see what cookies and temporary internet files are on your PC, and you can even view each file before you despatch it.

Systemworks 2003 has improved upon its One Button Checkup feature by allowing users to select which system scans to run, and to schedule these customised scans for regular deployment.

A history file now logs One Button Checkup's activity so users can share the information with technical support or just keep a record.

2003 also provides an undo capability within One Button Checkup, so any change made can be undone - even days later.

It may be old wine in new bottles but the tools that make up Systemworks are among the best you'll find.

Disk Doctor is a safe, effective tool for the diagnosis and repair of a variety of file-related problems.

Windoctor examines and repairs a host of Windows problems that show up in the Registry, including invalid entries and shortcuts.

Norton Antivirus (NAV) 2003 has the lion's share of the improvements.

Out of the box, NAV's default settings provide protection against email-borne viruses, SMTP-based worms (which bypass email clients such as Outlook to send copies of themselves on the internet directly) and Trojan horses by scanning incoming and outgoing email, then automatically repairing infected files.

NAV scans file downloads in AOL, MSN/Windows, and Yahoo Instant Messenger applications.

NAV's main screen lists its functions: Auto-Protect, Email Scanning, Script Blocking and so on, and shows the date of your most recent virus definition update.

On the left, a list of scanning options allows you to scan individual drives, removable or floppy disks, folders or even individual files, by clicking the appropriate menu item.

NAV boots with Windows and runs in the background, monitoring and protecting as you work. As before, it can download current virus definitions from the net automatically.

And NAV 2003 scans inbound and outbound email in Pop3 clients such as Outlook, Outlook Express and Eudora, but not AOL mail.

In addition to scanning downloads from IM programs, it now blocks worms in outgoing email.

Go Back 3 Personal Edition works much like the Windows ME/XP System Restore feature, allowing you to restore your hard disk to a previous state if it crashes or becomes unbootable.

This is a cut-down version of the retail version - you can't restore individual files or preserve them in their new state when reverting back to an older state.

As this facility is largely replicated by System Restore, Go Back 3 Personal Edition will hold few attractions to XP or ME users.

Bringing up the rear is Cleansweep 2003 an uninstaller that had outlived its usefulness in 2002.

Cleansweep is still useful for clearing out browser caches, cookies and other internet detritus, but this feature is largely duplicated by the Web Tools feature so is rather redundant.

DETAILS
Price: £59.99 (£51.05 ex VAT) Professional £79.99 (£68.08 ex VAT)

Contact: Symantec 020 7616 5600

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• 233MHz Pentium (or compatible) processor
• 128MB of Ram
• 150MB of free hard disk space
• DVD or CD-Rom drive
• Internet Explorer (minimum version 5.01 required, 5.5 recommended)