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With the new year approaching, it is that time when new utilities enter the arena. In this latest incarnation of that venerable favorite, Symantec has released their comprehensive Norton SystemWorks 2004. Coming in two flavors, the appropriately titled “Norton SystemWorks 2004” and “Norton SystemWorks 2004 Professional,” the standard utilities are enclosed, but with a few very notable changes.
With this new suite of comprehensive utilities, Symantec now introduces product activation among its new features. Like many of the latest releases from other larger companies, Symantec too has included product activation to prevent users from installing the same program on multiple machines. For some, this is a deal breaking feature. For others it is just another nuisance to be dealt with in acquiring software. Either way, the activation process appears to be here to stay, at least for now.
Fortunately it is an easy process and the way it is in enacted is reasonable. Provided that you are not trying to install one product on more than two or three machines and you are an end—user, I seriously doubt that Symantec will take issue. The point behind activation is preventing one copy from being installed on multiple machines. How effective this protection will be against dedicated hackers remains to be seen.
Moving past the activation feature, the key distinguishing feature between Norton Pro and Norton non pro is the inclusion of Ghost. Respected by computer professionals as the definitive tool for copying one hard drive onto many, the pro version includes a very full featured version of Ghost. What this program does is create a copy of a hard drive that can be installed nearly anywhere. For backups and archiving, this is the tool of choice for the professionals hands down. Packed with cloning tools, peer to peer tools, an image integrity check, everything you need to copy and store a hard drive is here in a complete package.
The question that users have to ask is if this is what they need. As complete as Windows XP backup is, Ghost takes the whole process much further. While I am sure you can get by with Windows XP’s excellent restore feature, you are actually much safer off when you have a complete and total solution like Ghost on hand. For some end—users there may never be a need for Ghost. On the other hand, I cannot imagine a better tool to have in your arsenal. The inclusion of it here in Norton SystemWorks Professional provides this suite with a tool that really puts Symantec’s suite over the top. Since hard drives at some time fail, having a ghost copy that can be installed never hurts.
Included with Professional are the types of programs associated with last year’s version.
One Button Check Up, Speed Disk, Norton System Doctor, Norton Disk Doctor, Norton WinDoctor and other such features are here. Looking much like their predecessors, there are no real drastic changes to be found. In this case, subtle change is very good. CleanSweep is back too, along with much that was here before in other versions.
The new kids on the proverbial block now include some extra Web features, a performance test and a password manager. This is a convenience feature that allows you to centralize passwords so that you are not stuck with having to write down an assortment of passwords. While this is not a utility in the classic sense of disk saving or PC health, it is a nice thing to have on hand.
The big draw with SystemWorks Professional, as well as SystemWorks, is the included Anti—Virus. A stellar performer for years, and now packed with ad blocking, Norton Anti-Virus is still one of the best on the market, and included here. Drawing in some new features, improved performance and some of the best e—mail integration on the market, this new version is well worth looking into seriously.
What is curious with this release is that their firewall and extremely well conceived Spam Blocker tool Norton Anti Spam 2004 are not included. For various reasons, spam protection and the firewall were not conceived as part of this package. While their firewall has been respectable, their new Spam Protection is effective, swift and one of the best for those that do not want to spend all day creating rules for blocking offensive e—mail. Hopefully at some point both products will be included in this compete suite.
Available in several configurations, Norton SystemWorks 2004 Professional includes a one year subscription that entitles you to a full year of updates. Symantec has historically done an excellent job of updating their applications and providing online help. They also have automatic updates for every application included as well.
For those that are seeking solid protection, Symantec has definitely gained an edge over other utilities in the suite department. By including an excellent backup and cloning tool in their Ghost combined with Norton Anti Virus and a slew of their traditional disk maintenance utilities, Norton has a considerable edge. Their disc defragmenter has always been solid, and this time is no exception, and their usual tools have always provided the best in one touch protection.
If money is an issue and you want a firewall, anti virus and a slew of other tools, Vcom’s System Suite 5 is OK if price points are an issue. There is certainly nothing wrong with the program. However, if you want the best there is, there is no beating the combination of Norton Anti Virus and Ghost combined with the faster defrag tools found in Norton SystemWorks Professional. With everyone having preferences for this and that regarding utilities, if you like to pick and chose them, then Symantec’s solutions work well.
For the unexpected, for ease of use, and the new speed of Norton Anti Virus, there is a lot to recommend this suite over others. If you are looking for well designed tools frequently updated and the consistency that is Symantec, you may do well to consider this set of applications.
Do be aware that this suite will work best running on a Pentium 4 with at least 256 MB of RAM, preferably more. Symantec products do require a bit more system overhead. Trying to run this one on a machine that is older could cause problems. So do be aware of that limitation to an otherwise solid suite.
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