Symantec, the maker of the Norton products, has come out with their annual update to SystemWorks, their all in one system utility suite. This suite of programs comes with Norton AntiVirus, Norton Utilities, Norton GoBack and Norton Cleanup. During installation you have the choice to choose which programs you want to install. After installation you will be prompted to activate SystemWorks. This is a newly added requirement to the Symantec’s software that they began using last year. Activation has been a hindrance to some folks but my installation and activation went pretty smooth.

Topping off this suite is the award winning Norton Antivirus. It offers automatic protection against viruses via email, the Internet, instant messaging and removable disks. In the 2005 edition the most notable new feature is the ability to stop Worm and Trojan viruses. Trojan and Worm viruses have come out of the woodwork this year. Most folks have employed new tools to stop these evil doers and Symantec has now taken on the task with a vengeance. See figure 1.

Second up is Norton Utilities. This favorite has been around for years and is still going strong. Norton Utilities features Speed Disk, which takes the place of Windows Defrag and does a good job at it too. WinDoctor and Disk Doctor both help keep your disk and Windows registry in good working order with the push of a button.

Another handy tool in the suite is CleanSweep. This program has also been around for a while and used to get a lot more use when hard drive space was at a premium. Now with hard drives being the behemoths that they are folks don’t worry so much about cleaning or “sweeping” them out. However CleanSweep still offers some good services, such as cleaning out your temporary Internet files, downloaded files – yeah, the ones you downloaded last year but have never used, programs, ActiveX and it does this safely with the click off a button. Besides CleanSweep Symantec has a section in the control panel called Norton Cleanup to cleanup all Internet related files including cookies.

Symantec has also bundled into this year’s suite an application called GoBack which is much like Windows XP’s System Restore. This feature first appeared in Windows ME and simply lets you take your computer back to time before it was in trouble so to speak. You can choose to install it and I opted not to since this feature takes a lot of system resources and hard drive space plus the fact that it is already a standard feature in Windows XP.

I felt like I was watching a DVD when I first saw the control panel. There is a new tab that is called Extra Features. After clicking Extra Features you will see 3 new helpers – System Optimizer, Connection Keep Alive and Checkit Diagnostics. System Optimizer is a tweakers dream letting you adjust setting for everything from security settings to desktop icons. Connection Keep Alive is for dial up users who have an ISP that drops their online connection after a certain period of inactivity. This little program will send a signal keeping the connection open. Checkit Diagnostics will give your system a thorough check of hardware and let you know of any conflicts giving you a report card when it is finished.

Besides all the programs already mentioned SystemWorks 2005 will also let you know if you have enabled Automatic Windows updates. As you’ve heard me and others preach in the Alamode, Windows Updates are “critical” to protecting your computer from the bad guys and Symantec is here to tell you again.

Symantec has also made some cosmetic changes including a new icon for the task tray. For years you saw the little computer with a yellow monitor now you will see a little yellow circle with what looks to be doctor’s stethoscope inside of it. Clicking on this icon will bring up the new SystemWorks control panel giving you access to all the features of the suite. From the control panel you can spend lots of time tweaking your computer. See figure 2.

If you are in need of a utility suite with a top rated antivirus program you should definitely check out Symantec’s Norton System Works 2005.

System requirements: Windows XP - 300MHz or higher processor, 128 MB of RAM. Windows 2000 Professional - 133MHz or higher processor, 64 MB of RAM. Windows Me - 150MHz or higher processor 32 MB of RAM. Windows 98 - 133MHz or higher processor, 32 MB of RAM, DVD or CD drive, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, Super VGA (800x600) or higher–resolution video adapter and monitor 180 MB of available hard disk space. Norton GoBack 4.0, (Optional Installation) 180 MB of available hard disk space Norton Ghost 2003, Floppy disk drive (for disaster recovery) Writeable CD or DVD (for disaster recovery) Free local partition Secondary internal or external hard disk, Zip drive or other mass storage device CD R/RW or DVD R/RW device (DVD supported formats include +R, RW,-R, and -RW) Access to a mapped network drive SCSI or Atapi (QIC157) tape device.

System requirements: Windows XP - 300MHz or higher processor, 128 MB of RAM. Windows 2000 Professional - 133MHz or higher processor, 64 MB of RAM. Windows Me - 150MHz or higher processor 32 MB of RAM. Windows 98 - 133MHz or higher processor, 32 MB of RAM, DVD or CD drive, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, Super VGA (800x600) or higher–resolution video adapter and monitor 180 MB of available hard disk space. Norton GoBack 4.0, (Optional Installation) 180 MB of available hard disk space Norton Ghost 2003, Floppy disk drive (for disaster recovery) Writeable CD or DVD (for disaster recovery) Free local partition Secondary internal or external hard disk, Zip drive or other mass storage device CD R/RW or DVD R/RW device (DVD supported formats include +R, RW,-R, and -RW) Access to a mapped network drive SCSI or Atapi (QIC157) tape device.