It's hard to know where to start with SystemWorks 2001: this utility bundle contains pretty much all the important PC utilities a user could ever want. The laundry list of components is impressive.The Standard version includes:
- Norton AntiVirus 2001--top of the line anti-virus program
- Norton Utilities 2001--for diagnosing and curing system problems
- Norton CleanSweep 2001--for safely removing unwanted files and programs from your hard drive
- Norton Web Services--this allows Symantec to offer additional functions through the Internet.
The Professional Edition adds two more:
- Norton Ghost 2001--a hard disk duplication utility
- WinFax Basic Edition--fax utility
All are glued together by the Integrator, a new front-end menu program, so they all look and work in a consistent manner. This new release is essentially "old wine in new bottles" but the wine is definitely vintage: the individual utilities contained therein are all pretty much "best of breed".
There are some important improvements however. For a start, the SystemWorks 2001 bundle now runs on Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium Edition. Another new feature, common on all Norton 2001 software is the ability to boot from the CD-ROM and run utilities from there rather than having to install them first. Another improvement is the revamped LiveUpdate facility which lets you update all the Norton components in one fell swoop, rather than individually. Previous versions noticeably impacted overall system responsiveness but this isn't true of the current version. Finally, there is the new Security Analyzer feature. This links you to a site where you can evaluate your PC's risk of virus infection and its susceptibility to hackers and other perils.
All the computing contained in SystemWorks 2001 might overwhelm a novice but Symantec have provided easy-to-use options like "One Button Checkup". Clicking on this runs a full system check that finds and fixes problems ranging from fragmented drives to outdated virus definitions to Registry conflicts. All of these tests were available before, but you had to perform each individually.
The casual user may find the comprehensive nature of these utilities a bit daunting, because together they offer dozens of functions. But SystemWorks doesn't cost much more than Norton AntiVirus alone, so it's worth buying the entire package if you plan to use even one of the other utilities. --Roger Gann
