Norton SystemWorks Premier Edition
version 11.0 is
the definitive system software for your PC that includes a
collection of powerful system utilities to ensure data integrity, PC
performance and internet security.
In laymen’s terms, it is like
taking your car to the mechanic once a week to ensure that all
problems are diagnosed early but unlike a mechanic, the program
still allows the user access to the PC while these tasks are being
performed. Norton SystemWorks Premier Edition contains the following
Norton products:
-
Norton AntiVirus
-
Norton Save & Restore
-
Norton Utilities
-
One Button Checkup
-
System Optimiser &
-
Performance Test
Installation
The installation of Norton SystemWorks
Premier Edition was a flawless procedure and on our test AMD Phenom
system with Windows Vista, the software automatically installed with minimal prompting
from the user.
To further the testing, we also tested the software on our Windows XP test
machine that currently had other Norton products installed. This did
cause a conflict with the installation process, however the
installation wizard did assist us in removing the conflicting
products and once uninstalled, the software was successfully
installed on our other test system.
Key Benefits
-
Blocks spyware, viruses, and worms: provides
advanced protection against today’s latest threats
-
Backs up your files and your system: recovers your
system and data even when you can't restart the
operating system
-
Repairs and maintains your PC at peak performance:
diagnoses Windows problems and optimizes your hard
drive for better performance
-
Recovers from system failure: restores your system
and data
-
Removes Internet clutter: cleans up unwanted
cookies, cache files, and temporary files that slow
your computer's performance
Even though the installation process
was quite easy on a user-end level, it was rather time consuming, so
ensure that you have the time needed to successfully install the
program as it does require some internet access to download the
latest updates. In relation to the installation process, both our
systems contain identical system specifications and with the
installation process, our test machine with Vista was far superior
(performance wise) than Windows XP.
New Features and Enhancements
-
New!
Windows Vista compatible
-
Norton AntiVirus 2008 with enhanced performance
-
New!
SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced
Response) technology delivers enhanced protection
that identifies new threats based on their behavior
-
Norton Save and Restore 2.0 with improved,
easy-to-use interface
An impressive feature of Norton
SystemWorks Premier Edition is the low end system specifications
that only requires a 400Mhz or higher processor with 512MB RAM and
750MB of hard drive space. This is great news for users of older
PC’s that is often ignored by many software developers.
My only gripe with the installation
process is the size of the installation which is quite large,
however considering the powerful applications contained in this
package and that hard drive costs have dramatically decreased, it is
a small price to pay.
Once installed, we were greeted to the familiar “Norton” interface
which also installed an icon in the system tray for easy user access
and also instant notification should an error occur. When installed,
we noticed little to no slowdown at all, of course this is dependent
on your hardware specifications and what scans are being performed
at the time.
Key Features
-
Norton AntiVirus 2008: blocks viruses and spyware
automatically with advanced protection.
-
One-Button Checkup: lets you enjoy your computer at
its best, making sure it’s clean, repaired, and
running at top speed with the click of a button.
-
Norton Save and Restore 2.0: powerful disk imaging
technology from Norton Ghost that backs up
everything on your computer and recovers from system
failure.
-
Norton Utilities: diagnoses and fixes computer
problems.
-
Norton Cleanup: quickly and permanently removes
unwanted Internet clutter, temporary files, and
other private information.
-
Performance Test: allows you to evaluate the
performance of your system and hardware and compare
it to other systems.
-
Symantec Recovery Disk: emergency boot CD allows you
to start your computer when it can’t start itself.
Norton AntiVirus 2008 & Norton Save
& Restore 2.0
Rather than reinventing the wheel, this
review will focus on the new aspects of the product and for a
detailed review of Norton AntiVirus 2008,
Click Here or for a detailed review of Norton Save &
Restore,
Click Here. Needless to say, the program contains all the
functionality and features of these two impressive programs, one to
protect your computer from internet nasties and the other to backup
valuable data on your computer. Both are easy to use and quite user
friendly. Norton AntiVirus 2008 also contains a 12-month
subscription with Symantec, ensuring that you have the latest
updates and virus definitions available.
What's New?
The most noticeable addition to the
latest version of SystemWorks is the inclusion of Windows Vista and
Symantec’s new SONAR technology which is the Symantec Online Network
for Advanced Response that basically monitors all “known” threats on
the internet which communicates with the product, ensuring that your
system is as safe as possible. This means that even if your virus
definition is not up to date, SONAR will assist your computer in
preventing these "new" threats from damaging your system.
Should a dangerous threat be detected
by this network, the technology will automatically inform the user
in order to prevent any data corruption or unauthorised access to
your system.
Another impressive aspect of the product is the One-Button Checkup that gives
you access to all the features of SystemWorks. Neatly divided into a
variety of menus, this allows the user to select the relevant option
such as “Find and Fix Problems”, “Erase Unwanted Data” and “Back up
& Recover Your Files” to name a few of the features.
By clicking on the button, it
automatically runs the relevant wizard that is great for novice to
amateur computer users. Even if you are a computer guru, the product
still contains access to quite a few advanced features, ensuring
that this product caters for a wide variety of users.
On our Windows XP machine that has been running since 2007, the
program detected a wide range of system issues on our computer
which SystemWorks successfully rectified. Windows Vista which has
been running for five months did display a few issues that were
automatically resolves by SystemWorks. Off the topic, Vista is a far
superior program than XP in my honest opinion.
Having used Norton Utilities in the days of MSDOS when Windows was
just in its infancy, it’s good to see this product has involved for
Windows XP and Vista that performed quite admirably on both our
systems as it detected and fixed a variety of system issues. This
program also performed a thorough defrag of our hard drive which did
improve the overall PC performance.
Norton Cleanup is another important tool for removing clutter on
your hard drives and in the day of easily accessibly software, hard
drives are a prime candidate for collecting “junk” data. This tool
easily removed internet temporary files and also other temporary
files that windows fails to remove and we successfully recovered
over 500MB of data.
The performance Test is great for users
who are considering upgrades as it compares your system to a variety
of other systems on the database and is a great tool for identifying
any weaknesses in your system’s hardware. Also great for reviewers
when comparing hardware speeds.
In conclusion, Norton SystemWorks Premier Edition is your one stop
PC-tune shop for all Windows XP and Windows Vista computers that
offers the user complete protection and a total system tune-up for a
recommended retail price of $99.95. It's easy to use and can be
installed on a wide variety of computers with some impact on system
performance that is definitely a must have in today's day and age.
Additional Features
Norton
AntiVirus 2008
-
Blocks viruses and spyware automatically with
advanced protection and enhanced performance.
-
Finds and removes hidden threats.
-
Prevents virus-infected emails from spreading.
-
New
smart technology runs quietly in the background and
lets you work and play without disruption.
-
SONAR technology delivers behavior-based protection
that can detect emerging spyware and viruses even
before traditional signature-based definitions are
available.
-
LiveUpdate Notice alerts you to product updates and
threat advisories as available throughout the
renewable service period.*
*One-year protection: With this service, you receive
the right to use this product on one PC or on the
specified number of PCs during the service period,
which begins upon initial installation. This
renewable service includes protection updates and
new versions of this product as available throughout
the service period, subject to acceptance of the
Symantec.
Norton
Save and Restore 2.0
-
Protects all files of a certain type (such as photos
or documents) by finding and backing up the exact
file types you indicate.
-
Recovers individual folders, files, and previous
document versions, even if you forget to save them.
-
Lets
you customize the way you backup files.
-
Improved, easy-to-use interface.
Norton
Utilities
-
Automatically detects and fixes Windows problems.
-
Defragments and optimizes your hard drive for better
performance.
-
Cleans up unwanted cookies, cache, and temporary
files that slow your computer’s performance.
System
Optimizer
