Now a true all-in-one package thanks to file and folder backup, but it can’t match Acronis for value.

It's that time of year again when your Symantec security products start flashing at you for their annual update. This time Symantec has not only tweaked the performance of the various products that make up its security suite, but has also endeavoured to give them a new look.

Norton AntiVirus (NAV) remains the world’s most popular anti-virus program -and for good reason. It is the ideal set-and-forget anti-virus protection that is as close to idiot-proof as anyone has yet got. However, it is not the cheapest and some of its competitors, such as PC-cillin now offer more for the money.

Spam! spam! spam! spam! . . . if it had not been for Monty Python nobody would ever have thought there was anything funny about it. With almost 50 percent of the world’s email now junk mail, offering everything from unwanted penis extensions to stockmarket tips, spam has become as big a problem as viruses.

Ghost 2003 now offers a similar level of features to that of Drive Image 2002 (August 2002, page 72).

One of the original anti-virus programs, Norton AntiVirus is one of the trusted standards. The current version is extremely easy to set up out of the box and, if you are regularly connected to the Internet, it will automatically keep itself up to date.