Symantec Norton SystemWorks 2006

It's not that SystemWorks is bad value as such, but it's no longer a suite of top-class components. Add to this the system-resource suck, that system start and shutdown overhead, plus the skin-deep interface integration, and Norton SystemWorks 2006 feels more like a backward step than an essential upgrade - and certainly not a must-have for the first-time Norton buyer.

If you've already invested in Norton Internet Security, SystemWorks is the obvious partner, but we'd still look elsewhere for system utilities.

Keeping the anti-virus component out of the argument, as there are perfectly good AV applications available for nothing (AVG, for example), Systweak Advanced System Optimizer (www.systweak.com) does a lot more (adding startup management, file encryption, drive/partition erasure, Registry and Internet optimisation) for a lot less - just £28 inc VAT.

Author: Davey Winder