Norton

[Dwight Stewart]

I've recently been advised via these newsgroups
to ditch most aspects of Systemworks (possibly
excluding the AV) and use win XP's own utilities,
as well as other free anti spyware and anti
adware programs. (snip)

Well, then you've been advised wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong
with Norton SystemWorks (or the individual components purchased separately),
as many millions of long-term users can attest. Each of the individual
components, while rarely the very best in the industry, are more than
adequate for most users. Therefore, unless you have a particular reason to
demand more, I suspect the same may be true for you.

And, of course, nothing stops you from also using WinXP's tools when they
serve you better. For example, I use Window's Disk Defragmentor instead of
Norton's because my computer feels slightly faster afterwards, but rely
heavily on Ghost to back up my computer (it has restored my computer twice
with only very minor problems afterward - Microsoft Office had to be
reactivated, for example).

Finally, freeware alternatives are a very mixed bag. Some work well, and
some can cause more harm than good. Likewise, some are updated and supported
well, while others are not. I personally would never comfortably rely on
freeware for the critical, and potentially damaging, activities reliably
handled by SystemWorks (disk backups, virus scans, disk and Windows repairs,
and so on).

One final note. You talked about trashing SystemWorks except for
Anti-Virus. The individual components of SystemWorks cannot be installed
separately and work properly (the documentation mentions this). Instead, if
you actually decide to trash SystemWorks, you would need to purchase the
stand-alone version of Norton Anti-Virus.

Stewart