With the threat of viruses stronger than ever -- there are over 60,000 viruses currently circulating, with new ones being introduced daily -- a reliable, trustworthy anti-virus package is a must-have on anyone's computer. When it comes to virus protection Symantec Norton AntiVirus is a perennial favorite, but over the years, Norton has seen serious competition by the likes of McAfee, Trend Micro, and others.

TechTV Labs takes a close look at Norton AntiVirus 20002, the latest version of the software. Norton AntiVirus 2002 offers a robust set of tools to keep viruses, worms, and Trojan horses at bay.

Virus protection tools

Norton AntiVirus 2002 scans both incoming and outgoing email, offers script blocking, automatic virus deletion, and can alert you about new viruses. An Auto-Protect option loads into your system memory at start up to eradicate viruses and Trojan horses before they do any damage. Another option in the software checks for viruses each time you launch an application, insert a floppy disk, or mount removable media.

These types of protective options are notorious for eating up system resources and slowing down your computer. Our lab tests, however, did not show an appreciable slow down in overall system performance. With all scanning options on, you'll take a performance hit, which isn't uncommon for anti-virus software. With all options active and had several programs running (including two email clients, a firewall, and an IM chat client), we noticed some slowdown, though not enough for it to interfere with daily work.

User tests
In our hands-on tests, we found Norton AntiVirus 2002 easy to install and set up, thanks to a simplified interface and easy to follow instructions. Beginners should have no trouble getting it up and running. Like most software packages these days, it's wizard based, so you click your way through installation.

When you first launch the software, you create a Rescue Disk that contains copies of your start up information, information about your disk partitions, as well as virus definitions. Once the rescue disks are completed (for us that amounted to seven floppies), the software then scans your system and scopes out viruses. On our Windows 98 test machine with 86,000 files, the software took about 20 minutes. If the software does find a virus, you have the option of automatically deleting it, quarantining it, or automatically repairing the infected file.

Up-to-date-tools
Any virus protection software needs to be current if it's going to be effective. Viruses that roam in the wild are common, and new ones are introduced daily, waiting to infect a word document, an email, or a start up file you need at boot up.

To ward off new viruses, Norton AntiVirus 2002 offers automatic updating through the Internet. When you purchase the software, you get a year's worth of updates. After the year expires, you pay $9.95 per year to keep the software updated.

Norton AntiVirus customers also free access to Symantec's on-line knowledge base and message boards. Telephone tech-support is available for a fee.

Should you buy
If you currently don't have an anti-virus protection, Norton AntiVirus 2002 is a good bet, based on our tests. You're also a likely candidate for the software if you're running Windows XP. If you're already running Norton Anti-Virus 2001, skip the 2002 version; it doesn't have enough new features.

Pros: Easy to use; Internet updates; multiple protection options.

Cons: Fee-based phone tech support; minor upgrade from Norton AntiVirus 2001.

Company: Symantec
Phone: 1.408.517.8000
Price: $49.95
Available: Now
Category: Software utilities
Platform: Windows
System Requirements: 133 MHz or higher Pentium-class CPU; 50MB available hard disk space; 64MB RAM.

Purchase Norton AntiVirus 2002 at Amazon.com.