Windows Live OneCare

Security on PCs is tighter than it’s ever been, but it remains your responsibility to keep the defences up. Free software abounds for this sort of thing, much of it excellent. However, building a security system you can rely on is quite a sophisticated skill. If you don’t have the time or inclination, a paid-for solution such this suite from Microsoft can offer peace of mind with minimal expenditure of time and effort.

Features
Microsoft’s Windows Live OneCare suite is designed to look after all a Windows PC’s security needs. Featuring firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, back-up and tune-up software, it isn’t quite as thorough as some of its rivals (which often include additional options such anti-spam and parental control) but it’ll do the trick. The most disappointing element is the tune-up though, as it simply deletes unused files and performs a defrag, which most people can probably manage. It then runs the included virus and spyware checkers and looks for files to back-up, which can be initiated elsewhere in the program.

Performance
There’s no point in having security software if it doesn’t catch net nasties. On this front OneCare is doing a good job – reliable third-party testing groups West Coast Labs (www.westcoastlabs.org), ICSA Labs (www.icsalabs.com) and the Virus Bulletin (www.virusbtn.com) have verified that its virus scanning and firewall options are capable of protecting your PC, so there’s nothing to worry about there.

Ease of use
Using the software is very easy. A Taskbar icon in the bottom right of the screen provides access to a single window that tells you everything that’s going on – whether the product is up to date, when you last performed scans and where your back-ups are up to. You can initiate scans and the like from here, but if you want to delve any deeper into the software, there’s a menu of common tasks to help. On the downside, we found that things like connection, file and printer sharing were turned off by default, so if you’re protecting more than one PC with the software (the price includes licence to install it on three PCs) then you’re going to have to do a bit of configuration fiddling, which drops the ease of use factor right down.

Value for money
For the level of protection you get, £38 isn’t bad for a year’s worth of service. It undercuts its main rival packages from McAfee and Symantec, though it doesn’t offer exactly the same features either, so if you want more from your security suite it’s still worth shopping around. One of the benefits of paying for this software over using free alternatives is that you also gain access to Microsoft’s 24-hour support team. However, we didn’t find this support as easily accessible as some, with a certain level of deflection to the admittedly useful help files.