Windows Live OneCare 2.0 (Up to 3 Users) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been using Microsoft's Live OneCare System for about a year-and-a-half, and I went to the 2.0 version about three months ago. I've got to tell you though, I wasn't too happy about using it at first because of two factors: 1) Microsoft seemed to be linking a lot of things to this "Live" concept, and 2) The program seemed like it was making a lot of promises it couldn't keep. On the first matter, I still have some concerns; on the second matter, it has lived-up to its promises.
After almost a year, Microsoft upgraded my product to 2.0, and then when I added another computer to my LAN, I used one of the three licenses that came with the new version of OneCare to extend my HUB's subscription. And it did so without a problem. You will notice on the picture I uploaded from my individual computer (see customer images), that my subscription will renew in three days.
I don't know about you, but at work I've seen what not keeping-up with your virus protection and firewall protection can do to someone's computer. Mine hasn't been hit, but other's have and we use Norton's and McAfee at work with each computer set for automatic updates. At home, since I have a LAN, too, I wanted to make sure I didn't have similar problems, so for the past three years I tested several products, namely Norton's System Works, Norton's 360, e-Trust (Computer Associates), and OneCare.
Having used Norton's for over 12 years, I have been disappointed that they are doing less with their products, and I really became disenchanted when they didn't offer their firewall protection with System Works. Then, it seemed I couldn't find System Works, and I had to use 360, which was a mere shadow of System Works. It grated me that I had to buy one product, then buy their Internet Security, too. I, also, didn't think they were on top of the virus situation as much as they used to be. Then, there was an issue about renewals that did not go into effect when they should, and hour long waits for tech support to help correct the problem.
So, I tried e-Trust, and I didn't have any qualms about it, at first. At first it sent out e-mails, often times several times a day to update the software virus protection. Then, it went to an automatic check whenever you booted-up. Then, came the renewal. I had it on two machines and was successful only on one when it came to renewing my subscription. Now, batting 500 is great in the major leagues, but not when it comes to protecting my computer.
OneCare, though, has lived-up to their promises. At first I had it on one computer, and it performed a massive back-up that took all night (200 GB's... this was with version 1.0). Subsequent back-ups went quicker for only the new, or changed, files were updated. Adding 2.0 to other computers produced a back-up on individual computers much faster, 1 to 2 hours, depending on the computer, with amounts in the 100 GB range. With 2.0, I've been able to have one centralized back-up on an exterior HP Drive. I, also, have back-ups performed on each computer with various other drives: Seagate's FreeAgent, and Simple-Tech.
In total, I have four computers set-up on OneCare. Two are on the hard-wire, and two are on a WiFi connected to the hard-wire, with my laptop's back-up on another computers external drive (I added the laptop the day after writing this review, which gives me the 4th computer on the network.) One benefit I've seen of using OneCare is that the new computer's version usually recognizes the printers on the network, and it asks me if I want this computer to have access to it. If it doesn't, and I am not a networking whiz, I have just loaded the drivers for a printer that is on the network, and it then easily finds that printer and finishes out connecting the printer with that computer.
Once I set my schedule of the tasks for OneCare, I've let it do it's job, and I've had only one issue, and that's not a OneCare problem... On the iMac, I have both Mac OS X and XP Pro running. With XP Pro, I have OneCare installed. When XP Pro updates itself, it cannot download and install all updates, so OneCare gives me a "yellow," or caution warning. After manually having XP Pro on the iMac finish its download, everything goes "green," which to me is a great place to stop this review.
OneCare has greatly simplified my life. Version 2.0 is better than 1.0., and you can have from one to three computers covered with one subscription. Also, when I extended my subscription, it added the year onto my current subscription several months in advance without my having to call tech support to straighten out a problem. Regarding subscriptions, you have to have a "live.com" ID activating your initial, up to, 3 subscriptions (for me this was a "hotmail.com" address). If you have more computers to cover than 3, you will need a second "live.com" ID. Renewals are around $49.00 for one year's protection for up to three computers. Unlike some virus programs, like Norton's, you cannot uninstall OneCare and then install a newly-purchased, unused copy of OneCare, unless you install it under a different "live.com" ID. (BTW, I learned this the hard way, yet the Microsoft folks were quick at straightening it out (866-ONECARE).)
As the say on TV sometimes, I"m a happy camper, and I'd recommend this product to anyone wanting to protect one computer or several on a LAN. Be sure to check-out the pictures I uploaded to give you a better idea of what type of information you will receive from OneCare because that generally will tell you more than what I did about its capabilities.

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Panda Internet Security 2008 3-User Review

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(More customer reviews)I am very fussy about my internet security solution. I have had good experiences and I have had bad experiences with different packages. Having used Norton, Trend and ZoneLabs in the past (and having been subjected to McAfee by previous employers as a corporate standard), I have several points on which to make my comparisons. Panda has been my solution of choice for several months now, and the new 2008 edition improves on the success of the 2007 edition.

I installed Panda Internet Security 2008 (PIS2008 hereafter) as an upgrade from the 2007 edition, which made me a little uncomfortable due to the difficulties I have had in the past with other products when simply upgrading as opposed to a brand new installation. To my relief, the upgrade was smooth, painless and relatively fast. After the requisite reboot, the system was stable, functional and ready for use - there were no issues with the upgrade. All of my old settings were left untouched and all of the new settings were defaulted. It even remembered that I had turned off certain features and it left them turned off, instead of resetting everything. This is appreciated.
The first thing that I noticed is that the interface has been improved. I am running it on a Windows XP platform, and though PIS2008 is Vista-ready it received a facelift for XP as well. The interface is smoother, more appealing and even more responsive, particularly when closing the main screen. Some items have been rearranged and more thoughtfully grouped, which makes finding options more convenient. Though the interface never bothered me under the 2007 edition, I can readily see improvement in PIS2008. Any time the interface for an application improves usability, it is a good thing.
Another improvement made is in the antivirus component. PIS2007 has a fast antivirus, but PIS2008 is even faster. It still can be thrown into the background too, which is a nice benefit when other work needs to be done while performing a scan. The speed of the antivirus should not disappoint anyone (be aware that other applications can seriously interfere with the scan though - SpySweeper seems to clash with it, bringing scan times to a crawl). As a test, I told it to scan my entire system, and it screamed through 1.9 million files in under 2.5 hours. It did find some malware in an archive, and it offered to dispose of it for me.
A common complaint about internet security suites is that they tend to hog huge amounts of memory and resources. I looked through the task list, and I was startled to find that my email client takes up more memory than all of PIS2008's processes combined. PIS2008 does take more CPU when scanning and updating, of course, but that is to be expected. This suite is gentle on memory.
One of the most important aspects of an internet security solution is a firewall that works. It is not enough to block incoming traffic or lock down outgoing requests from unauthorized applications. A good firewall makes the computer absolutely invisible on the net. With PIS2008 loaded and running at full security I went to the internet and searched for firewall test sites. I ran all of the tests I found out there and Panda's firewall passed all of them without a single failure. For ports scan, my system did not even return "Connection Refused" messages - it simply dropped them on the floor. Ping tests returned the same result - no computer out there. This is the way a firewall should work - it not only keeps out riffraff, but it completely hides the computer's presence in the first place.
One area that still could use a little more attention is the parental control/web filtering component. My complaint with PIS2007 is that to use parental controls/web filtering requires an individual name and password every time a new connection to the internet is made. This is still the case with PIS2008 - there is no mechanism to configure a default filter set that does not require a password, an irritation that will ensure I will not use this feature until absolutely necessary. When I have experimented with this feature, it has worked well and it has prevented access to known bad sites, blocking entire categories of web sites such as pornography, intolerance, etc. As an experiment I told it to block news and sports sites and when I tried to access ESPN it intercepted the request and suggested I talk to the administrator to get access. I really like this feature and I wish it didn't require accounts and passwords to use - a simple default with no password (no password to access the net, that is) required would be sufficient.
PIS2008 provides statistics, and lots of them. You can see everything that the firewall has done, a breakdown of the types of attacks that have come in, a pie chart of the types of emails received, and more. The information is available, presentable and understandable for almost anyone wanting to know what's happening. This gives peace of mind to someone who just doesn't know why they need a security suite. Check the reports and statistics and the reason becomes very obvious.
The antispam feature flags messages upon arrival that it deems to be junk - SPAM and PHISHING being the two biggest offenders - which can then be sorted with subject filters in the email client. It is certainly not foolproof, but it does a nice job on the large majority and it reduces the waterfall to a very slow drip. When a spam message does get through, Panda does provide a mechanism for reclassifying it for better results the next time.
New to PIS2008 is a backup feature. This allows the user to select categories for files or specify file extensions and then PIS2008 backs them up to a specified location. There is a restore function as well, of course. Even better, the newly created archive can then be burned to a CD or DVD on demand. While this is certainly welcome and it will be used frequently, it is not something I would expect in an internet security suite.
Also new to PIS2008 is a clean-up/tune-up suite. It amounts to the equivalent of the built-in tools available in Windows - defrag and disk check - but having these things in a MUCH more accessible place is very much welcome. I ran each of these and they did not seem to improve on the Windows built-in tools, but it's nice that they are there and readily available.
This is the first internet security suite that I have used that I feel deserves 5 stars. PIS2008 is not a perfect solution - no one has a perfect solution - but it is fast, unobtrusive, and secure and it is as close to perfect as you can find. It has a pleasant interface, decent feature set and a reasonable price tag. Though the parental control feature could be better configured, it works well and protects you from the ugly side of the net. If you want to really protect your system and keep it clean and secure, Panda Internet Security 2008 is a rock-solid performer.

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Network Magic 4.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)After switching routers with no increase in speed, I decided to try Network Magic in an attempt to increase in-network copy times. What a terrible mistake!
At least before NM, the network was working. I've been involved in computer networking for about 15 years, so it's not new to me. That said, once I added a Vista and a Suse Linux box to the mix, plus a Dlink 634 router, network copy times increased dramatically. In order to complicate things even more, I ensured that I was using no less than three different AV products, each with their own firewalls and quirks.
I could download from the internet at up to 800kbps - perhaps faster, but that's the fastest I had seen. But from machine to machine within my own network, I couldn't get above about 200. After trying everything, from disabling firewalls to the aforementioned router change, there was simply no increase in speed. That's when I made the mistake of adding NM.
Initially, I did get a bump in speed - for the first several minutes. Then, my dlink router decided to shut down. Not power off, just stop routing. Over and over. It had never done this before and hasn't since the removal of NM - but I'm getting ahead of myself. I bounced the router and continued. Now my Vista laptop on wireless began dropping the connection to the network. Again, new behavior. Copy speeds, which had peaked at around 500kbps, were now running at around 160. In an effort to clear up things, I shutdown every box in the network. Bringing them up slowly, according to NM's instructions, I got the network back up. For about five minutes.
I started the project at about 8am on a Saturday morning. By 2pm I was uninstalling. By 5pm, I had my network back. Network Magic is - at least for me - nothing but problems. From what I was able to determine, it seems to do no more than automate the sharing of items. It seems that all it does is automate network tasks using windows networking. If that's true, all is well and good - or should be. However, I did have the router and connection issues. So it seems that somewhere, somehow, NM introduces it's own problems.
Will it work for others? Don't know. Was my combination of OS's and AV products part of the problem? Not sure - but I did shutdown all the AV products to no positive effect. I even took the time to send NM a complete list of all my products and versions in an effort to give them a chance to diagnose the problems. They sent me an email thanking me for installing NM and asking if I wanted to buy it for a discounted price. WOW. Thanks.
All in all, I wasted an entire day installing a product which, in the end, created more problems than it solved. It offered zero in the way of increased functionality. If you take the time to learn this product, you can take the same time and learn windows networking - and get better results. Can't and wouldn't recommend it.

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You try to connect your computers and devices together to share a printer, files and maintain an internet connection, but find yourself wasting hours sorting through confusing dialog boxes. It is time to stop with the hassles and let Network Magic do the work for you! With Network Magic you can easily 1) connect, manage, and secure your network; 2) share printers and files between all of your computers; 3) monitor Internet use and web sites visited; 4) connect and repair your network and internet connection; and 5) Protect your files and personal information from unwanted intruders. Stay connected to your preferred network without wasting time trying to set up or a repair a connection. Network Magic automatically detects connection problems and attempts to fix them for you. Add devices with one simple click. Don't waste another minute sorting through confusing instructions and pop up messages. The network map immediately detects and illustrates every device on your network. View the current status and information of each device, enabling you to easily manage your entire network. Share printers with the click of a mouse be able to print from any computer to any printer in your home and office. Share files, music, and photos between all of your computers quickly and easily. Simply click Share and you can access it from any computer. Wireless and broadband protection keeps your personal files and bandwidth protected from unwanted intruders. Health and security alerts ensure your firewall and antivirus security measures are doing their job by scanning your network, alerting you to issues and helping you resolve them. Know how your devices, software, and Internet are being used. Receive a daily report for each computer showing web sites visited and software applications used.

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