Compared to other packages, Norton AntiVirus excels by not trying to be everything to everyone. After a quick install and restart, it presents you with a comprehensive to-do list. You can scan for viruses, update your virus info, and register your package all in one easy step. Your Palm OS handheld is also protected from potential threats that can infect it while syncing or beaming. Norton AntiVirus gets installed on your first sync after your desktop install, and is managed through its own icon on the Palm home screen.

Norton AntiVirus automatically handles known and unknown viruses, suspicious scripts, and other threats, and provides constant protection through Auto-Protect (which loads into memory when you start your computer or handheld). The package largely handles its set tasks in the background, and doesnt suck up tons of memory or demand your constant attention. The ability to scan for viruses while still going about your business is a true blessing. (When we scanned for viruses and threats the first time, Norton scanned over 120,000 files in about 75 minutes. Much of this time we spent working on other tasks, checking in with Norton now and then.)

To optimize system performance, you may tinker with a few options to alter how controlled scans will be and what areas Norton AntiVirus will look at. We favored the Schedule function, allowing for an automatic scan at the interval of our choice (we selected a time during a weekly meeting). Other options control the handling of infected files: you may opt to have Norton AntiVirus save a copy before attempting a repair, scan system files on startup (for Windows 98 users), or alert you if your virus protection software is out-of-date. Other features available are the UnErase wizard (to recover files and data from the Recycle Bin) and Wipe Info (to completely remove sensitive data from your computer).