Review: Windows Live OneCare Protects Your PC -- Almost

Microsoft has long received criticism that Windows is an insecure operating system, and that basic maintenance tasks such as backing up a hard disk are too difficult to accomplish. In that criticism, Microsoft recognized an opportunity, and so it created Microsoft Windows Live OneCare, an all-in-one security and maintenance suite, designed to protect PCs and keep them running in top condition.

OneCare is a reasonably priced, well-integrated security and tune-up solution that will be welcomed by beginning and intermediate PC users. But power users and small businesses may be disappointed because the suite lacks some important features, with a notably weak backup module.

The best thing about Windows Live OneCare is how well its different applications combine into a single solution, and how well OneCare itself integrates into Windows. OneCare's main control panel replaces Windows XP's normal Security Center. From this one location, you can use and customize all of the suite's features, including anti-virus, anti-spyware, a two-way firewall, computer tune-up, and backup. Because it replaces the Security Center, it acts as if it were a normal part of the operating system.

The alerts built into OneCare are particularly useful. The OneCare icon in the System Tray stays green when no action needs to be taken; turns orange when a task needs to be performed, such as backing up your hard disk; and turns red when a danger is found. Double-click the icon, and OneCare opens and informs you about the task that needs to be performed -- after which you can set it in motion with a single click.Good And Bad Points
The applications that live inside OneCare are a mixed lot, with some nearly best in class and others underpowered. The firewall is an excellent piece of work, offering two-way port blocking and considerable customizability. The backup application, on the other hand, lacks some basic features, such as the ability to back up to a network drive.

The suite does not include anti-phishing or anti-spam capabilities. (Internet Explorer 7 will include anti-phishing tools, though.) It also lacks privacy tools to let you prevent certain information, such as social security numbers, being sent to a Web site. Considering that competing suites already offer these capabilities, and that upcoming suites from McAfee, Symantec, and Trend Micro will include at least some of them, this is somewhat problematic.

I was surprised to find that Microsoft's anti-spyware application, Windows Defender, isn't included in OneCare, at least for now. You'll have to download it separately, although once you do, it integrates directly into the suite. Windows Defender is still in beta, so it may be that once it comes out of beta it will not have to be downloaded separately.

Windows Defender remains one of the best piece of anti-spyware available, and goes beyond what many competing packages offer, including a tool to let you view all of the software and services currently running on your PC, with detailed information about each. But you don't have to buy OneCare to get Windows Defender -- it's a free download from Microsoft, whether or not you use OneCare.

OneCare's anti-virus software works as promised. It offers real-time protection, automated scans, and background download of virus updates. It doesn't bog down your PC by taking up too much memory or system resources; some competing anti-virus solutions tend to be memory hogs.A Look At The Firewall
The firewall is a winner. XP's default firewall offers only inbound blocking; the OneCare firewall adds outbound blocking as well. It's intelligently designed and automatically allows many applications, such as Internet Explorer, to make outbound connections. When it encounters a new application that wants to make an outbound connection, it blocks the application, then asks if you want to keep blocking it or allow it.

One slight difficulty: OneCare is set up so that, if you want to allow the outbound connection, you may have to restart the application to let it through. It would have been better if the firewall acted like other firewalls, including ZoneAlarm, that do not require a restart.

The firewall is extremely configurable. You don't have to wait for an alert if you want to allow a specific application to be able to make an outbound connection; it's easy to add any application to the list. You can also easily block specific ports and protocols, and use the firewall to customize file and printer sharing -- for example, allowing it on your own network, but not anywhere else. (That feature is best used only by power users who understand Internet protocols and ports.)

Where OneCare Falls Short
The news is not so good for other built-in applications. Defragmentation and disk cleanup, for example, are only front ends to the existing, built-in XP tools.Most disappointing of all is the backup program. Anyone who has struggled with XP's built-in backup will welcome another backup tool -- but they may not welcome this one. It can't back up to network drives or to other computers attached to a network, a severe oversight not only for small businesses, but for many individuals who have home networks. In addition, although it backs up to external hard drives, it won't back up to USB flash drives, zip drives, or Iomega REV drives.

One nice touch is that it automatically scours your hard disk for files you might want to back up by file type -- documents, music files, and so on. But within each of those categories, you can't customize which files to back up. So, for example, if you want to back up some .doc files and not others, or some MP3 files and not others, you can't do it directly, except through a not-particularly-obvious workaround.

Not everything about OneCare's backup is bad. The interface is quite easy to use, the program will automatically back up your files on a schedule, it performs full and incremental backups, and it alerts you when backups are needed. And it lets you restore files from a CD or DVD to a computer that doesn't have OneCare installed, which is a big plus. If it would back up to networks, allow for more flexibility in choosing files to back up, and back up to USB flash drives, this module would be a winner.

The Bottom Line
So what's the bottom line? Beginning and intermediate users will welcome the program's simplified, one-click approach to security and tune-up. Power users and small businesses, though, may be disappointed, especially by the program's backup module.

The $49.95 list price covers three PCs for one year, which is a good deal. But when you look more closely, the price is not quite as good as it seems. Windows Defender is available as a free download, and some of the program's tune-up tools are already built into XP. So for $49.95 you get a good anti-virus program, a good firewall, and a so-so backup program, as well as automatic alerts and integration of all tools. The price still may be right, but power users and small businesses may still want another backup program in addition to what ships with OneCare.