The Price Is Right, Security Imperfect

Windows Defender, the spyware-removal part of OneCare, has changed little since its second test release earlier this year. It can tame all the background programs that run each time Windows boots up and should block most of the hidden, malicious applications lurking inside some "free" downloads.

But it hasn't been stitched into OneCare in the most obvious way: You can't check a new download for spyware as well as viruses in one command.

OneCare's tune-up and backup components represent the dullest knives in its drawer. Tune-up automates only chores already performed by Windows or OneCare -- for instance, cleaning up excess files, defragmenting the hard drive and checking for missing Microsoft updates. It doesn't even touch Windows' stickier problems, such as scrubbing out the system registry.

The backup tools in OneCare work well only if you have the right hardware -- an external hard drive eight gigabytes or larger, required for automatic backups. It can copy your files to a recordable CD or DVD, but not on a regular schedule, and it doesn't accept USB flash drives or online file storage.

OneCare's backup software helpfully gathers files and settings by category: "Financial files," "Music files," "Picture files" and so on. Its default selections cover files produced by most popular applications but also skip some should-be-obvious choices: OneCare will back up your Quicken data and iTunes downloads but not Firefox bookmarks or Eudora or Thunderbird mailboxes. You can also add files and folders of your choice.

OneCare's restore procedure, however, doesn't always finish the job: It didn't put Outlook Express and Outlook files in the correct directories.

OneCare meets or beats its two best-known competitors in price -- that $49.95 covers use on three computers, while McAfee charges $70 a year for coverage of one computer. Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2006 costs $70 for a year's worth of updates, then $40 for the next year's worth. And Microsoft also provides around-the-clock tech support over the phone, while Symantec and McAfee offer help only online.

On the other hand, OneCare doesn't match the competition in features, leaving out a spam filter and parental controls.

Neither OneCare nor any other suite can replace your own healthy skepticism about strange software. If you haven't heard of the program you're about to download or the attachment you're about to open, run a Google search on its name to see if other people have been burned by it.

As is, OneCare isn't good enough to put any security suite out of business. But it should push competitors to improve the quality -- and in particular the reliability -- of their own suites. Windows users, who too often have had to fend for themselves in these matters, deserve at least that much.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrob@twp.com.