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On the maintenance side, you can schedule OneCare to perform regular ‘defrags’ of the hard disk, removing any unnecessary files that can clog your PC, and helps make sure important security updates from Microsoft are installed efficiently and on time. Another feature is Backup and Restore, which can copy important files and settings to CD, DVD, or external hard disk. OneCare also warns the user when it requires action, by a traffic light style system on its icon in the system tray. Green indicates everything is OK, amber indicates attention is required and red means the system is currently vulnerable in one or more areas. By double clicking the icon you can easily see which areas needs attention and prompts you in the right course of action to take. The obvious benefit to all this is that, because it’s all from Microsoft, everything slots nicely together rather than having to open different programmes to manage different maintenance elements. This combined with the familiarity of a standard Microsoft interface make OneCare very easy to use. The down side to OneCare is that it’s not included as part of the Windows Operating System it is designed to protect and you have to have a yearly subscription in order to enjoy the benefit of the regular updates, much as you do with Norton Anti-virus. Currently the service is only available in America, but will be coming to the UK soon. However, OneCare is available as a free beta (meaning still in development) download from the Microsoft website.
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