Symantec is a company that has been subject to criticism for dropping the ball with recent versions of their anti-virus and internet security software, so does their backup solution show any proof that they are building on their vast experience and that their popularity and reputation is somewhat justified? At first sight, it’s clear that the interface has followed in the footsteps of every other Norton product, meaning that you get a user friendly tabbed based window with a healthy quantity of wizards thrown in for just about every operation.

Unfortunately the make-over seems to have just touched the surface and as a result, each tool you want to use will open a new window. Not only can this lead to a cluttered desktop with lingering dialog boxes but may also cause your system to slow significantly or at worst, crash. Used properly though, Norton Ghost will let you backup your entire hard-drive to another partition, an external, or a networked drive on a regular scheduled basis and also gives you a variety of ways to restore the reserve copies should the worst happen.

For anyone with huge amounts of data to backup, the option to compress everything will come as a blessing and for those with sensitive documents there is password protection and encryption. What’s more, the processes involved have been completely dumbed down, with less jargon and step by step instructions. While this benefits those who want a backup solution that they install and forget about, it strikes more advanced users right where it hurts. You can’t even select what folders to back up and instead must be satisfied that it’s all or nothing.

Although the program didn’t seem to be entirely stable, there was no obvious hit to system performance, which was one of the main problems with other Symantec software. Norton Ghost will put your mind at rest with a comprehensive copy of your hard drive, but if you prefer to be in complete control or to restrict your backup to only your essential files, then you should look elsewhere.