There's little doubt of the value of these housekeeping programs, when you need them. Like so many things in computing, though, you probably have to get bitten by a problem they can solve before you realise what they have to offer. It's like anti-virus software - until you've been hit by a virus attack, you can't really perceive the benefits.

Of the drive imaging programs, we like True Image 7 from Acronis, because of its wide range of functions and their ease of use, through its suite of Wizards. If you look at the comparative table of features, you'll see a huge column of 'Yes' entries under the True Image heading, showing that it provides all the features we consider important. Big advantages are things like its built-in scheduling and ability to produce incremental backups, which could save you a lot of storage space.

The partition managers vary quite a bit and here the Acronis product has a question mark over it, because of the problems we had during testing. Our favourite in this group is VCom's Partition Commander 8. Although it doesn't work directly under Windows, its logical, Wizarded automation and look-alike interface make it easy to work with. Take a look at the market leader, Partition Magic 8, before making a final decision, though.

And then there's SystemWorks 2004 Professional - rather a law unto itself. As well as a full copy of Ghost, there are utilities covering a huge swathe of other tasks; everything from virus protection to password management and the full delights of Norton Utilities. Even though some of the programs included in the suite, such as GoBack and CleanSweep, have been made semi-redundant by improvements to Windows itself, there's still a lot here for your money. If you buy one utility suite to help make your PC a better place to work, it should still be this one.