System Mechanic 4 Professional

Rating:
Summary: sheer garbage !
Review: After buying system mechanic 4 and installing it on my computer I tried updating the software right away. It would not work . So I e-mailed their customer support staff and 3 days later they responded and told me that it sounds like a problem with my up-dater and that I should go into the registry editor and start screwing around with some of my files. Needless to say I un-insatlled this crap and the software went in the garbage. I run other software and never had a problem with my computer untill this piece of **** .

Rating:
Summary: Middle of the road package. Not the best, nor the worst.
Review: As the head of the IT support desk for a large contractor, to the government, I have to find software that will reduce downtime, fix errors and keep pc user's machine up and running.

I bought a full version of this product. [The Pro version].
To evaluate it's performance and abilities.

In my opinion;


I give it a [3-Star] "middle-of-the-road" score, as far as a "packaged" s/w utility goes.
This was neither a 5-Star, "miracle" s/w package, nor was it a 1-Star "total flop".


I could go on and give a dissertation, but let me just touch on a few select topics.

1. Anti-Spyware - I have 4 full version packages in my personal arsenal [home pc, not at work]. And STILL, if I run all 4 anti-spyware packages, each one will find something that the others don't.

My picks are:
a. Spysweeper [new V3.0 has a few new, cool upgrades over it's prior version, 2.x version]
b. Pestpatrol [also Spyware X-terminator, apparently licensed to STOMP INC but appears to use the Pestpatrol engine]
c. Mcafee Anti-spyware
d. X cleaner - I like this as an overall bundle-of-utilities better that for it's abilities as an in-depth anti-spyware, though it has been getting better.

2. Anti-virus and firewall - I have used either Norton AV alone, or as part of a Norton "bundle". This would be my first choice. Mcafee NAV probably 2nd.
I have not been very happy with Panda, as an anti-virus
w/ firewall. I don't know what it does behind the scenes, but it has a tendency in my experience to suck-the-life out of my pc. [Which is a 3 GHz with 1 gig ram.]

Bit-defender's demo worked quite well. It is an AV product only [I believe]. something to look at as a anti-virus product.

3. Utility suites - I have used Norton systemworks since 2000, along with the prior version of Norton utilities
for both PCs and MACs.
I normally use Norton Systemworks. A second choice would be V-COM's Systemsuite 5.0.
The only downside of Systemsuite 5 is that it's "disk fixer" product often just seems to throw up it's hands and tells you to manually invoke the CHKDSK utility to repair disk errors.



My suggestions:

1. look for TRIAL software from places like Norton [Symantec], PC-Cillin Trend Micro, Mcafee, Bit defender, V-COM, Iolo, Panda.

2. Always be a bit suspect of reviews [on any product here on AMAZON] that simply say general, non-commitive
terms like "It bites", "No good", "useless".
I give much more credibility to reviews that cover, WHO, WHAT, HOW, WHY, WHEN.
Why is something good or bad? What does it do that is good or bad? How is it better or worse than other products?
Why would I recommend or not recommend it? Based on what? When [under what circumstances]
Did it perform good or poor?

Just my .02 cents.


Rating:
Summary: It really gave me a scare!
Review: First off, it requires the removal of your existing anti-virus if you want to install the Panda anti-virus. I reluctantly removed Norton AV-2004 to try Panda. But, the real fun began when I had the utilities do a few things like defragment, which caused a complete lock-up of the system when the screen saver lighted up. Then, when doing a complete system scan using Panda, there was the same problem once again. It just wasn't worth the trouble. But the excitement began when I tried to reinstall Norton. Something wasn't right, and it took about an hour to figure out. IMHO, it just isn't worth it - too many bugs!

Rating:
Summary: It really gave me a scare!
Review: First off, it requires the removal of your existing anti-virus if you want to install the Panda anti-virus. I reluctantly removed Norton AV-2004 to try Panda. But, the real fun began when I had the utilities do a few things like defragment, which caused a complete lock-up of the system when the screen saver lighted up. Then, when doing a complete system scan using Panda, there was the same problem once again. It just wasn't worth the trouble. But the excitement began when I tried to reinstall Norton. Something wasn't right, and it took about an hour to figure out. IMHO, it just isn't worth it - too many bugs!

Rating:
Summary: It maintains what Operating System is unable to do
Review: I have used System Mechanic and am impressed with the collection of tools it offeres. I have used its Optimizer for system performance and Memory and very impressed compared to other products that I have used for similar purpose. Its capability to fix registry problems and clear and locate junk files is very impressive. Disk fragmentation is awesomely quick(Better than windows, what a pitty!).I have not used its antivirus and fire wall because I am happy with avast and Zone Alarm Pro. The only weak section is removal and detection of spyware. It gave a clear signal of finding no spyware but AdAware detected one problem. If someone has used its antivirus and firewall features, please let me know of its capabilities.Overall I am satisfied and recommend it for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money for something that works, like Norton!
Review: I tried this product to see if it was really great like some other reviewers had indicated. It is a strange set of programs. When I tried to use Turbo Tax 2003 Deluxe, my system locked up (it worked fine with Norton). Well, I still have to finish my taxes, so I uninstalled System Mechanic 4 Professional and re-installed Norton System Works and Personal Firewall. My system now works correctly as it always has been. There are several glitches in this product but the biggest one is that you have to do your updates before you register it. It will switch the user and serial number ID's before the updates and you will fail on trying to register. After using Norton products since 1993, this program looks like a dud. If you wonder if I goofed up the installation, well I don't think so because I have been in the computer business for over 10 years and have a B.S. Degree in Computer Science. "I ain't no dummy"! My advice is to stay with Norton and leave this product to the birds or McAfee.

Rating:
Summary: Beware..Does not detect many spy-ware bugs
Review: I won't tell you which ones of course, (for fear of injuring my self-esteem). I had previously purchased Spy-Sweeper V2 from WebRoot and found it did a marvelous job of detecting and eliminating all manner of adware and related bugs. I purchased SM4Pro to do some disk clean-up and decided to test its bug- remover function. I turned off SS V2 and visited several sites which I knew to be infested with all manner of nasties. I then launched SM4 to do it's thing, which it did in about 45 seconds (SS V2 takes anywhere from 7-8 minutes...that should've been clue 1) and it detected...ZERO, that's right zero bugs! Puzzled, I launched SS V2. 9 minutes later it rounded up all the usual suspects and disposed of them promptly! What's more, don't rely on it to "cover" your internet tracks. It won't do this with any manner of consistency, either.

Rating:
Summary: Beware..Does not detect many spy-ware bugs
Review: I won't tell you which ones of course, (for fear of injuring my self-esteem). I had previously purchased Spy-Sweeper V2 from WebRoot and found it did a marvelous job of detecting and eliminating all manner of adware and related bugs. I purchased SM4Pro to do some disk clean-up and decided to test its bug- remover function. I turned off SS V2 and visited several sites which I knew to be infested with all manner of nasties. I then launched SM4 to do it's thing, which it did in about 45 seconds (SS V2 takes anywhere from 7-8 minutes...that should've been clue 1) and it detected...ZERO, that's right zero bugs! Puzzled, I launched SS V2. 9 minutes later it rounded up all the usual suspects and disposed of them promptly! What's more, don't rely on it to "cover" your internet tracks. It won't do this with any manner of consistency, either.

Rating:
Summary: sheer garbage !
Review: I'm a long time computer user, having run everything from Apple II's to PC Jr's all the way up to the latest pentiums -- and I've always been a software-utility buff. I've owned all the versions Norton (even up to the newest 2004), and most of the competitors. I used to swear by the Norton Utilities/SystemWorks product -- that is until I tried System Mechanic 4 Pro by Iolo. I had tried the version 3 of System Mechanic a while ago, but it fell short. Now with version 4, hands down, I have to finally admit that someone has created a better set of tools: They are faster, safer, easier to use, more effective, and best of all, they don't hijack your system into oblivion like the Norton products tend to do. I had an aggravating blue screen lock-up problem that other utilities couldn't fix -- the registry tool fixed it immediately. I ran the spyware detection tool and got rid of six nasty parasites (Norton doesn't even have a spyware remover). With the included Popup killer tool, I can now surf the web in peace, and because the ads inside a webpage are filtered (in addition to popups), it speeds up everything at least two-fold. The defrag tool is the best I've seen to date, and at least twice as fast as SpeedDisk (80GB drive done in ten minutes!). I got rid of almost 3GB of junk that other utilities missed on the first run. Needless to say, I've said farewell to my long-time friend "Norton", and uninstalled all other utilities... For the beginner, I recommend the Maintenance Wizard tool because it's a point-and-shoot fix-up/tune-up process that you can't go wrong with. Experts will love how easy this product makes it to tinker and tune the system for max performance as well. The only caveat I could see (and I bet this is why one other reviewer I saw here may have had trouble) is that it's very important to uninstall any other antivirus software before installing System Mechanic Pro, because it installs its own antivirus (and two antivirus products running at the same time will always fight with each other and cause locks). I've had very positive experience with iolo's tech support as well, both by phone and email: fast, courteous, and accurate -- and they don't charge me a dime! Bottom line: If you need a great, safe set of tools that WORK and will NOT harm your computer, get System Mechanic Pro -- I did, and I'll never buy from another company.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome set of tools -- a must have!
Review: I'm a long time computer user, having run everything from Apple II's to PC Jr's all the way up to the latest pentiums -- and I've always been a software-utility buff. I've owned all the versions Norton (even up to the newest 2004), and most of the competitors. I used to swear by the Norton Utilities/SystemWorks product -- that is until I tried System Mechanic 4 Pro by Iolo. I had tried the version 3 of System Mechanic a while ago, but it fell short. Now with version 4, hands down, I have to finally admit that someone has created a better set of tools: They are faster, safer, easier to use, more effective, and best of all, they don't hijack your system into oblivion like the Norton products tend to do. I had an aggravating blue screen lock-up problem that other utilities couldn't fix -- the registry tool fixed it immediately. I ran the spyware detection tool and got rid of six nasty parasites (Norton doesn't even have a spyware remover). With the included Popup killer tool, I can now surf the web in peace, and because the ads inside a webpage are filtered (in addition to popups), it speeds up everything at least two-fold. The defrag tool is the best I've seen to date, and at least twice as fast as SpeedDisk (80GB drive done in ten minutes!). I got rid of almost 3GB of junk that other utilities missed on the first run. Needless to say, I've said farewell to my long-time friend "Norton", and uninstalled all other utilities... For the beginner, I recommend the Maintenance Wizard tool because it's a point-and-shoot fix-up/tune-up process that you can't go wrong with. Experts will love how easy this product makes it to tinker and tune the system for max performance as well. The only caveat I could see (and I bet this is why one other reviewer I saw here may have had trouble) is that it's very important to uninstall any other antivirus software before installing System Mechanic Pro, because it installs its own antivirus (and two antivirus products running at the same time will always fight with each other and cause locks). I've had very positive experience with iolo's tech support as well, both by phone and email: fast, courteous, and accurate -- and they don't charge me a dime! Bottom line: If you need a great, safe set of tools that WORK and will NOT harm your computer, get System Mechanic Pro -- I did, and I'll never buy from another company.