Review- System Mechanic does its job well
System Mechanic by iolo technologies cleans your memory, your hard drive and your registry speeding up your computer as it works. Cleaning and tuning is what this program was designed to do and it does it well. It is better than other such programs I have tried from better known names.
This program gives you the option to set it to automatically scan and fix problems or you can perform diagnostics and chose which tools within System Mechanic you wish to use. There are Power Tools and Individuals Tools should you choose not to automate.
When you first open the program, it automatically analyzes your computer system which takes a few moments. Then the program shows you a “dashboard” with an overview of the number of problems that you have. You can choose to view the problems or not and simply have the program fix the problems. Should you choose to view the problems, you then have the choice to fix all, one or none of the problems revealed.
On the left side of the dashboard is a menu that gives you four main options: Dashboard, ActiveCare, Tools and Reports. ActiveCare allows you to automate a variety of functions and allows you to monitor your Internet secuity. System Mechanic does not have an antivirus program built into it but it does monitor whichever antivirus program you choose to use.
The functions that can be automated give you several choices. You can automatically clean up system clutter, repair registry problems, optimize startup configuration, repair hard drive errors, repair security vulnerabilities, repair unoptimized Internet configuration, repair drive fragmentation problems, repair low memory problems, repair broken shortcuts, back up registry every 14 days, and repair registry fragmentation problems. I have chosen to automate only the last seven of these functions.
The more jobs you automate, the more system resources the program uses so total automation may not be your best choice. If you choose not to automate everything, you can use the Tools. The Tools are broken down into Power Tools and Individual Tools. The Power Tools group program services into four main packages that you can choose to solve one or more issues like: PC Accelerator, PC Repair, PC Cleanup and PC security. Occasionally I will use the power tools but I prefer Individual Tools.
Individual Tools provide more control than simply having four choices of what to fix. The tools are grouped under seven main headings: Increase Performance, Enhance Protection, Free Up Drive Space, Repair Problems, Ensure Personal Privacy, Manage System Configuration, Perform Diagnostics. Each one of those seven areas are then broken down into the individual tools needed to do the job.
For example, under Increase Performance you have six tools that will help you do just that and you can choose the tools to use or avoid. Each tool performs its task and then finishes for you to choose the next tool. The tools for Increasing Performance are what you would expect: Defragment Hard Drive, Optimize Windows Startup, Optimize Internet Settings, Defragment Memory, Defragment and Compact Registry, and Configure Boot-Time Defragmentation. The other seven areas have their own set of individual tools to use.
System Mechanic allows a wide range of options for performing the tasks that will keep your computer running smoothly and quickly. Less experienced computer users may choose to automate the whole thing. More experienced users have the choice of automating a few or all processes, performing just a group of processes or utilizing individual processes to fully clean, tune and optimize their computers.
I have found that this program does a much better job than windows disk cleaner and disk defragmentation. I also like it better than Windows One Care that is supposed to provide a myriad of the same functions. I have also used Norton and McAfee products in the past and found them to be more difficult to use and to cause more problems than the programs clean up.
System Mechanic is exactly what it says it is, a set of programs that allow you to tinker under the hood of your computer and its programs to get the most out of your computing experience.
On a scale of one to five, I give this program a five.
System Mechanic is published by iolo technologies.
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