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Entered CNET Catalog: 12/04/2003
SKU: SM4P
Manufacturer: Iolo Technologies
Manufacturer description
Wish your PC had some extra horsepower? Remember how snappy it performed when you first got it? System Mechanic's performance enhancing tools can increase Internet speed by up to 300%, optimize and defrag hard drives and RAM, block cumbersome Internet popup ads, improve Windows startup time, and speed up the performance of all applications. Get rid of annoying PC clutter! With normal, everyday use, your PC becomes overrun with gigabytes of space wasting, error producing, privacy compromising junk. System Mechanic easily finds useless trash and safely removes it, reclaiming valuable space, ensuring your privacy and security, and eliminating confusing clutter! Find, fix, and forget about your PC problems! System Mechanic utilizes safe and reliable tools to detect, diagnose and repair even the most serious PC problems. Using System Mechanic on a regular basis will result in a smoother running system, eliminating and preventing crashes and errors that can bring your system to a stand still. Eliminate your PC problems!CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 03/30/2004
 The main screen makes access to SM4P's tools simple and supplies basic information about each one. |
Once it's installed, you can access System Mechanic 4.0 Professional in one of two ways. The first is through the main interface, which divides the many individual tools into six folders: Clean, Fix, Maintain, Optimize, Protect, and 1-2-3 Options. Highlighting one of these folders brings up a one-sentence explanation about what it contains and hovering over one of the icons inside a folder gives a detailed explanation about the given tool. Unlike Norton SystemWorks 2004 Professional, System Mechanic 4.0 Professional loads very quickly--more than three times as fast--and it is just as easy to navigate, with plenty of labels and hot keys to access folders and programs directly.
Alternatively, you can load many--but not all--of the contents of SM4P by double-clicking one of four separate desktop icons. These icons are labeled DriveScrubber/Floppy Creator, System Shield, Panda Antivirus, and Search And Recover. Note that some of System Mechanic 4.0 Professional's better tools, such as its Registry Cleaner/Optimizer, cannot be accessed through these desktop icons. As a result, we deleted the icons and simply used the main SM4P interface thereafter. We were impressed that System Mechanic 4.0 Professional's tools cover many of the bases hit by Norton SystemWorks 2004--and go somewhat beyond. For example, System Mechanic 4.0 Professional includes antivirus and firewall protection from Panda Antivirus Platinum 7.0, but if you already have adequate Internet protection, you can opt not to load Panda at installation.
 NetBooster will automatically configure your network or Internet access for maximum speed or let you set each control manually. |
System Mechanic 4.0 Professional excels with its unique tools. The NetBooster module, for instance, lets you optimize network and Internet settings for best speed and viewing, whether you're using a dial-up connection, LAN, cable, or ISDN. Memory Mechanic's real-time graph, on the other hand, displays how much memory and CPU your computer is using at any time. There's even an automatic trigger that attempts to recover RAM when it falls beneath a user-determined point, which will be far more useful for those still using Windows 98 and Me than for those using Windows XP. Popup Stopper does a good job of preventing annoying pop-up ads on your desktop while you're Net surfing. Other tools remove junk files, handle file deletion by overwriting the files multiple times, eliminate spyware, and control apps that load when Windows starts.
 Popup Stopper furnishes in-depth control of pop-up ads. It maintains a customizable list of pop-up words and ad servers and supports IE, Netscape/Mozilla, and Opera. |
Although System Mechanic 4.0 Professional has a tool to repair, optimize, and back up your system registry, it doesn't offer anything equivalent to Norton Disk Doctor, which diagnoses and repairs (where possible) disk problems. Of course, Windows supplies ScanDisk, but even the Microsoft app lacks many of Disk Doctor's handy features.
Still, the comprehensive depth of System Mechanic 4.0 Professional's tools remains considerable. For example, Disk Defragmenter doesn't just defrag a given drive: it lets you create and store multiple profiles (any number of files and/or folders you select) for future defragmentation. This allows you to speed up defragmentation by choosing areas of your hard drive that are used frequently. Iolo Search And Recover not only recovers deleted files, it also recovers deleted e-mail from Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape, and Qualcomm's Eudora. Iolo provides free, live telephone technical support for its System Mechanic 4.0 Professional; however, the call itself is a toll call, and telephone support is available only Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET.
 SM4P's online tutorials provide an excellent introduction to most of the tools. |
Online support includes a FAQ, a searchable knowledge base, lengthy step-by-step tutorials with full color illustrations for most tools, and tech support via e-mail.
 The well-organized help system offers detailed information about each tool. |
Although there's no printed manual for the product, the built-in help system is context-sensitive. Thus, System Mechanic 4.0 Professional's help index is well organized and extremely detailed, with plenty of cross-links to useful subjects. For example, support for TCP Large Windows in NetBooster includes links to several other related definitions. You can also add your own annotated comments to any help screen. These are saved as linked notes, which can be recovered anytime using the Options/Annotate menu.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
User Rating: 
1/10
sorry dont work VER 8.5 pro
Pros: really neat defrag interface
Cons: doesnt defrag as advertised just check the windows defrag and then this you'l see what i mean
User Rating: 1/10
dont waste your money., rat a 0 if i could
Pros: none really if you look deeper
Cons: shame on cnet for not testing this appropriately
WHAT CROOKS.
Shame on you CNET for not even checking to see if the auto update was even updating anything really. You owe me money as much as they do for your flawed review of the product which led me to purchase this product.
User Rating: 
4/10
I dont know what it does with my registry. System files dissapeared
Pros: Much friendly interface. New and more functions than older versions.
Cons: It "invades" your windows XP System. PC does not seem to run faster than before installing SM.
I think this damage caused by System Mechanics (intentional?) should be considered not legal.
User Rating: 
7/10
Deleted critical Windows system files
Pros: Excellent ram manager.
Cons: Crashed my system as it deleted critical Windows system files. Could not even recover and had to reformat.
User Rating: 
2/10
Nice but certainly not the best.
Pros: Ease of use,number of system utilities and overall product quality but there are better alternatives. Neither Norton or Lolo are as effective as Tuneup Utilites which specializes in this type of system utility.
Cons: Memory hog,questionable defrag peramiters.
User Rating: 
5/10
I thought it was pretty good but not good enough
Pros: Lots of features. Defrag memory, most everything Norton had and at a better cost.
Cons: I was very disapointed to see the disk defragmentor Iolo brag about fail completely. Took hours then I ran diskeeper and found it did nothing. I also am attached to Norton's DiskDoctor. It was pretty good, but not good enough.
User Rating: 
8/10
Great Product- couldnt be happier
Pros: I fould all aspects of the programme worked well. I am running Windows XP Home and have had no problems or glitches, the included panda Antivirus also I have nothing but praise for, and have always found their support in both products admirable, bot
Cons: Would be nice if the upgrade to the next version was free, and, depending upon the subscription time of the Panda Protection, a roll over until the new subscription was due
User Rating: 5/10
Too slow!!!
Pros: Very nice interface and the easiest to operate yet!!!
Cons: way too slooooooooooow. I just tried the downloadable demo version on my XP pro laptop. Removing junk files "like those in the temp folders" was an ordeal. I can do this usually by "hand" and it takes me mybe 15 minutes. Using System Mechanic 5 ran a reco
User Rating: 
6/10
Good with some glitches
Pros: Great registry cleaner. I can feel the difference aftern using it. Spyware cleans some of the bugs but AOL Spyware cleaner does a better job.
Cons: Defragmenting software is very slow. Windows XP crashes whenever I install the firewall. Had problems with the anti virus software. Need a utility to uninstall programs that is now available in 5.0.
User Rating: 1/10
Corrupted my system the first time I downloaded it!
Pros: Cheaper than Norton
Cons: Hard to figure out. I changed hard drives and now I can't locate SM Pro4 to reinstall. Emailed and called tech support several times. NOT ONE RESPONSE!!! I am switching back to Norton.
User Rating: 
3/10
Good features, Price, interface, and quite easy to use, but LET ME REINSTALL XP!
Pros: Features are great, interface is friendly, relatively easy to use, and quite a good price.
Cons: Has no Hard Drive repair kits and I need something faster than window's Disk Defragmenter, which can take 3 hours to defragment a hard drive that is 75% or more fragmented, no instruction manual, panda antivirus constantly crashes my system and missed som
User Rating: 7/10
To heck with this. The Panda Anti-Virus is a pain, period.
Pros: The utilities are great.
Cons: The Panda Anti-Virus could be great, but they have a screwed up registration process that doesn't give you the required user name and password for your virus definitions updates. If you try and re-register it only states that this product is already regis
User Rating: 8/10
the Jack of All Trades with a couple of Aces to Boot!
Pros: System Mechanic has the largest, most effective set of utilities on par and some better than Norton System Works Pro of yesteryear, but Iolo has made vast improvements in all directions where others have not improved enough or have become more difficult t
Cons: This is not necessarily a difficult to understand or hyper technical level application, but it is honestly powerful enough that if you do not prepare for back-up you might regret it. Cleaning or optimizing anything can go wrong if you are not careful. I w
User Rating: 7/10
Worked well for my problems
Pros: Good User Interface. Sped up my XP machine considerably. Seemed to work better than my Norton SystemsWorks
Cons:
User Rating: 7/10
Mixed quality but good value
Pros: Installed on Windows XP. no installation problems (except Panda - see Cons). Seems to do everything Norton did but without the mysterious system slowdowns I experienced with Norton. Defragger works well.
Cons: Some stability issues and resets my clock on occasions. Panda Anti-Virus is possibly the worst product I have seen in some time. The registration process failed and Panda tech support did not reply to emails - or even apparently those from Iolo. When I
User Rating: 4/10
Crashes System
Pros: Good Set of Tools, Swiss Army Knife Approach
Cons: Clean up programs can alter change system and prevent booting. (Twice) Waste of $50 and a bigger heartache. Do not Buy!
User Rating: 
10/10
beat Norton hands down
Pros: too many features to mention, i'm not a computer expert, but i figured out all utilities, even speed up internet--all connection types
Cons: not as dumbed down as norton, must enjoy tweaking settings on computer
User Rating: 
9/10
A Very Solid Performer!
Pros: Very Comprehensive set of Tools and Tweaks, Actually does what it claims!
Cons: Only 1 Con, the Disk Defrag is unstable,slow.
User Rating: 9/10
One of the best tools i've used!!
Pros: It's registry cleaner really works!!! like you will really see the difference after cleaning!! my fave tool on this utility
Cons: Haven't tried the defragger!! I don't know but it doesn't seem to impress me!! but i like the defrag a folder feature!! I use it too!!
User Rating: 1/10
going back to Norton. S.M. trashed my new pc, not worth it
Pros: cheaper than Norton has a good reputation with some/others reputed features
Cons: installed, ran their utilities, went with their recommendations, registered then attempted to download upgrade/patches. rebooted into unintelligible (wingding) font. even Safe mode same font. machine in shop to re-image hard drive. very very unhappy clums
User Rating: 8/10
Best Suite Available
Pros: Tons of features for a great value. High quality tools with a fairly intuitive interface. The 30-day free trial is excellent for evaluating, give it a shot.
Cons: May be a bit hard for those completely new to utility suites. Would love to have DiskDoctor from Norton too though. Antivirus may not be for everyone, you can choose not to load it though.
User Rating: 1/10
crapware
Pros:
Cons: Typical computer software... pie in the sky promises of improved performance but now my computer runs WORSE. Total waste of money.
User Rating: 8/10
Re-Reviewing w/ Win 98SE
Pros: I am re-posting this cancelling my previous review about it when used with Windows 98 SE. The utility package works well with Windows 98 SE, provided you don't install Panda Virus software which is included with the Pro Package. I also have the utilit
Cons: Panda Virus software is included in the Pro Package. This software requires lots of memory. It caused my Win 98 SE computer to crash each time that it was installed. It may be possible to use it with this version of Windows provided you don't install anyt
User Rating: 4/10
Works great on XP. But not 98SE
Pros: I have the utility suite of this product on a computer running Windows XP. It has loads of features and it works great on that computer.
Cons: I tried putting System Machanic Pro, complete with Panda Firewall and virus softwae, on an older computer running Windows 98 SE. In fact, I tried it 6 times over 7 days. It bought the computer to a halt each time, usualy requiring the hard drive to be for
User Rating: 3/10
Avoid This Product!
Pros: Lots of performance tweaks, "gets under the hood" of Windows XP more effectively than Norton
Cons: The product corrupted my hard disk the first time I tried to use defrag, I had to reformat my drive and reinstall Windows. Lousy Product!!
User Rating: 8/10
nice buy for the money
Pros: Alot of good utilities, panda platinum 7 w/ firewall, good tech support via email, price
Cons: may be to much for a a non-techie, have to deal with Panda and Iolo, depending on whether it a virus/firewall or utility problem
