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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 37 reviews
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Product summary
The good: Broad range of utilities; thorough help system; easy-to-use interface.
The bad: No printed manual; lacks disk-imaging software.
The bottom line: No utility package is perfect, but Iolo System Mechanic 5.0 Professional is the current leader. If you're looking for one utility suite to fine-tune your hard drive and protect its contents, this is the one to get.
Specifications: License qty: 1 user ; License type: Complete package ; Operating system: Microsoft Windows 98 , Microsoft Windows XP , Microsoft Windows 2000 , Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition , Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 SP5 or later ; ; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 04/29/2005
- Released on: 12/08/2004
Running SM5P is a snap; its interface is both clean and intuitive. Click any of the six main tool-group tabs (Clean, Fix, Maintain, Optimize, Protect, 1-2-3 Options) along the left-hand side to display its tools. Highlighting any tool with your mouse displays a brief but helpful explanation at the bottom of the screen.Three of Iolo System Mechanic 5.0 Professional's new utilities are truly impressive. Program Relocator allows you to move programs to a different folder or drive, simultaneously updating links, shortcuts, and configuration data. In several tests, Relocator never failed us. But even if you were to run into problems with Relocator, there's another new SM5P tool, SafetyNet, which is a multilevel undo for all of SM5P's tool actions. The undo actions are stored in a database with location and archive size. SafetyNet allows the reversal of any number of single actions or transaction sets--groups of actions performed using one tool. Each action and transaction is documented in full detail, so you know ahead of time exactly what you're undoing.
We also like the new boot-time defragmenter, which supplements rather than replaces SM5P's Disk Defragmentation Wizard. By working at boot time, before Windows loads, this utility defragments system files that are normally out of reach. These include the Registry hives, the page file, and the MFT (Master File Table). Typically, all three are heavily modified by the Windows NT/2000/XP operating system regularly, leading over time to performance degradation. SM5P lets you defragment any or all of these, plus applications, at your next bootup or during all successive bootups.Given the sheer number of utilities and their individual options, we feel a printed manual is essential to Iolo System Mechanic 5.0 Professional. Unfortunately, Iolo Technologies has yet to provide even a PDF manual on disc, much less a printed one. By contrast, SM5P's context-sensitive, in-product help system is excellent, with plenty of hotlinks and enough detail to make well-informed choices.
Online support includes a basic FAQ, a searchable knowledge base, e-mail help, and a variety of step-by-step, diagrammed tutorials for simple tasks. Telephone support is free, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET; however, toll charges may apply.
User reviews
- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 37 reviews
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