User Rating: 
1/10
Don't know how this company stays in businessby - February 28, 2009
Pros: not much to say about that.
Cons: screwed up my computer
Review:
called them at least 7 times. No one could help me. asked to speak to someone higher up. left my phone number and begged them to call me. They never did. Customer support is non-existent
User Rating: 1/10
This is a subscription only good for 1 yearby CnetLeo - January 22, 2009
Pros: during the period of the subscription it works
Cons: completely useless if you do nto keep pn paying to renew and this type of application should not require a subscription
Review:
you can get similar results with other utilities and not have to renew the subscription every year, we all pay enough money mantaining other services in our house, this does not need to be one of them, buy any other utility tool that works and stick with it until you upgrade your OS, specially if you are not one to do many downloads and or software intallation including device drivers
User Rating: 1/10
Your better off with PC cillin or zone alarm suite!by Synergists - January 20, 2008
Pros: The CD makes a great coaster for my coffee mug!
Cons: Everything!
Review:
Avoid this product! Yes it comes with alot of tools, but non of them work. Also, you can not have any other software running at the same time, for example, i had to delete webroot off my system so this system mechanic pro would not freeze up! Well, the damn thing freezes up still, just not as much, and i can not seem to download any window updates. Fortunately for me i purchased this product for less then 10 dollars from best buy during the holidays, I would have been really mad if i paid full price lol. Customer service... Ok the indian guys at Dell's customer service department are much more helpful, lol. Seriously though, what this company is doing is illegal, they are selling a product that renders your computer useless.
User Rating: 
4/10
I would not recommend purchasing System Mechanic Professional 6by Sonicboom2007 - October 28, 2007
Pros: Included Kaspersky Anti Virus 6 and Anti-Hacker are top notch programs for internet security
Cons: Everything else
Review:
I bought SM6P because I needed a utilities program. In this respect, SM6P failed miserably at its task. After installing the program, it went immeidately to work trying to fix errors on my hardrive. I said "tried" because every timne it got about half way through the process it crashed my computer. Now, eventually I managed to get it to finish, but when it was done my computer was considerably SLOWER than it was originally! At this point I gave up and uninstalled the "System Mechanic" portion of SM6P.
I would give this product a 1 save for the fact that it included Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 and Anti-Hacker. With these programs installed, I have had absolutely no problems with viruses and other malware for nearly a year! However, this does not make up for the fact that the majority of the software is useless. Avoid it.
User Rating: 
2/10
Bad software & companyby jrieves - August 7, 2007
Pros: None that I can think of.
Cons: see opinion
Review:
I purchased SM6 in June of 2006.
Twice in 2 days Sys Mechanic hung after completing "Quick Tune Up". It appears to be finished with 100% displayed in "Total Program" and " PC Repair Tool".
Current Action shows "Repair Broken Shortcuts", Time Remaining shows "Please wait while calculating", Problems fixed shows "0" and Clutter Freed "6.5MB".
From here I cannot exit or cancel (grayed out). I can only minimize. (Can't Exit with upper right X either) I e-mailed iolo support and asked what I could do I do to fix this? I received a canned "fix" which did not work. I e-mailed this info back to them and I never got another reply from iolo. What customer support?
User Rating: 1/10
its has morals of its ownby asphyxiated_reverie - July 26, 2007
Pros: name sounds professional
Cons: says compressing when its deleting
Review:
had some adult entertainment on my pc, and it said it compressing files to speed up pc, so i thought it was normal, its wasnt compressing it, it was deleting my videos. besides the fact it morally found my videos not fit for MY computer, it could of easily deleted my family videos.
User Rating: 
10/10
All-in-oneby aeronium - July 21, 2007
Pros: all in one PC tuning
Cons: don't know yet
Review:
has many many functions in it
User Rating: 1/10
Worst utility everby jhower - May 31, 2007
Pros: There are none
Cons: Knocks computer for a loop
Review:
After running this utility one time I had to do a system restore on my computer. Avoid at all costs.
User Rating: 
7/10
I think this software has "Professional" in the title because it means it.by Dango517 - May 18, 2007
Pros: Many utilities in one package
Cons: Has problems
Review:
For around fourty dollars U.S. you get a full security suite, an optimizer and some maintenance functions, separately these would cost 3-4 times as much. That's a good value. But the software has problems. I don't think there is a clock/counter in the thing that works, at best they're guides. Website support or support in general is poor. Some of the software is slow, about 8 hours to do a virus scan (down from 24, by-the-way). Would I buy this software again? Yes. Why? Because dispute its problems it does a pretty good job of repairing and maintaining my computer. (Besides, it's harder then h*ll to remove). I will warn you though there are a few programs in this software to avoid: "Wipe all Data from Drives" (this baby will over strike your drive more times then the D.O.D. and take about three days to do it.), "Duplicate file inspector", and "Permanently Delete Files. It does what it sayes, stay away from these. I think the basic problem with this software is that Iolo doesn't listen to its customers. Some really good marketing help is needed here. I would like to make one final comment. Iolo is in partnership with Kaspersky on this one and Kaspersky does a very fine job. I can't recall any problems with there software. Well at least til I'm through writing this. Iolo, welcome to the free market!
User Rating: 2/10
VERY POOR - Overallby dougib - April 17, 2007
Pros: worked ok at first with support
Cons: ongoing bugs with some support at first - then no support. Then "Catastrophic Failure reported by S Mechanic - with no support what so ever. As well, I after deleting all files and reload disc
Review:
New versions out - based on SM 6 experiences, I doubt I will buy again.
Too many bugs with no support - even by phone, and a final crash with no support with no reloadoing abilities and again with no support. Quite the mess it left me to clean up too.
User Rating: 2/10
Waste of space. Waste of money.by Truckles - January 22, 2007
Pros: Vroom vroom dials
Cons: Everything else
Review:
I purchased this -- foolishly, as it transpired -- on the evidence of the CNET review. And now like several others here, I have to wonder if that review did indeed relate to this, or something utterly different.
Aside from the pretty dials in the interface, the software has nothing at all to commend it.
I've been using PCs for 15 years so yes, I do know how to install something. Once installed though, all that System Mechanic wants to do is advertise its presence, a seemingly unending stream of warnings about "your PC's condition / security / speed" (ironic, this last, because it's this software which s-l-o-o-o-w-s everything down).
But then, the thing is so sluggish anyway: I could've grown a beard in the time it took for it to simply clear an Internet / temp cache, whereas CCleaner managed the identical task in a fraction of the time.
What with silly alerts, slow running, impact on my PC's performance, registry revisions that caused minor screw-ups all along the line. . .
How on earth could this software have earned the commendation it did?
Bottom line: I'm actually less concerned about System Mechanic 6's failings than I am with a CNET review process which surely could not have lasted long enough to even begin to provide the accurate analysis so evidently needed.
User Rating: 1/10
This product is exceptionally BAD. Absolutely abysmal.by pverven - January 19, 2007
Pros: Iolo does a good job of marketing this worthless product. The only positive thing I can say is that the box is nice.
Cons: Where do I begin? Does NOT function as advertized, OS failure, non-existant customer support, etc.
Review:
This product is exceptionally BAD - Absolutely ABYSMAL. It does NOT function as advertised, there are MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better products on the market for the money. I experienced complete OS failure. Customer service/technical support has proved to be non-existent/ineffectual - they haven't even bothered to respond to emails. BEWARE of iolo products unless you want a headache. I would have given it a ZERO rating if one were allowed by cnet. As far as I am concerned, Iolo is synonomous with excrement.
User Rating: 2/10
Very Disappointedby holtjp - January 7, 2007
Pros: Still Looking
Cons: Poor Support, Lukewarm Results, Poor Quality Control
Review:
Based on the CNET review I purchased System Mechanics 6 to heal an ever slowing Toshiba laptop. After literally hours of waiting for the program to grind through it's labors the results are less than stellar. The program claimed to have performed a long laundry list of corrective actions, but there was no noticeable increase in speed. I certainly expected more for 70 dollar software. For that price you should also expect readily available technical support, which is notably absent. You have to be a private investigator to find a phone number to a tech rep and then you have to pay long distance charges. The email support option is painful in the extreme. Should you really have to wait 12 hours for a response and then have that response be a recommendation to go the company website? My last criticism, I ended up exchanging two CDs before I finally got one that would boot up. In the future I will pay more attention to the user reviews...
User Rating: 
3/10
Don't Let Psycho Mechanic Work on Your Computerby Lieca - December 29, 2006
Pros: All in one, fast defrag
Cons: Terrible anti virus, Sys Mech vague reporting what it fixed
Review:
Anti virus email scanner doesn't work with most email programs, blocks emails. It bogs down the computer especially the Internet. Sys Mech fixes something, you have no idea what it is, if it's necessary, just that it's a registry problem. Firewall is ok, but again, says it blocked a program, but have no idea which one or why. Tech support, forget it, doesn't exist. Trashed my computer, and I couldn't get it to reboot, had to reinstall XP, great. Couldn't get it to do a boot time defrag, that is what trashed my computer.
User Rating: 4/10
Not impressedby firerader - December 2, 2006
Pros: Seems to find some problems
Cons: Slow, didn't fix the registry errors, not updated enough
Review:
I don't think the software improved the overall system to the point where it was worth the money or the system requirements to load and run the software.
User Rating: 3/10
Many gadgetsby dock17 - October 19, 2006
Pros: Nice Interface
Cons: Does not clean well
Review:
Went back to Sys Mechanic v.5 and it cleaned up 1.6 GB of junk that System Mechanic Pro 6 missed.
Wouldn't waste your money
User Rating: 1/10
Disaster waiting to happen!by cottongen - October 7, 2006
Pros: Comprehensive tools
Cons: Crashes system
Review:
My laptop was a little sluggish, so without doing any research, I went looking for something to "clean it up". When I saw the CNET endorsement on the package, I thought it was safe. When I got home, my boyfriend warned me not to install it, but I did anyway. After doing so, I thought I'd check the CNET reviews to see what users had to say about it (should've done this first!). There I read tons of horror stories about this software crashing harddrives and doing all sorts of weird things. So, out of fear, I uninstalled it the next day and took it back to Costo where I bought it. But the damage had already been done. The next time I turned on my laptop, it would shut down in the middle of running applications (Word, Studio, etc.) without warning. As a last resort, I reinstalled my operating system, wiping my harddrive completely clean. I've spent the better part of my weekend re-installing software and other applications. One word of advice about this software . . . DON'T BUY IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO DESTROY YOUR SYSTEM!!!!
User Rating: 
6/10
Works alright but could be betterby rxl001 - September 21, 2006
Pros: Defrag is fast, start up optimization good
Cons: Seems to slow down loading of other programs
Review:
I originally had Norton Systemworks 2003 with Norton Antivirus installed on my computer that is running XP. When the subscription came up, I decided to use System Mechanic 6 Pro based on the CNET review. Fortunately, I'm in the free 30 day evaluation window so my opinion is as of today. Installing SM 6 Pro was relatively painless and without any problems. I did not install the firewall that came with the program as I am using zonealarm pro which I like. After installing SM 6 Pro, I ran the virus scan. It picked up a lot of viruses Norton Antivirus 2004 missed. I was impressed with that. However, it took almost 3 hours to do a complete system scan. I also ran defrag, and defrag finished in about 2hours, a lot less than the time it took to defrag under XP. I also ran the Spython program to look for adaware, malware, etc. and it said it found 4 items but one of the problems is that it doesn't tell you what it was that it found, only that it removed it. I also have Adaware and Spybot Search and Destroy and those two apps didn't find anything so if it did find 4 items, that is a big plus. I aslo ran the window startup and it said I had 9 dangerous or unnecessary programs that starts. Again, it doesn't tell me what those programs are. I wished it would so that I can pick and choose if I wanted to eliminate those from start up or not. I had it remove those programs or services, and I do have to say I have noticed a faster boot up time. However, since I do not know what was turned off, I'm not sure how this would affect me later on. Fortunately, I can do the undo function. I noticed that the virus scan checks every program and files that I open which slows those programs a few seconds before they opened. It is noticable that it is slower so I guess it is up to each person to see if being safe is worth a few seconds more. To me, I'm still evaluating. I haven't been able to find a way to disable checking of the files from being scanned when they are opened without disabling the virus protection itself. As I read, seems like people had problems installing, or having files deleted that shouldn't have been but fortunately, that hasn't happened to me. I agree it does slow down the process of opening programs but as I mentioned earlier, there are some good things about it too. I think if people are looking for a great program that does everything they want perfectly without sacraficing computer speed or resources, then they may have to wait quite a long time. Also, I as others been saying, the online help is not very useful. There are a lot of advance user functions that I haven't touched or used which supposely let you have greater control of what can be deleted, removed, etc. so maybe that is why some are having problems as they are not aware of what their actions are doing. Since I mostly went with the default selections, I have had no problems except with the slowness of some programs being opened. I hope this helps as I spent many hours deciding if I wanted to move away from Nortons Systemwork to this program. Right now, I am ok with the program but I have only been using it for 2 days.
Updated
I forgot to add that I had SM6 improve the internet performance since it was suppose to increase the speed up to 300%. I have DSL and I did not notice any improvements. I use Firefox and it made the pages load sort of choppy. I undid the changes and went back to what I had before as I manually tweaked my own settings.
User Rating: 
5/10
very average at bestby wild_man - September 15, 2006
Pros: does have combined antivirus and firewall with product which is about the only pro i can say for this product
Cons: it has no idea what is going on inside it's programing features when they have been ran
Review:
This is a poor product and i've gotten both it and the older 5.0 version which i find is far far far superior to this one and it's a poor product for it's price.
User Rating: 1/10
Very BAD software, CNET gave generous reviewby DH950 - September 13, 2006
Pros: Looks pretty
Cons: Did more damage than good
Review:
Tried this program because Norton System Works keeps removing utility functions and/or controls each year or so.
I ran almost all of the options. Optimization was very fast, but later I checked the log & found it did NOT optimize it due to lack of space. With a 64 GB partition I kept transferring files to free up space. Even with 10.3 GB free space it would not optimize. The sign in info for many web sites was erased. Have not been able to get Roxio 8 to work or reinstall right since. At shutdown I get an error that disappears too fast to read. Assorted other system problems. Doesn't give any real control over repairs. It did free up clutter, but sign in info was repeatedly erased.
I'm now searching for a copy of SW2005 not 2006. Will remove System Mechanic and return to Norton/Symantec for now.
User Rating: 3/10
Not for Mr. Averageby jwpw - September 13, 2006
Pros: ??????????
Cons: I'm not smart enough to fix what SM6 messes up.
Review:
With excited anticipation I loaded this software only to be disappointed.
Loaded easily but when it anylized my system it turned all the indicator lights red. So we told it to clean up everything. Another run revealed there were still problems so we fixed it again and finally got all the indicators to turn green.
However, now my Firefox browser works intermitently and all it's bookmarks were deleted. Several other problems have occured, like Spy Sweeper (the latest version, that has run for more than a year now w/o problems) crashed the system and I had to uninstall it (SS).
I uninstalled SM6, ran DSkCHK and defrag. Reinstalled SM6 and still had problems. Uninstalled it again and got my $$ back.
Seems as though each time I performed a few activities with an aplication, SM6 would tell me the system needed maintenance.
Wish I had read here first - still trying to get system back to normal and don't know how.
User Rating: 
8/10
Works Great For Me!by LostandCrazy34 - August 31, 2006
Pros: Got Rid of Ram Spike
Cons: Programs is a little Sluggish while Running
Review:
When I installed the program and started running the little test and what not it has and then restarted my comp. It started up faster and it got rid the of ram spike i had.
Great Program so far
User Rating: 1/10
version 5 was excellent, this is totaly useless!by cnetislame - August 29, 2006
Pros: none its totaly useless
Cons: actualy breaks your system!
Review:
version 5 was excellent i can still recomend it. however this one broke my emule so it had a low id and totaly ruined various other setting and programes without my knowledge, and before anyone says "lamer" no iv been building and repairing pcs for over 10 years! DO NOT INSTAL THIS RUBISH. also i urge anyone to submit a problem to their customer support no matter what you write you get the same response, "download the latest version" which is no help what so ever. for the first time in ages i had to reinstal my OS!! a mechanic should fix things not break them!!!!!!
User Rating: 2/10
Not that great at all!by ricsim78 - August 26, 2006
Pros: Decent utility set overall, good disk optimizer
Cons: Too much memory, vague on what exactly it does, and can be dangerous if left to it's own decisions.
Review:
I cannot recommend this, for lots of reasons. First off, it takes up far too much memory, and installs 2 processes in your startup which should not be there. The Registry cleaner sucks, and can be easily beaten by many free utilities. There are better utilities out there that are far less dangerous to your computer. My biggest problem is it fails to tell you what it is doing to fix the problems, and it actually slowed my computer down big time, over time I had to uninstall and reinstall Windows XP thanks to the program damaging my installation, and I am an advanced user no noob when it comes to fixing problems. Tune Up Utilities is not only much better, but a LOT safer, and System Mechanic's UNDO function does not always work right. It also is very unstable and crashes on occasion. Stay away from it, it may work for you but most likely you will end up sorry!
User Rating: 6/10
Great if you know what your doing.by El Jameo - August 3, 2006
Pros: Many useful apps. Way better then norton system works.
Cons: Can Damage your system if you don't know what you are doing.
Review:
Overall system mechanic is a very useful program. It includes alot a apps to help keep your pc running smoothly. But it does have some problems. Some of the apps seem to be lacking. The help file doesn't explain in detail everything you need to know. If you do not know what you are doing you could cause some major problems and end up having to reinstall your OS. Unless you know what you are doing you shouldn't use system mechanic.
User Rating: 8/10
Very comprehensive suite of applicationsby sakuteiki - July 30, 2006
Pros: very good anti-viral and anti-hacker software
Cons: needs proper documentation
Review:
I have been a loyal user of Norton System Works and their Internet Security (NIS) since they first appeared but in their current incarnations they seem way too slow, of questionable reliability, and just plane dated. As an experiment I've been using both Norton and System Mechanic Pro 6 (includes Kaspersky antivirus software and a proactive anti-hacker suite with functionality essentially like NIS; port blocking and restriction of application online access) separately on three different machines at home and in my experience System Mechanic Pro has been much preferable to Norton. First, each machine has only ONE manufacturer's suite running so there is NO competition between suites. Second, when switching from one manufacturer to another all of the first's components are completely uninstalled and any residual 'Program Files' from the second are deleted so that each new install is relatively fresh. Now a typical problem I've had with Norton, even with auto updates enabled, is that it can miss an .msi worm which results in the infamous 'Norton Antivirus does not support the function, uninstall and reinstall' during boot-up ... which means uninstall, reinstall, and update NIS. This past weekend one machine picked up an .msi trojan but the NIS reinstall didn't correct the reboot problem. And who wants to keep the startup services Windows Installer disabled to bypass the problem? SOOO ... with Mechanic reinstalled there, all preliminary scans and updates and optimizations run (these show up on SysMecha's home message window, ETC: allow 2hrs), I retraced my steps and Kaspersky's antivirus deflected the worm somewhere between PriceGrabber and TigerDirect.com (aside: click on the 'don't show again during current session' when warning pop-up appears). All things considered, SysMechaPro6 does the job reasonably well here since WinXP is used as just an applications appliance and we dual boot into SuSE LINUX for any real programming needs. One old caveat: the Junk File Removal tool can be too enthusiastic (also of minimal utility). It managed to delete an obscure JAVA file in Matlab 7, which had to be tracked down and replaced. I plan on using System Mechanic 6 Pro as the XP 'overlord' on the two new AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ that will be built in late August (after the price drop).
User Rating: 1/10
Don't waste your time and moneyby abrimble - July 18, 2006
Pros: Individual tools work OK
Cons: Optimisation trashes your PC
Review:
DON'T BUY THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO WASTE SEVERAL HOURS AND END UP REBUILDING YOUR PC (I HAD TO RE_FORMAT MY HARD DISK AND RE_INSTALL WINDOWS).
AFTER RUNNING THEIR "OPTIMISATION" EXPLORER TOOK 60 SECONDS TO RESPOND TO ANYTHING - OPENING A FOLDER, RIGHT CLICKING ON A FILE, ANYTHING.
I UPGRADED AND THEY WON'T GIVE A REFUND BECAUSE THEY OFFER FREE TRIALS.
WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY - DON'T BUY IT !!!
User Rating: 5/10
Good Program - Very bad advertisingby Dutybill - July 18, 2006
Pros: Cleans well
Cons: Extremely slow
Review:
I ran System Mechanic 6 Pro and then ran their latest free check program.
Guess what, the check program said I had umpteen problems with my system which left me exposed to all sorts of things
User Rating: 10/10
Buy It - Rescued PC from Comaby bphillips11 - July 16, 2006
Pros: Easy to Use, Excellent Dashboard
Cons: Seems too simple!
Review:
I had a Win95 laptop that would lock up within 60 sec of booting up. I downloaded the 30 day trial version of System Mechanic and managed to get it running by using Program\Run\Cmd to install and start the program.
System Mechanic ran for nearly 20 hours straight - and totally fixed the machine. No more locking up - faster, more disk space. I did upgrade to XP and now the machine is living a new life.
I looked at Norton System Utilities 2006 and Windows Live One Care (punt - 1st release and Firefox not welcome) and read the reviews and am convinced that System Mechanic is the way to go! So far I've run the trial version on 4 machines!
You can get System Mechanic for $25 at Costco or System Mechanic Pro for $50 (also a $30 competitive rebate = $20).
Buy it!
User Rating: 
9/10
Brilliant, works as supposed toby nmarlow - July 5, 2006
Pros: really helps my two systems
Cons: havent tried firewall and av, so cant comment
Review:
this program is damn near perfect. it made both of my pc's go so much quicker. cant comment on av and firewall as i havent installed them. Highly recommended
User Rating: 3/10
Dissapointedby zan903 - June 27, 2006
Pros: cleaned up my hard drive and deleted some viruses
Cons: I can't download updates.
Review:
I guess the main reason I really dislike this program is that I can't update the software at all. I've tried numerous times and nothing has worked so far. I was happy with Norton anti virus and fire wall when I had it. I think I'm going to go with Norton again.
User Rating: 5/10
Fine, if you manage to install it over the previous versionby rs75001 - June 21, 2006
Pros: Good set of tools; excellent support from Iolo
Cons: Installing anti-hacker over previous version brings blue screen; defragmenter not faster than Windows
Review:
I liked System Mechanic 5 and I needed to renew the anti-virus licence, so I got this. Installing it was hell; with much help from Iolo support (bravo to them!), I finally managed to install it without the Anti-hacker function and am using Windows' firewall. Most functions seem to run fine. But, contrary to their claims, the defragmenter is not faster than Windows. They will have to clean up their install act for me to upgrade next year.
User Rating: 4/10
Does NOT play well with Panda Titaniumby dork_girl - June 16, 2006
Pros: System running faster, smoother with fewer hangs and errors
Cons: Panda is irrepairably damaged (at least until developement of more tools)
Review:
Does not seem to uninstall completely. To avoid conflict with Panda, research settings and make these changes to the PC security optimizer BEFORE you run ANY function. Since installation of SM6, my Panda script blocker is non-functional. Subsequent re-installs (using various tools supplied to Iolo and Panda, in multiple combinations) has failed to restore Panda. In fact, Panda will not run on startup now due to lack of two .dll files. My unknown threats and internet protection capabilities in Panda are completely useless. The Panda folks have been pretty helpful and nice about the whole thing, but Iolo's people haven't been very responsive. MY solution may have to be replacement of my Panda product, which I would not do if I had another option (like dumping SM6 and replacing IT). I WISH there had been a warning during installation to alert me to the "possibility" of conflict, and better yet to tell me what to do to avoid the whole mess.
User Rating: 1/10
Scary things happen with this programby Slowtolearn - June 12, 2006
Pros: I have no pros
Cons: slowed my computer to almost useless
Review:
I've used earlier verisons of system mechanic with good results. This version left my computer unuseable. Once installed the computer slowed to the point that It took minutes for each click to register. I had everything I could do to uninstall the program. It even changed my email and network connections. Very bad product.
User Rating: 8/10
This blows Norton System Works 2006 out of the water. No more pokey boots. Simple to use if you readby 1charliemike - May 4, 2006
Pros: This does everything in one program for utilities and Virus protection
Cons: I wish they a little bit better Anti-Spyware engine it is good but not excellant
Review:
I used Norton since 1993 including Norton System Works 2006. The 2006 version of Symantec System Works was very disappointing. They are not keeping up with the rest. When I the entire System Works and the Internet Security Suite in my machine it took 3 minutes and 20 seconds to reboot. With System Mechanic Pro it takes 1 min.and 51 seconds. I have a 3.06 Intel with 2.5 gigs memory. I am very pleased with this software.I can even send a fax from my machine without having to shut down Norton
User Rating: 4/10
Not worth the moneyby scootertsm1 - April 20, 2006
Pros: Great intentions
Cons: bad follow thru
Review:
They had the right idea but System Mechanic 6 slows down the computer and actually causes errors. I asked for assistance from Iolo who makes the product and they feel that anyone who has a problem probably caused the problem. Not very helpful from the company that makes Zone Alarm which is great.
User Rating: 8/10
Good, in depth but often slowby OregonTrail - April 6, 2006
Pros: Good, in depth
Cons: Slow and some of the correction messages do not provide much information
Review:
This is a very good product. There is very little documentation for the user. Best used by experienced or expert users. Many of the features do not detail the difference between a "quick" or "in depth" run of a component. Also, many of the "fixes" the program makes are not detailed in any kind of report. For example, you may run one of the tools and find that it removes unneeded programs at the start of the system. However, there is no report detailing what was removed and why. If you run the program and chose for it to describe what it will fix, the messages of what work it will perform and what programs or utilities are being affected is not reported. This was especially disappointing in finding that my Fax Talk software would not start on boot which I use for both voice mail and faxing.
Generally, I have found many of the products from Iolo to be very good. Documentation needs to be better, better descriptions of what functions do should be incorporated, details of what work will be performed and have been performed should be provided in a clear, easy to understand summary, and speed of the program should be enhanced. Even on a dual processor machine, the software is slow.
Overall, this product is good. It also routinely finds malware and spyware that Ewido and Microsoft and other products do not detect. I plan on keeping my copy current.
Dale Bowman
Oregon City, OR
The End of the Oregon Trail
User Rating: 3/10
Utilities Are Fine but AntiVirus and Firewall Stinkby Herd 90 - March 23, 2006
Pros: Utilities are O.K.
Cons: Buggy. Restart, restart, restart.
Review:
I find this software works decently if you don't install the Antivirus and Firewall. If you do, be prepared for a mess.
User Rating: 3/10
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!by eris713 - March 8, 2006
Pros: The product appears to work fairly well.
Cons: The product is painfully slow and overpriced.
Review:
This product is very slow, and I've seen very little improvement in my computer's functioning. I advise against buying it because of the customer service. I downloaded a test version and decided to purchase the product using a discount that was offered at the time of download. I was overcharged, and the company has refused to correct the problem, claiming that I'm trying to use "an expired coupon." Don't fall their bait and switch -- there are plenty of other products on the market.
User Rating: 7/10
Pretty good bang for the buckby billie1966 - March 7, 2006
Pros: wizard to guide you through everything
Cons: no customer support
Review:
After using norton's system works 2006 which sucks I tried this program. I disagree with the other reviews because I have nothing but good things to say since I installed this program. It keeps my system running smoothly with no problems. The wizard interface will help you keep your system in tune simply by following its recommendations and performing the updates. It is a good all in one package even offers fire wall and anti virus. A one stop shopping package if ever I saw one.
User Rating: 1/10
Tremendous Disapointmentby fredfillis - March 2, 2006
Pros: None that come to mind
Cons: Too much mystery for advanced users.
Review:
As a former user in the good old days of Norton Utilities and later, Norton System Works I guess my expectations were high for System Mechanic 6 Professional.
The program lacks enough configuration options for advanaced users and provides little detail of problems found and intended fixes. I got sick of being told my brand new primo build was performing poorly and then having to fix stuff manually after SM6 had "improved" my performance. The last straw for me was when SM6 "fixed" a "critical error" on my hard drive which screwed up my disk.
My advice ... Run away, run away!
User Rating: 1/10
v5 was excellent, this version is terrible!by hypno2001 - February 25, 2006
Pros: none that i can actualy think of sorry.
Cons: gives you low id on emule and forces you to reformat
Review:
Version 5 was excelent. BUT this new version is terrible even though each week they release a new version with a new letter after the version number it still doe snot work. And dont even bother asking them for support, you get the same reply every single time "download the newest version". I had to reinstal windows to fix the problem it caused with giving me low id on emule, STAY WELL AWAY, despite constant new versions it still does not work and most of the things it does without even telling you CANT be undone! even though it has an undo featire it makes no difference!!!!! I loved version 5 and thought v6 would be great but im sorry to say il never instal this on my or any of the pcs I build, il simply use tweak now powerpack 2006, with less options but at least it works!
User Rating: 1/10
Should be removed from marketby maglit - February 17, 2006
Pros: none - would never even load
Cons: would not load
Review:
A true rip-off. I purchased the program because it had the c/net editor's choice logo on the retail box. One would assume that the people a c/net would actually use the programs they recommend. Look at the opinions submitted here. This program and the recommendation given by c/net are bogus.
User Rating: 1/10
renders your computer uselessby jbills - February 16, 2006
Pros: there are none
Cons: freezes computer, numerous error messages
Review:
This is very bad software.I was almost forced to uninstall,then reinstall my operating system,which would have meant sending the computer to a data recovery company. Fortunately I was finally able to unintall system mechanic after 3 days of error messages,freezes,and multiple shutdowns and restarts. Computer is back to normal now MINUS SYSTEM MECHANIC... Do not buy this software.
User Rating: 2/10
Good features, but one serious flawby mcgeejs - February 10, 2006
Pros: Lots a great utilities for your computer system
Cons: Corrupts data and horrible customer support
Review:
Initially installed it and liked it, even though I saw a definitely degradation in CPU usage. But when I did the "Repair Shortcuts" feature, it deleted a lot more than just shortcuts and absolutely hosed my computer (I now have to completely reload Windows XP). The "Undo" feature did not resolve it. When I contacted customer support, they initially sent me some canned "solutions" which were of no help. Several subsequent emails have not been answered and I cannot get them to respond.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT!
User Rating: 2/10
Don't Waste Your Hard-earned Time and Moneyby carnevales - February 10, 2006
Pros: Many useful tools to tweak your system. Attractive interface.
Cons: Some of the most helpful tools do not work. Tech support is terrible.
Review:
It took me about two days to realize this program was a piece of junk. It actually slowed my system down. It shuts down your ports so that other computers on your network cannot see your server. The defrag is incredibly slow and can freeze your system. The tools are somewhat customizable, but even in advanced mode this program will not tell you what it is doing to your computer. "No problem," you say, "I'll just use the roll-back feature to undo any of the changes it made to my system." No dice. The highly touted safety-net of the undo deature is NON-FUNCTIONAL -- a little snag that almost every user complained about, but iolo was loathe to admit or address even after releasing over one dozen updates within about the first two weeks of release. After I uninstalled and tried to reinstall it, it not only would not reload, it actually kept my system from booting and I had to reload my entire system. Tech support takes DAYS to return emails (don't even think about calling or you'll lose your retirement fund) and is not very helpful. When I tried to get my money back from iolo for this piece of junk, they flat-out refused. They said I should have tried the 30-day trial before buying. I replied that I purchased the product based on my good experience with 5.5 and assumed that the reputation of the company and its products were enough of a sell for me (I won't make that mistake again). You can buy Pc-Cillin Internet Security 2006, Tune-Up Utilities 2006 and use the defragmenter that comes with WinXP for about the same price and they will actually work as advertised. They lack the plethora of features that System Mechanic touts, but all you get with the latter is bigger pile of junk rather than a toolbox of helpful utilities. System Mechanic 6 Pro promises so much, but delivers so little. This is a terrible, terrible product and it should be a crime for any company to release it on the general public.
User Rating: 1/10
unstable & dangerousby easily confused - February 10, 2006
Pros: didn't even get to the starting gate
Cons: everything
Review:
I was a Pro 5 customer and mistakenly downloaded this garbage. It froze and crashed both my computers + the virus scans never actually finished. It looks flashy and takes up huge amounts of resources so your computer becomes unstable. All the company could do was send me further versions which did nothing to solve the problem. Once I'd uninstalled it my PCs came back to life. To add insult to injury they refused to offer a refund. Never have I owned such diabolical software.
User Rating: 1/10
If you are looking for TROUBLE ---you found it!by Chat Bleu - December 30, 2005
Pros: The word PRO on the Box.
Cons: This is a beta system; not better system!
Review:
This will set back your computer ten years...after SM PrO 6 your computer will become sluggish, slow and will operate like a pentium 1. No matter how many times you run the programme it will continue to find errors. I ran it on three (3) computers and thankfully was able to use System Restore.
Forget about trying to get your money back ---half a dozen emails --No Resonse.
User Rating: 1/10
BAD Softwareby rjerikson - December 30, 2005
Pros: Comprehensive
Cons: Very slow and very buggy
Review:
The software itself runs ponderously slow, with many annoying involuntary restarts. My system started and ran much slower and more erratically AFTER its "tune-up." SM6 took all night to defrag my hard drive compared to less than an hour using the built-in Windows defragmenter, and the drive was MORE fragmented when it was done than when it started. It was very reluctant to be uninstalled and caused several system crashes in the process. Won't miss it at all.
User Rating: 9/10
Best One-In-All Programby Sny-Dog - December 25, 2005
Pros: Good Everything
Cons: There are no cons
Review:
This program is one of the best easy to use programs. Even people that don't know computers can use this. It is reasonable too. Good Security, Easy to use, All-in-One, Good Protection, Wonderful Program.
TV with DVR & Internet: $84.90/mo
