Entered CNET Catalog: 12/20/2006
SKU: SM7PE
Manufacturer: Iolo Technologies
Manufacturer description
A totally integrated suite of powerful PC tools that will keep your system running smooth, fast, and error-free. System Mechanic Professional will solve stubborn and frustrating problems and prevent them from reoccurring; automatically maintain your computer for peak performance, speed, and reliability; protect against viruses, hackers, e-mail worms, and Internet threats; eliminate dangerous spyware and malware parasites; ensure personal and internet privacy and security; recover lost or deleted files, photos, music, and email; and much more! System Mechanic Professional offers an unrivaled list of features by combing six award-winning products and seamlessly integrating them into one authoritative and easy-to-use solution!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 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47
User Rating: 
1/10
Stay away from it.
Pros: This definitely has all of the tools that you need. I've used several of their tools over the years. But it's the overhead from Iolo Tech which is the problem.
Cons: It's spyware for Iolo. It hogs memory and brings a computer to a standstill. Security software will block access to printers, scanners, GPS, and other items. It also seems to be distructive to external drives.
User Rating: 
6/10
Worse than JUNK
Pros: I don't have one good thing to say about SM 7
Cons: Entire Program
User Rating: 
2/10
Doesn't work well and support is terrible
Pros: Helps with defragging
Cons: Causes more headackes and customer care is poor
Customer care has not been helpful. It takes them a week/two weeks sometimes more to get help. They don't read the whole problem. They send you a premade suggestion that doesn't even address the problem because they didn't take the time to understand the problem.
User Rating: 1/10
a disaster
Pros: it didn't actually kill my computer, just mortally wound it
Cons: disabled my email, internet, and nearly killed the pc.
User Rating: 1/10
Beware of this one!
Pros: Not a one! This is as bad as it gets!
Cons: Misidentifies system files as malware, undo does not work properly, slows system.
User Rating: 1/10
Biggest piece of PC software Diarrhea
Pros: Nothing at all - very terrible product
Cons: Biggest head ache when users you support install it.
iolo-system-mechanic-tech-personal-cx_de_0425iolo.html
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!!
User Rating: 2/10
Waste of Money
Pros: theoretically has the right utilities
Cons: Incredibly buggy, poor support
User Rating: 1/10
Completely blown away!
Pros: Sleek looking software and rated fairly high by some geeks who reviewed the product.
Cons: No warning that you MUST remove the cd after the initial install or it will start during boot and tell you that your operating system (OS) is corrupt. Don't believe it; remove the cd and then reboot.
Since the software is designed to detect a corrupt OS, but in fact finds that a perfectly functioning OS is corrupt, what would it detect if the OS 'was' indeed corrupt?
User Rating: 2/10
Fails on Vista Ultimate
Pros: Long history of good products -- this is one so sad
Cons: Fails to run on Vista Ultimate
User Rating: 
4/10
blue screen of death on uninstall....
Pros: It has a nice GUI and I did like the emal updates on my system status.
Cons: fooling with the registry makes me nervous
The fact that it makes registry changes also is unsettling. I didn't see the protection I wanted from it. I am going back to Zone Alarm.
User Rating: 1/10
WARNING, WARNING firewall and antivirus conflict with Windows XP WMI files
Pros: Can't think of any
Cons: The firewall may destroy your Windows XP WMI files requiring a XP restore installation, The antivirus program is a pig for resources. The rest of the system is incapable of orderly shutdown
User Rating: 
9/10
8 Year devoted User
Pros: Set it and forget it total care settings. Manual Startup folder editor. Works on Vista.
Cons: Slow on Deep analyzing. Nothing else that I can think of
User Rating: 9/10
Couldn't be happier
Pros: Great selection of tools, all included in one package
Cons: a little complicated to use fully, but once you get the hang of it
User Rating: 
10/10
It's like getting a brand new machine!
Pros: The Startup process is so much faster!
Cons: Defraging the hard drive can take a long time.
User Rating: 9/10
Excellent Utility Product
Pros: Easy to use interface, Highly Customizable Firewall, Very effective Anti Virus component,
Cons: Slightly confusing licensing
User Rating: 9/10
Ran just fine for me
Pros: Interface is not hard to understand
Cons: Needs and Internet connection in order to install
I like the Interface and the way the tools are layed out. The same flexibility in see what is removed before a removal takes place is available as well as is the same control over what tools are run.
On the complaints I have seen, you need to make sure that you dont have overkill on your system. I had 2 antispywares a firewall that I forgot about and IE7 popup blocker which caused me initial heartache when installing System Mechanic Professional. Stands to reason though since too many apps trying to do the same thing will ultimately conflict. After uninstalling those and reinstalling mechanic, it worked great. I plan on switching to system mechanic than having ubteen apps to do it all. Since the rating system gives me crap about selecting a 10, I select a 9.
I liked this so much after purchasing that I bought a copy for both my kids Vista computers and my moms XP computer. There have been no issues. There's a couple of features missing on Vista but from what I have read from other software creators it is because Micro$oft and allowing low level disk access. Stupid!
Other than that, no issues with system mechanic 7 Professional.
User Rating: 10/10
Best Software out there
Pros: Everything you need in a suite
Cons: None so far
it slowed my new PC down and had to format the PC to make it run again.
I'm going back to Symantec
User Rating: 4/10
Great Utility, Problimatic Firewall.
Pros: The System Mechanic part of pro can't be beat.
Cons: The firewall is so problimatic you should skip it and use Zone Alarm
The System Mechanic is hit and miss. On a Toshiba Laptop it?s buggy and prone to lock the system. On a Dell Desktop and A Desktop that I made myself it works flawlessly. The range of tools is impressive and allows me to take care of problems that System Works couldn?t.
Firewall on the Toshiba has been problematic. I can?t use Activsync, I can?t play games with my son over the home network. I have to either uninstall the firewall (for syncing) or disable firewall for the network enabled games. We have not yet tested Firewall on the Dell when it comes to syncing. My daughter reports that she can?t use Yahoo Messenger. It also seems to be blocking access to our network printer. Emails to fix the syncing problems, the Printer Issue, and other issues that have come up over the past several weeks have been answered exactly once with a generic ?look at our website? answer that pointed to an article that I had already looked up and tried.
Antivirus I can?t say much about. We don?t tend to do the kind of surfing that gets a lot of viruses and our email is filtered by our ISP. It just seems to mind it?s own business without taking up a lot of system overhead like Norton Antivrius did.
When I purchased my Toshiba Laptop SM 7 Pro was the first program I installed. It immediately found a bunch of spyware either installed from the factory, or picked up while updating the computer via a hotels internet. The installation did not detect the Windows Firewall that was enabled and some of my problems with Firewall could come from the conflicts that happned before I figured it out and turned off Firewall.
Zone Alarm and Internet Security also seem to have a simpler interface. Popups while the programs are in training refer to specific applications trying to run and you answer a simple question. SM 7 Pro does the same thing, but adds an extra step. Once you have given the OK for a program it still may block access from a specific port, channel, or whatnot. You can look at the details and allow the blocked access by a program you already Okayed. Frustrating. Also you don?t have a choice. You either see all blocked access pop ups, or you see none of them. If you say ?no? to a program. You will see blocked access pop ups for that program from that point on. If you turn if off, you won?t see the pop up questions for new programs. If you don?t answer the pop up SM uses a default answer after a certain amount of time has happed. Don?t walk away and get a cup of coffee. You may do something you don?t like, that you didn?t know about.
I?m convinced that the Toshiba issue with the Utilities stems from a buggy system right from the factory and a reformat will solve the problems. The other two systems seem to work well with the Utilities portion. I think Iolo has some work to do with Firwall. For now my solution is going to be to run System Mechanic Pro without the Firewall and run Zone Alarm instead. The combo and price are hard to beat. In a year when my subscription comes due if they haven?t fixed the lack of email support problem I?ll probably move on.
One last comment. I?ve done 4 or 5 uninstalls and reinstalls on the Toshiba. Plus set it up on the other two computers. It?s been activated with the same code 6 or 7 times. No problems with activation so far. If I ever have a problem with activation I?ll drop the product. I have no patience for online activation that doesn?t work for my paid software. This is one reason I dropped Symantec. I had a problem with my online activation being rejected. They would not fix it told me to send them my software for their ?investigation? and I was out the money. Worse the activated installs that I did have would forget their activations, request new ones and then have that rejected. Internet Security has an excellent firewall, First Rate Email support and increasingly buggy problematic software with crappy corporate policies that get in the way of a good product. If they would give me a code that activated the software without an online check (so it won?t get rejected) and give me a subscription for the same price as Iolo, I?d go back to Internet Security. I?d still keep System Mechanic. That part of Iolo?s products just shines.
Overall Rating.
System Mechanic 9 (You don't need the email support. It just works).
Firwall. 1 Since it doesn't work and email support doesn't work, it's really not useable.
Antivirus. 6 It's plugging along and until I actually get a virus I can't tell how well it's doing its job.
User Rating: 4/10
poor service
Pros: some elements work great
Cons: no response from tech support
User Rating: 2/10
Does not work as advertised
Pros: Sorry I cannot think of any
Cons: Does not do what it claims it will do.
User Rating: 10/10
Two words: BUY IT!
Pros: Best bang for your buck. Works great with XP and Vista. Solves so many problems and makes your 'puter hum like a Ferrari.
Cons: A little hard to digest main screen at first.
User Rating: 2/10
Wretched software and non-existant customer service
Pros: Huge range of possibilities...when it works
Cons: System hangs constantly; doesn't support email services
But to add to it's problems...Iolo has the worst customer service/technical support in the business. it takes days to get a reply. That reply is some random, non-related response that refers to a pathetically maintained solution database. Attempts to contact technical support directly result in a firewall of voice menu options...none of which actually connect to a person who can help. It is a wasteful shame. Someone spent a lot of time putting a lot of good programming together...but others dropped the ball on making usable and providing support. I have had much better support from Microsoft itself. Looks like Iolo will be joining Ford in bankruptcy court.
My needs were a non-navigation, DVD/multimedia, bluetooth, XM radio ready headunit. I looked at all the major brands first, including the Alpine IVA-W200,Panasonic CQ-VD6503U and the Kenwood DDX6019. The Dual simply provided similar features for less...and in some cases better quality.
The video definitely surpasses the Alpine and was comparable to the Kenwood and Panasonic.
The Bluetooth features of the Dual are far better. Setup with my Sony-Ericsson K750i was a breeze. All I do is get in my car with my phone in my pocket and the HU detects and connects to the phone in about 10 seconds. The HU doesn't store the phone book, one drawback, but does store the last dialed, received and missed calls. Making a call is easy on the keypad dislpayed on the screen. Call quality is mono, but clear and you can adjust the gain for the Bluetooth individually (as with as all the other input options). Additionally, the Bluetooth is built in...no need to buy yet another add-on like with the other brands.
The XM ready feature only requires the tuner box...so no adpater is needed. Interface with the program listing is highly customizable.
It comes with a SD card reader as well, and although the spec sheet says it is compatible with up to a 2GB card, I have been using a SanDisk 4GB card with no problems. Make sure you copy your songs on the card in recognizable folders though...otherwise you could be looking forever for the music you want to listen to.
The unit comes with a single sweet remote attachment that allows you to connect to your iPod, an AV input (suach as for a game system) and a 3.5mm jack.
Lastly, the system has additional inputs for a rear camera and a back seat entertainment system which I might add later.
My only complaint so far has been that the unit can be a bit bright, even with the adjustment turned all the way down. But you can simply blank the screen with the standby button without affecting audio playback.
All in all, I am quite happy with this unit and would recommend it.
User Rating: 1/10
Completely destroyed my brand new laptop computer!
Pros: There are no pros
Cons: It deletes the Windows boot files so windows cannot run
User Rating: 1/10
No help for installation problems
Pros: Don't know - can't use it
Cons: It won't install-no help from tech support
User Rating: 1/10
RUN don't walk away from this program
Pros: A good job cleaning the registry
Cons: No tech support
User Rating: 10/10
Everything you need, and more!
Pros: Exhaustive Suite of powerful computer tools
Cons: Lengthy Internet downloads before installation
I think the antivirus real-time functions are superb and, in my opinion, much faster than my Norton Antivirus that I replaced. The firewall works better than its Norton counterpart as well. No complaints and extremely integrated.
The only thing I can nit-pick about is when you initially install the product. Even though I had the CD, the program needed to access and download almost 30 MB of updates from iolo's website, before it would start the installation. Additionally, I found the long user IDs, serial numbers and Anti-Virus definitions keys to be long and cumbersome. (There were two instances where I confused a "0" (zero) for a capital O. The long security numbers had to be reentered before the installation could continue. With a little perseverance and luck I was rewarded with an excellent tool that not only keeps my computer safe and healthy, but has greatly improved my hard disk function and increased my Internet connection efficiency by a noticeable degree. I also enjoy the three computer license that came with System Mechanic. I can keep my computer as well as my wife and Daughter's all purring along at warp speed as we travel down the information highway.
I recommend this product to anyone currently using Windows XP. I understand this product also works with Vista as well.
User Rating: 
3/10
The program from hell
Pros: It has some nice features
Cons: You may loose everything on your hard drive
User Rating: 2/10
IF YOU ARE THINKING OF BUYING SM7 DO NOT !!!! READ NOW URGENT!!!!
Pros: 1 PRO= THE INCINERATOR YOU CAN MAKE YOUR COMPUTER DISAPEAR!
Cons: ANTIVIRUS & FIREWALL BASICLY THE WHOLE PROGRAM!
User Rating: 3/10
Let the buyer beware
Pros: Basic utilities work pretty well
Cons: virus and firewall integration coupled with extremely poor customer service make this a losing investment
User Rating: 1/10
Disables liscense after repeated requests for liscense information
Pros: None. Doesn't Work
Cons: Doesn't work.
Received an email informing me that my license was reset. Included a link to a new update. I have access to the program again.
Received an email informing me that my license was reset. Included a link to a new update. I have access to the program again.
User Rating: 2/10
Bad software getting worst
Pros: Cheaper then most. 3 licenses per purchase, so you can run it on 3 machines
Cons: Causes more problems than it fixes. Doesn't know who they are selling the product to.
If you don't know what you are doing this software can really mess up your computer if you do know what you are doing it will not help you. It allowed a program to mimic Quicktime's update and run at startup. When I had it look at startup programs instead of showing me the programs so I could delete it the program just told me everything was fine. I spend more time fixing problems on my kids computer than I would if I just let them run with no protection untill it blew up and reinstalled XP every couple of weeks.
User Rating: 1/10
Stay Away! This company does not deserve your business!
Pros: Non Zip. It simply won't work!
Cons: Non-existant techincal and customer support. Is anyone home?
User Rating: 3/10
It works OK
Pros: It did as it said
Cons: No Tech Support
wrote 3 more times with no response back, got a CASE #. After removing & and installing it locked me out. Can't get anyone to unlock it so
I wasted $40
User Rating: 1/10
A Piece of Trash
Pros: Not one good thing
Cons: slowed my system down and eventually the firewall crashed
User Rating: 2/10
The Worst Customers Services Bad Products
Pros: Full Suite
Cons: can't reinstall, block all email,
the only thing i got for paying $53.0 was an automated email reply i would never buy it again
User Rating: 1/10
Gives bad name to lemon
Pros: Eventually it runs
Cons: Slows down system. Slows down internet access.Recognizes legit apps as viruses.
It did not install correctly on first few attempts. After it did, it downloaded updates and promptly crashed. It will not allow reinstallation from the disk if it was updated. So off we go - uninstall, install and update. Every installation counts toward the limit of three.
But there is more: Once it runs it slows down computer, it slows down internet, it recognizes Java updates as viruses (thanks Iolo), it requires separate installation if you have second user on the same computer and its firewall comes with disabled internet security as default.
Please note Iolo does not offer refunds if you buy from them directly.
I gave up and uninstalled this garbage through control panel add/remove program.
Dvpapi.exe and Authentium did not uninstall. Some of it can be removed via registry but not all. I installed new security suite by another maker but Windows now recognizes more than one firewall and antivirus.
User Rating: 1/10
SAY NO TO IOLO 7.0
Pros: pretty box
Cons: tech support, customer service, and program
IOLO needs to hire A NEW MECHANIC and should pull the plug on this software immediately.
As a former IOLO customer, I have lost all confidence and respect for this company and its product. This program has caused all kinds of problems on my system. I could not send or receive emails (and the tech tells me to send him an email of the problem), and the system regristry did all sorts of strange things on a brand new clean install of XP.
Their customer service is lousy and my several messages to their infamous extension 107 have gone unanswered. My emails to thier key people have gone unanswered and now I am spending time trying to warn others about this program. A big waste of time and money!
My advice: TRY THIS PRODUCT before you spend your money. I made the mistake of showing my loyality by upgrading from a previous version and now am out 40 bucks and have completely reformated my system to remove this program and clean my system from its affect.
If you are like me and are stuck with this lemon atleast we have a pretty box to remind us who NOT to buy from in the future.
User Rating: 2/10
Destructive and Expensive.
Pros: flashy interface, same tools from previous SMs
Cons: ..exact same tools from previous SMs. My computer cant reboot normally now.. it wont start without internet. Its very slow, takes up about 25% of my cpu. and it is not even worth half of its price.
User Rating: 1/10
Does NOT work as advertised
Pros: The only thing I can think of is that it is packed in a nice box
Cons: You name it, this is an abysmal product
User Rating: 10/10
All in one Solution
Pros: Great Product for the basic user
Cons: nothing I experienced
User Rating: 2/10
Not as advertised, try before you use
Pros: cleans up misc items similar to old program
Cons: will not work off-line, but program is always on.
The one button clean up that worked so well in Sys Mech 5.0 has gotten lost in the dazzling new display.
User Rating: 3/10
Just When You Think It Couldn't Get Any Worst
Pros: Computer runs faster
Cons: Anti virus and firewall
User Rating: 4/10
Keeps Getting Worse...
Pros: Robust Set of Maintenance/Optimization Tools
Cons: Firewall blocks IM client and has confusing interface
User Rating: 
8/10
Great and comprehensive tool for fixing Windows problems
Pros: Easy to use, Comprehensive, does its job.
Cons: Doesn't detect any 3rd party antivirus software
Give it a try, it's a worthy opponent for Symantec System Works (although I'm running Kaspersky as my protector!).
Interface (out of 5): ****
Speed: ****
Detecting and fixing: ****
other stuff: ****
overall: **** (80%)
User Rating: 2/10
Buyer beware
Pros: May be as good as they claim. Very cheap at Buy.com.
Cons: I don't see the develper's claims verified on CNet.
User Rating: 
5/10
Disgrace improvements needed BADLY
Pros: they kept a few features from System Mechanic 6 Professional
Cons: got rid of there one button does all function so u must do check up by check up
just for a follow up running windowns xp professional this has to be the worst suite ever created it constantly blocks my trading programs fo during market hours I have no protection then at times its doesnt boot up at all so you have to keep reinstalling it but you can never get rid of it completely because there are certain files that are always running way after you uninstall so the problems reoccur stay away please do yourself the favor because trust me in novemember when the new suites come out I wont be buying
User Rating: 5/10
Disappointing
Pros: Comprehensive, improved interface over V6
Cons: No recognition of Kaspersky products
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