14 DAY TRIAL // Keeping a computer in top shape is the number one priority of any self-respectable user, so a tool that specializes in system optimization and maintenance is a must.
System Mechanic Professional stands out in this department. Since our previous review back nine years ago, the application has been greatly improved to not only keep up with standards, but also to surpass them. Equipped with numerous features oriented toward performance maximization, problem repairing and system cleaning, System Mechanic caters to beginners and professionals alike.
The trial edition is available for 30 days and does not have any limitations. When it expires, users may purchase the full version for $33.86 / €24.35 (temporarily discounted from $69.96 / €50.30 via Softpedia, including VAT).
The program is unpacked pretty quickly. It requests an email address for sending a key for trial activation. Moreover, it offers to install additional utilities made by the same developer (Search and Recover, DriveScrubber, System Shield AntiVirus & AntiSpyware), which are not mandatory. The installer can be customized by excluding any of these components as well as by editing Internet connection details.
The organized interface has multiple panels accessible from the right side of the screen, grouped into Dashboard (overview, problems), ActiveCare (automated tasks), LiveBoost (real-time optimization), Internet Security (anti-malware, firewall), Toolbox (all-in-one and individual tools), and Reports (IntelliStatus, history, reliability).
Advanced users are free to closely inspect the problems and set the course of action. For instance, security vulnerabilities refer to Windows services and Internet Explorer, among others. Descriptions, threat levels and repair modes can be viewed for all issues, and they can be ignored permanently or just from the current session.
Configuring options is quite easy. In case of registry backups, it is possible to establish a backup name and maximum number of backups to keep, while the registry repair stage gives users the possibility to select the kind of registry errors to look for and automatically repair, and even to exclude irreparable items from subsequent searches. Registry defragmentation and optimization can be set to run at the next system startup and back up the registry after completion. It requires a Windows reboot to run and finish the task.
Moving on to the system clutter issue, besides letting System Mechanic automatically handle all problems by itself, it is also possible to inspect them by running the PC Cleanup wizard. The module is able to remove web browser cache files (e.g. Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox), temporary Windows and offline files, as well as to empty Recycle Bin, among other actions.
If System Mechanic detects heavy fragmentation on the hard disk, it will recommend users to re-align programs in an attempt to boost app launch speed and overall system responsiveness. Drives can be selected for optimization by evaluating their total size, free space, file system entropy, misaligned files, file fragmentation, fragmented files, and recommendation.
The first step is performing an analysis to find out all these details. The utility can delete junk files via the PC Cleanup module before re-aligning the programs (if any), automatically defragment locked files (i.e. currently in use by Windows) at the next system startup, turn off the PC on task completion, as well as increase the chances of defragging unmovable files by consolidating free space during optimization (this takes longer).
System Mechanic integrates a feature for repairing hard drive problems that may prevent Windows crashes and files from being accessed or saved. Depending on the time they are willing to allocate to this task, users may run a quick or complete scan job on one or more selected drives. The app immediately tends to issues and can be scheduled to automatically do this on system restart.
Disabling unwanted startup programs and re-enabling them is done with one click, and users may analyze information pertaining to the publisher, file name, startup type (e.g. Registry run key, background service), program classification and description (made by System Mechanic), performance impact measurement (if any), along with user community results (how many keep it on and how many turn it off). Redundant applications may be uninstalled in the same manner.
Similarly, LiveBoost provides real-time performance optimization to keep CPU, RAM, and disk usage to a minimum level. Meanwhile, the “Internet Security” area shows the status of the currently installed anti-malware application (if any) and firewall (Windows or otherwise). However, it does not have any other purpose beyond monitoring.
The Good
It sports an impressive range of cleanup and optimization tools that are fast and effective. They can be easily enabled and disabled with one click, as well as adjusted to the user's preferences. All activity is tracked by System Mechanic, while SafetyNet lets users restore settings to default.
The Bad
The tool froze (twice) while trying to find additional repair options for registry issues. Moreover, it failed in its attempt to repair multiple registry errors. At some point it stopped detecting the anti-malware application installed on our computer, indicating that we should install one.
CPU spiked during cleaning jobs in our tests.
Some features become available only by installing other tools from the developer (which are not free).
