System Mechanic Professional is a longtime favorite and comprehensive suite of system utilities. The software program stands out among other system repair programs. The suite has many powerful tools that can help diagnose, repair, and optimize a system. System Mechanic comes with several powerful tools including built in security applications, disk analysis programs, and tools to diagnose system problems. With a fairly easy to use interface, many users can use the system suite right out of the box. The registry tools are also comprehensive and powerful enough to clean up many troublesome registries. Backup and recovery functions are also included.
System mechanic is available as a retail product or can be downloaded from the developer’s website. Updates are regularly produced on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. During our test period with System Mechanic, we had several major updates that we installed from the developer’s website which were automatically downloaded. The suite also has a moderate footprint that will not drag a system down in speed or over use system resources. The suite can also be integrated or used alongside other utility programs as well as antivirus programs. The program picked up our security suite right away without any conflicts.
System Mechanic also includes many automatic monitoring tools that alert users when their system needs attention or has problems. These alerts include problems with system security, invalid registry entries, and hard drive problems. Users have the ability to ignore, use, or even deactivate the automatic scans. Other interesting functions include a report function that shows all previous repairs made by the program and any updates installed. Users can also choose to use automatic repair tools or use individual tools included with the program. Both beginners and advanced system users will find powerful tools that can help overcome many system problems.
Features:
System Mechanic comes with a great many tools for PC owners that wish to keep their system running in good shape. The tools include disk analysis, disk repair, registry repair, security software, a built in firewall program, system reporting functions, optimization tools, and automatic repair solutions. Both beginners and advanced system users will find different levels of tools that can be used to repair a system.
Other functions include a detailed hardware reporting tool, a hard drive cleaning tool, and network tools. The reporting tools are detailed and can be easily viewed with sub reports given for each type of system device or hardware. Users can set up System Mechanic to perform automatic repair jobs such as disk defragmentation or registry repair. The tools will then be run at automatic periods and users will not need to interact with the process or even be present during their active periods. Another great tool is the ability to back track on previous System Mechanic repair functions.
Interface:
The interface and menu system is easy to navigate. Beginners can use the program right away with minimal instruction. The menu system shows each section of tools on the left side with an application screen on the right side. A nice feature is that users can change the interface to their general liking. Tabs can be changed with different tools or color schemes.
Performance:
System Mechanic performed fairly well. And while it's not a speed demon, the background tasks and scanners were fast and did not weigh down on the overall system speed. The menu system worked quickly and repair tools performed their jobs faster than the built in tools found in Windows. Automatic tools can be setup to run in the background and use up little of a system’s resources while running. Even resource-intensive tasks such as the disk defragmentation program are fast, especially when compared to the built in Windows disk defragmentation program.
Updates:
Iolo provides constant updates to System Mechanic. Most of the updates are set to be automatically downloaded or completed upon the user’s request. The program also asks for confirmation before installing an update. Among all the system repair programs we reviewed, System Mechanic had the best update systems available.
Help and Support:
Support is offered by Iolo and users can register for accounts online. Support is given through email, online forums, FAQs, updates, and general guide sheets. The FAQ section shows many popular questions and answers. Also offered is a fairly comprehensive guide to all the functions of System Mechanic and its different tools. Each tool and function is explained in the guide with clear text.
Summary:
System Mechanic has evolved over the past several years to be a front runner among system repair programs. It offers a fairly easy to use interface while providing powerful tools to repair or optimize a system. Automatic tools can be setup to run at the user’s discretion. The ability of System Mechanic to work alongside other programs such as Kaspersky Internet Security Suite is a major plus. Other system repair software programs may ask users to uninstall third party security software before installation.
Iolo also includes system analysis and reporting tools that are very detailed for troubleshooting a system. System owners can use the reports to examine a faulty component, driver, or installed software application to repair a system. Since finding a system problem can be a large time consuming effort, this function is a great feature.
While no system software will be perfect, System Mechanic comes close. However, there were a few problems that we found during the review process that should be mentioned. One is that there are functions listed that are simply links to other products offered by Iolo. This type of advertising is a little confusing, as users may not realize that those functions are not included with the program. It would have been better to note those functions that are not included with System Mechanic. Perhaps another problem was the lack of the interface scalability when changing window sizes. When first loading System Mechanic, the software runs in a smaller window. However, if a user chooses to maximize the window then content is only displayed on a corner section the screen.
These issues aside, the large feature set of System Mechanic will help any system owner deal with a wide range of problems. Most of the features provide greater assistance for operating system problems such as problematic registry entries, improperly uninstalled programs, system clutter, and configuration issues. Other tools that address physical system components include system reporting tools and disk management functions that work very well.
The price tag of $59.95 is fairly steep, but well worth the cost with so many included features. Users will find a wide range of functions that might normally require several programs to provide. During the review period, the program ran quickly and without errors. Its small footprint means that users will not find their system speed minimized by the program’s functions. System Mechanic runs very well in the background and with other applications running.
There is a great deal to like about System Mechanic Professional. Not only does it offer a multitude of system tools but also many ways to examine a system’s components. The interface is clean and uncluttered, making navigation easy for all types of users. The program license also allows for the software to be installed on multiple computers at the same time.
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