Customer Reviews

System Mechanic 5

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I have experienced numerous problems with this new version. This new version is far worse than the previous version, which I owned and used for a year.

I was a loyal customer before this. Now I am very, very dissatisfied with Iolo and System Mechanic.

I followed the instructions and de-installed the previous version before installing the new version. After installing System Mechanic 5, I then received an error about a bad registry key which incapacitated many of the functions of System Mechanic.

I attempted to set and test many of the features of System Mechanic 5, only to find that several are seriously flawed and caused problems with my Windows 2000 computer.

The Startup Guard (1) would not allow my computer to shut down and (2) could not be turned off.

The Boot Time Defragmentation could also not be turned off once I turned it on. Even though I completely de-installed System Mechanic 5, this feature continues to run! I have removed any System Mechanic 5 directories and registry keys and Boot Time Defragmentation continues to run.

Do Not Waste Your Money On This Product

"This product is full of pitfalls." I have this on very good authority (my service technicians), although I personally haven't found but ONE, I guess, since the attempted installation corrupted my hard drive to the degree that even Safe Mode was unavailable. I really liked SM 4.0 Pro but, after this nightmare (and the subsequent lack of any help whatever from iolo), I urge you to stay away from 5.0. BTW, there are no refunds under ANY circumstances so, if your pc crashes (to the tune of $150 in my case) you'll also be out the cost of the program.

Purchased the new Version 6, and it freezes... throws exception errors constantly, not ready for prime time. I would suggest avoiding System Mechanic until they release a version that works without requiring reboot after reboot to recover from freezes. The new version is even more problematic than Version 5. Flakey software. Tries to be a swiss army knife of utilities, and does nothing well. It's too bad, I would like to see a program like this be successful... but currently it should be avoided. Unresponsive technical support compounds the problem.

I purchased this last weekend and have had numerous blue screen crashes since, even with XP SP2. All the crashes point to Iolo device drivers, such as iolofltr.sys. I downloaded the free upgrade to version 6 and it was no better and perhaps worse. XP is unable to stop any of the SM processes without a reboot. Norton is constantly telling me some SM component is trying to access a DNS server. I allowed some but more popped up. Why does it need to report to the Iolo server, even when I'm not running the program? It acts suspiciously like spyware. SM changed system features without my permission and locked hard disk files against deletion, even ones that didn't belong to it. Warning: Even if you unistall it, most of the program pieces remain on your PC.

Stay away!

Beware of this program! After I ran all of its "features", I found it had disabled my anti-virus software's script blocker and prevented me from re-installing to correct this. It also disabled PowerDesk's Toolbar and prevented Pinnacle Studio 10 from loading. Windows XP then said it could not return to an earlier restore point! Who knows what else System Mechanic did? After it claimed to have fixed registry problems, I ran RegistryRescue (which I highly recommend), which found 57 registry errors! Fortunately I was able to use System Mechanic's "undo" capability to return to where I had been prior to using it and all was well again. My only other alternative would have been to start from nothing, reinstalling Windows and all my software. I would not take this program even if it were free!

I purchased this software and didn't install it for two weeks.
After running the defragmenter, I was told by IOLO that I needed to wait for a new version, since the defragmenter would not complete. There is nothing wrong with my computer. Meanwhile, IOLO released version 6, which supposedly fixed the problem. However, since I purchased it 35 days ago, they wont' give me a free upgrade to version 6, and the "fixed version" won't be available for 2-3 weeks. Their customer support stinks.

Don't bother using "speed up hard drives" on the "Optimize" tab...the defrag routine will literally run forever. Also, be aware that "Clean Registry" in the "PC Maintenance Wizard" does not do anything except identify deletable items...it does not remove them. In fact, the Wizard reports "None found" even though when running, it clearly identifies deletable items. If you want System Mechanic to actually remove old registry items, you have to run the routine separately from the "Fix" tab using "Fix Registry Problems". I reported this flaw to Iolo around the first of 2005 and they acknowledged the problem but have not released any fix (how ironic!). Overall, System Mechanic is Ok but the interminable defrag and goofy registry cleaner are real downers.

I'm a software tech. Win XP SP2 Pro & home.
I tested this prgram on three computers. It's fair, but not worth the price! Corrupted my 2 desktops, and my laptop (see 1 & 2 below)!
For BEST System maintenance!-
1. #1!- See my review on "VCOM Fix-It Utilities 6 Professional"!
2. I also strongly recommend that you get the EXCELLENT "EasyCleaner 2.0" FREEWARE ("Foolproof", if you just run the "Registry", and "Unnecessary" options!)! Does virtually the same thing, with "0" problems in 3 years! (Do a Google search on "EasyCleaner 2.0" (sans quotes"" & download from "ToniArts" home!)
2. I also like freeware "CleanUp 4.0" (review Options... FIRST, or you may delete good stuff...?).
1. SM5 corrupted my CD writer program?! I uninstalled and went back to the XP CD program. That was soon corrupted too? I browsed several tech sites, and found that others say it was SM5's Registry "Compacting (compressing)" feature that caused the problem! XP does NOT like compressed files!
Do not check/enable this feature!
2. SM5 deletes "ALL" your cookies, everytime you use it! Go into "Clean up your tracks"/ Internet History folder/ Remove the check from "Erase Internet Cookie files".

Easy to install, hard to stop. This system appears to work well for things that you can do anyway using built in Windows system utilities - defragment discs and changing startup options etc.

The problems come when you try to use any of the advanced options. I experienced system lock ups on two pcs. The programs stopped running but refused to close - even with XP/Pro. I had to cold reboot. At my first chance, I deinstalled the system and sent it back to Iolo.

Don't be tempted. Stay away.

The only thing that saves this product is it's registry cleaner. If you need a firewall or spyware remover don't bother with these, try Webroot's Spyswepper or Norton's or McAfee's firewall.