System Mechanic Professional - Up to 3 PCs

by IOLO Technologies

Product Features

• Makes your PC run like new again
• Fixes Registry errors, crashes & freezes
• Rids your PC of annoying pests
• Cleans up system-clogging clutter
• Boosts PC start time & web speed up to 300%

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00111BQ28
• Item model number: 8010354
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 10, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,590 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #19 in Software > Utilities > PC Maintenance
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

System Mechanic Professional - Fix and Speed Up Your PC...Automatically, PLUS Internet Security & More! System Mechanic Pro, the #1 best-selling and award-winning all-in-one PC Tune-up and security software, automatically repairs errors and fragmentation, cleans out clutter, exterminates viruses, spyware, and worms – and automatically tunes up your PC so that it runs smoothly, reliably, and up to 300% faster! 5 Award-Winning Products in One: iolo AntiVirus: Rids your PC of annoying pests. iolo Personal Firewall: Blocks internet hackers and thieves. Search and Recover: Undeletes files, photos, e-mail, music, & more. DriveScrubber: Securely wipes data from any drive or device. Boosts Speed - PCs slow down over time due to everyday use. Simple tasks start taking minutes...or hours to complete. Repairs Problems - With normal use PCs accumulate problems that cause annoying errors, crashes and freezes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Does not work with Vista!, July 21, 2008

By 

Ronald Gaillot "Geek" (Lower Burrell, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: System Mechanic Professional - Up to 3 PCs (CD-ROM)

I purchased version 7 Pro in early May '08, because of the special pricing and because it had a three PC license. I installed it on my primary machine - a Dell desktop running Windows Vista. It installed fine but I noticed the virus database was marked as outdated. I tried to do an update, and went through the motions - the program indicating that it had updated, but afterward still indicated that the database was over 400 days old (how do you get that outdated on a fresh install)!
I contacted Iolo and they told me to uninstall and re-install, which I attempted. This created another problem. I had a prior version of the included Search and Recover 4.0 already installed on my system, so I did not install this component. I was unable to re-install the SM Pro as long as this program was there. The problem was that I couldn't uninstall S&R using the uninstall on my machine.
I have been in constant contact with tech support but they have only sent links to FAQ's that I have already read. I even got a link for a free upgrade to version 8 but it wouldn't install either. I finally found a means to do a "clean uninstall" via registry editing. This also did not remove the iolo services from my machine. I found a tool from Microsoft to disable these two services. I now had a "clean" machine. I installed SM 8 Pro with no problems - until I tried to run it. None of the applications would work - they needed the ioloSystemService running. I click on the "start service" link under the advanced button of the service tab of task manager, but neither service will start (the other is called "ioloFileInfoList").
I have been continually contacting Iolo tech support with my findings and was upgraded on June 25th to their "senior tech staff". Since then I have not heard from tech support, even though I have continued sending information, requested support, opened new cases, etc. - no word from them.
As part of my experimentation, I installed version 7 on my laptop (running XP) and don't seem to be experiencing any issues. However, my laptop is a backup machine that I rarely use, so it is not a good indicator of how well the program runs.
All in all, I cannot recommend this program. It has definite issues under Vista, it is almost impossible to remove all vestiges of the program once installed, and their tech support is abysmal. I gave Iolo notice that if I don't get any more than an automated response to my last support request, I will be demanding a full refund. The program had great reviews, but if it doesn't work, then it's worthless.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I do not recommend: serious issues, January 13, 2009

By 

A Teacher (Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: System Mechanic Professional - Up to 3 PCs (CD-ROM)

This product is not good for the "experts" as they can do
most everything this product does manually, and perhaps they
do it using a safer approach.

This product is absolutely inappropriate for the novices and
beginners: the installation process will install everything
(e.g., main tools, firewall, etc), automates many of the
tasks, and essentially will take over, regularly
carrying tasks that are unnecessary, CPU-demanding,
and can cause many error prompts. Given the poor (and
essentially non-existing) customer services, the beginner user
will be on his/her own to uninstall, disable, or to live
with the annoying, and sometimes scary responses (e.g.,
indicators showing absolutely poor "health", "security"
and "overall" status).

Perhaps reasonably experienced users can selectively
install and run certain tasks, and take appropriate
precautions (e.g., do a backup of registry before running
the registry cleaner).

However there is a MAJOR problem with the above: if you
plan to do the above during a convenient time (e.g., when
you do not have access to the Internet and would like to do
some PC clean up and maintenance), you are out of luck as
you will get the following message:

"System Mechanic Professional was unable to connect to the
Internet. System Mechanic Professional must validate its
subscription information by communicating with iolo.com
over the Internet. Typical reason for this include the
following: A third-party firewall or Internet security
blocked ..."

In other words, you will have to have access to the
Internet in order to run this software. That is absolutely
unacceptable. Consider if your other software (e.g.,
Office, Adobe tools, editors, etc) would require the same.

Listen IOLO and System Mechanic "Professionals": If
your tools require Internet connection to work all
the time (i.e., after activation/registration), please
boldly inform the customer. It is rather unintelligent
to require access to Internet once the software has
been registered and activated (as IOLO requires both
of these); it renders the tool worthless.

Minor: every time I launched my version of System Mechanic
Professional (version 8.5.1), it showed the following
"Hints and Tips Today": Send System Mechanic to a friend:
Send a Gift Now.
~

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars System Mechanic 7 = Malware!, September 1, 2008

By 

A. Yeomans - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: System Mechanic Professional - Up to 3 PCs (CD-ROM)

This product was purchased on Aug 31st, 2008 to be installed on a brand new HP Pavilion TX2510US notebook purchased on Aug 21st, 2008. Like a fool I bought this product again from iolo technologies on another laptop and it destroyed the Operating System. Thinking they would have fixed the bugs on System Mechanic Pro I figured I'd give this company another chance. Big Big mistake! Upon reboot after install the software corrupted my Windows Vista boot sector, so bad that I am now unable to even do an F11 System Restore. Spent over an hour with HP live support chat to get this fixed (no resolve). Iolo Technologies falsely advertises in the package they have 24 hour support (lies, lies, lies!) Shame on Iolo for misleading the consumer into believing when their product destroys any computer system there will be a technician to assist. Called the number which is not toll free and went on their website. All you will get is a recording on the number after business hours, holidays and weekends!!!! On the website which is allegedly the 24 hour support, all you get is a link to create a trouble ticket and they will get back to you later!!!!

If you value using your system, DO NOT PURCHASE IOLO'S SYSTEM MECHANIC PRODUCT, it will destroy your Windows Vista Operating System!!! I now have a $1,099.99 doorstop thanks to Iolo Technologies. To even make matters worse, I needed this system for a business trip the day after Labor Day. A $40.00 purchase destroyed my HP Pavilion Notebook!!!!!!!

Arch Yeomans