System Mechanic Free

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on November 28, 2012

System Mechanic Free from Iolo Systems is a stripped-down version of much more comprehensive premium tool. However, it offers good basic cleaning and optimizing for Windows systems with seven primary tools: PC Cleanup, Registry Tuner, Startup Optimizer, Memory Mechanic, Drive Accelerator, Shortcut Repair, and Internet Connection Repair. It can back up and save Registry settings and Undo changes with its SafetyNet feature.

When you install System Mechanic, you have the option to install the full or free version; we chose the freeware. But we still had to provide our e-mail address to receive an activation key for the free version. The installation process also involved selecting our Internet connection and an optional PC health desktop gadget. System Mechanic's dashboard-style user interface is slick and up-to-date yet includes some features that require upgrading to the full version, which can be a bit confusing. As always with such tools, the place to start is with a system scan. System Mechanic found problems in three areas, with three additional recommendations. We opened the detailed information, which included some Registry junk, plus a Registry backup. The recommendations involved cleaning up the startup menu and two more options that required upgrading to the paid version. We could repair all problems or selected problems at once, or run each tool individually; we chose the latter option for our first run. The Startup Organizer tool stood out as offering more information than similar tools for helping users decide which programs don't need to run on startup. Once we'd updated the Tune-Up definitions, we ran the Deep Scan (skipping the hard drive error check) and also the clutter remover. The program's IntelliStatus Report feature showed our drives and RAM with optimization choices.

System Mechanic Free delivers on its promise of good, basic system maintenance. Whether you run the one-click feature or individual tools, it can safely clean, tune, and tweak your PC. The full version offers quite a lot more than the freeware, so if you like System Mechanic Free but need more tools, it's certainly worth checking out. But the free version will be a welcome addition to many systems.

System Mechanic - Clean, optimize, and speed up your PC - Download Video Previews:

Publisher's Description

From iolo technologies:

System Mechanic Free keeps your PC running at peak performance and stability with advanced PC tune-up, repair and maintenance features. Using 7 safe and effective tools, its exclusive patented technology fixes registry errors, defrags hard drives, cleans up junk files, accelerates downloads, boosts Windows speed, and ensures maximum ongoing system stability. Consistently top-rated since 1998, this award-winning performance solution is trusted by over 40 million people to keep over 80 million PCs worldwide problem-free and running like new.

System Mechanic Free delivers 7 essential features that enable you to automatically resolve errors, slowdowns and crashes: Registry Tuner: A safe, effective, and highly advanced problem solver and error repair tool, Registry Tuner diagnoses and resolves the most common root causes of mysterious freezes, slowdowns, and crashes. Startup Optimizer: Automatically eliminates startup bottlenecks that choke the life out of a PC and make Windows take ages to start. Supercharges boot-times and frees up resources for improved overall performance. Memory Mechanic: Reclaims RAM orphaned by memory leaks and sloppy programs for an instant speed boost. Optimizes and defragments memory for snappier programs, downloads, and gaming experience. PC Cleanup: Performs a system-wide scan for junk and obsolete files left over from messy programs and unexpected restarts. Safely cleans out hazardous system-clogging clutter that accumulates over time through everyday use. Drive Accelerator: Performs advanced hard drive defragmentation for accelerated Windows load times, program startup, and overall system speed. Shortcut Repair: Finds and automatically fixes broken or corrupted Windows shortcut icons that can represent the root of frustrating problems on an otherwise stable PC. Internet Connection Repair: Automatically heals broken and chronically unstable internet connections to get you back online and keep you connected when you most need to be.

What's new in this version: Version 11.7.0.15 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.