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1 stars
Version: System Mechanic 5.5a
"Good for BELOW average Users -- Otherwise AVOID IT!"
Pros: Great for BELOW-average NON-technical users who don't care about configuration options, performance or maintenance (like defragging for example). This is the program for you if all you want to do is install it and blindly follow what the "Guru's" suggest.
Cons: System Mechanic is NOT very in-depth with problem notifications. For example, if you have "unknown" registry entries you will be notified that certain registry values have been identified as "potentially harmfull" but will NOT be told what those values are. As far as EVER knowing specifically what a "potentially harmful registry entries" is you will need to know how to use something ELSE like "Regedit" (which is a Windows utility) to actually see those entries -- System Mechanic will NOT tell you!
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And forget it if you have an ATI TV card with PVR software functions that are loaded at Windows startup (mine is a ATI "HDTV Wonder" card). System Mechanic will disable your PVR functionality nearly every time it runs! I can't say about Hauppague or any of the others but if PVR functions are enabled on systems with those cards & software then I suspect System Mechanic will also "disable" those software PVR abilities too!
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For average to experienced users, you will NOT be happy with this. It's not very flexible with configuration options. It's also NOT specific enough with notifications when problems are "detected." The overall work that it does is good but if you are going to install it on your system then you are placing your system blindly in their/it's control (rather pompus if you ask me). General advice: AVOID THIS UNLESS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT PERFORMANCE, CONTROL OR SPECIFIC NOTIFICATIONS.
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