Does anyone have experience with iolo System Mechanic? Words of advice?

Hello, I'm a newbie and a poorly educated one at that. Though I am young my experience with personal computers in general can be limited to the past five years of my life and it hasn't been the most joyful one at times. But I am hoping to learn from this community and make my future ventures in technology wiser. I'm starting with this topic since I haven't been able to find much information on my own.
I purchased iolo System Mechanic Professional through Dell at a vulnerable time when my XPS 1330 was dying and was told it would keep my laptop safer than anything else. Foolishly I bought the three year, three computer subscription, and at first I was pleased with it. The program seemed independent, easy and smooth functioning, perfect for a novice. Of course after the month long refund period I begin experiencing issues.
System Mechanic 9, 10, and now version 11 have at times randomly stopped working at times, giving my error messages about not being able to start Systemservice when I manually try to open them. This has occurred every few months, and iolo's solution has always been to remove and reinstall the program. This is bad within itself, but the fact that I receive NO Warning when the program quits results in the disaster of me running around without antivirus until I realize it's dead and I'm infected. Thus I have to go through virus removal as well, praying my computers won't fry. I am a book writer and a digital artist so this is a real nightmare every time.
This time I have removed it from my main laptop and installed AVG temporarily. After nearly a year of using it I am not sure of whether it is worth the risk to reinstall, despite losing $200 on it. I'm not sure if the problem is me or the program, and am considering buying another kind of antivirus. If someone else knows anything about System Mechanic and whether I should continue using it I would greatly appreciate your advice on what I should do next.

Get Rid of it ASAP!
 
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It doesn't sound like you realize that System Mechanic is NOT a security program!
You need an antivirus program, a firewall and 2 or more antimalware programs to protect your system. A serious rootkit infection can 'trash' your system- System Mechanic won't fix it!

It is not in your best interest to ever commit to any software program for multiple years and multiple computers before you have used the program and evaluated it for your needs.

I don't like to have anyone lose money, but in this case, it may actually be the most valuable loss you have. In my opinion, having a program like this, should not be in the hands of a newbie> because:


You do not tell us which operating system you have, but most if not all of the 'mechanics' can be handled from within the OS itself>

Can you tell me please:
Why did you get this program?
What features were you counting on that you were willing to spend so much without trying the program first?

All of the software 'mechanic' programs have a registry cleaner. And if you read the literature, the company will assure you that running this will resolve most problems. Not so. Most of us don't recommend registry cleaners to anyone- the risk far outweighs and small benefit you may get.

My words of advice? Get the security programs on the system first. System Mechanic? Define what it will do for the system that you can't do yourself. If you decide to keep it, spend time learning how to make those features work for you.
Yes System Mechanic does have a security program with it. In the 12.5 version System Mechanic pro has System Shield AntiVirus and AntiSpyware included. Although it is a crude and almost antiquated system it is a security program. That is what the guy was talking abou
It doesn't sound like you realize that System Mechanic is NOT a security program!
You need an antivirus program, a firewall and 2 or more antimalware programs to protect your system. A serious rootkit infection can 'trash' your system- System Mechanic won't fix it!

It is not in your best interest to ever commit to any software program for multiple years and multiple computers before you have used the program and evaluated it for your needs.

I don't like to have anyone lose money, but in this case, it may actually be the most valuable loss you have. In my opinion, having a program like this, should not be in the hands of a newbie> because:


You do not tell us which operating system you have, but most if not all of the 'mechanics' can be handled from within the OS itself>

Can you tell me please:
Why did you get this program?
What features were you counting on that you were willing to spend so much without trying the program first?

All of the software 'mechanic' programs have a registry cleaner. And if you read the literature, the company will assure you that running this will resolve most problems. Not so. Most of us don't recommend registry cleaners to anyone- the risk far outweighs and small benefit you may get.

My words of advice? Get the security programs on the system first. System Mechanic? Define what it will do for the system that you can't do yourself. If you decide to keep it, spend time learning how to make those features work for you.
First of all System Mechanic does have a security system, it's called system shield. It is not the best and I would not recommend it to my worst enemy but it is a crude security system. And to the person who opened this discussion originally, You got ripped off when you paid what was it $200 for three years. I have System Mechanic pro ( don't use the System Shield at all) And have paid no more than about $20 to $25 dollars a year for it. With System Mechanic I have Kaspersky for a system security app. These two programs work really well and as long as I do install the system shield part of system mechanic there is no conflict between to anti-virus programs going on. My advice to you is if you don't know anything about what your doing ask first before you take action you will get better results that way. Good luck.
 
I strongly advise against using System Mechanic due to its uncanny ability to wreak havoc on your system. From my experience with product, Version 12's registry cleaner would wipe out all user accounts if you ran it. Version14.5 provides even better surprises. After upgrading, I ran the suite of repair functions the program recommended to fix the problems it detected. Well it did do a thorough job of removing the problems, but probably not the way its designers planned, because it wiped out all the files on the drive as well as the Master Boot Record. No apologies from Iolo, and definitely no refund of remaining licensing fees. It might work for you but do you want to take the chance?
 
This is how Dell make a lot of money by getting the general public to buy crap software. These companies can sucker you in. Which they do if you don't know about computers or software. It's sad that these companies do these shady sales tactics cause they most know that the software is crap but because it's not their own software they DO NOT care. They just want the money from the deal they have with iolo.

I have never ever paid for anti virus. EVER. I either never used it or it was given to me from a provider. One of my first was F Secure, pos software. All it ever did was slow my system down. Soon as I removed it, computer was fast again. Norton and Mcafee 2 of the worst anti virus companies. They just suck imo, couldn't stop anything.
I did use a cooperate edition of Symantec which was awesome but after a few years it went away do to job change. Symantec's non corp edition, never have liked, never worked as good. I know Symantec own McAfee now.

Since 2010, I have used Windows Security Essentials and 2 other malware programs. Malwarebytes and Super Malwarebytes. I use Windows Firewall and have a router with a firewall. I don't get many issues but I also don't run around on the net either.
I have also and do use from time to time, rkill/iexplorer. I have used those on computers like my sons and a friends computer to kill any virus that may be there or gets rid of pop viruses.
 
Hello, I'm a newbie and a poorly educated one at that. Though I am young my experience with personal computers in general can be limited to the past five years of my life and it hasn't been the most joyful one at times. But I am hoping to learn from this community and make my future ventures in technology wiser. I'm starting with this topic since I haven't been able to find much information on my own.
I purchased iolo System Mechanic Professional through Dell at a vulnerable time when my XPS 1330 was dying and was told it would keep my laptop safer than anything else. Foolishly I bought the three year, three computer subscription, and at first I was pleased with it. The program seemed independent, easy and smooth functioning, perfect for a novice. Of course after the month long refund period I begin experiencing issues.
System Mechanic 9, 10, and now version 11 have at times randomly stopped working at times, giving my error messages about not being able to start Systemservice when I manually try to open them. This has occurred every few months, and iolo's solution has always been to remove and reinstall the program. This is bad within itself, but the fact that I receive NO Warning when the program quits results in the disaster of me running around without antivirus until I realize it's dead and I'm infected. Thus I have to go through virus removal as well, praying my computers won't fry. I am a book writer and a digital artist so this is a real nightmare every time.
This time I have removed it from my main laptop and installed AVG temporarily. After nearly a year of using it I am not sure of whether it is worth the risk to reinstall, despite losing $200 on it. I'm not sure if the problem is me or the program, and am considering buying another kind of antivirus. If someone else knows anything about System Mechanic and whether I should continue using it I would greatly appreciate your advice on what I should do next.
 
IOLO System Mechanic. I have been using various forms of this for the past 10 years. I have tried other programs for cleaning computers and some are blatantly false rubbish programs that look like they are working but just a scam. I keep coming back to IOLO System Mechanic. It does a fair job at cleaning the registry and hard drive. The latest version also has Antivirus. It updates itself frequently. Warns of Websites listed as dangerous, downloads hat contain Malware. At the time of this posting I am using version 12.09. I am very satisfied with it. I have not had any computer issues at all, My Dell Inspiron Laptop is running great and my gaming Tower is fine with no glitches. Fast boot times 80 seconds. For once, best money Ive spent.
 
IOLO System Mechanic. I have been using various forms of this for the past 10 years. I have tried other programs for cleaning computers and some are blatantly false rubbish programs that look like they are working but just a scam. I keep coming back to IOLO System Mechanic. It does a fair job at cleaning the registry and hard drive. The latest version also has Antivirus. It updates itself frequently. Warns of Websites listed as dangerous, downloads hat contain Malware. At the time of this posting I am using version 12.09. I am very satisfied with it. I have not had any computer issues at all, My Dell Inspiron Laptop is running great and my gaming Tower is fine with no glitches. Fast boot times 80 seconds. For once, best money Ive spent.
I'd still dump it & go with free programs here https://www.techspot.com/downloads/security/
Namely Avast,SpywareBlaster,SUPERAntiSpyware & of course M-bam (Malwarebytes.
Been using them for years & 1000% happy.
 
Is it so good that it's worth paying an annual subscription when you have excellent free pick and mix options.? Clearly you have to tell yourself that yes it is. I felt the same way about Spyware Doctor then I realised it was no longer up with the competition and it was time to cancel the automatic renewal. My computer speeded up as a result.
 
Ah, system mechanic. I recall the days of working for Dell - and seeing both it and our lightly skinned version of it frequently pushed by our wildly unscrupulous coworkers overseas.

It's useless. Entirely. It doesn't do a single damn thing. It won't fix your computer, it won't stop a virus, it won't raise the dead. All it'll do is waste your dollars - which is just what those lovely overseas agents on the phone are great at. Lying to you that a laptop's piezoelectric song of hard drive failure is a virus, billing you hundreds of dollars, and thrusting you on to some helpless, minimum wage contract employee for help.

Return it if you can, chargeback it if you can't. That software is a scam, son.
 
I purchased the trial version which seemed to work OK ($5) and then purchased the CD Systems Mechanic full version. I found to my surprise that it freezes up my PC so I have to manually shut it down and then restart it (on/off button). I use Mozilla Firefox, and the fox freezes up, so I am stuck in limbo. I DON'T RECOMMEND IOLO SYSTEM MECHANIC. I complained to Iolo. I didn't get an answer. I didn't get my money back.
suz.
 
I have just uninstalled System Mechanic Pro because it kept switching the spyware shield on even though I kept switching off and in spite of researching it seemed to be impossible to find a way to switch it off without SMP switching it on again. Also I didn't like the way it kept emptying my recyling bin. I mean what's the point of having one? Memory is hardly that expensive that it's not economical to have a recycling bin. Even though at first it seemed to be an excellent program, I got really annoyed with it in the end and was glad to get rid of it.
 
Ah, system mechanic. I recall the days of working for Dell - and seeing both it and our lightly skinned version of it frequently pushed by our wildly unscrupulous coworkers overseas.

It's useless. Entirely. It doesn't do a single damn thing. It won't fix your computer, it won't stop a virus, it won't raise the dead. All it'll do is waste your dollars - which is just what those lovely overseas agents on the phone are great at. Lying to you that a laptop's piezoelectric song of hard drive failure is a virus, billing you hundreds of dollars, and thrusting you on to some helpless, minimum wage contract employee for help.

Return it if you can, chargeback it if you can't. That software is a scam, son.


Classic ransomware by the sounds of it. Hint: stay away from ALL "system optimizers", because they are all garbage 100%.
 
I think your best option would be to get a qualified computer engineer to look at this and get them to repair it, rather than trying to go through the process with iolo.

My experience with iolo support tends to be they will take a long time to respond, and they won't fully answer the question that you ask. It's no wonder they don't have a support forum or people would constantly be pointing out the flaws/fraud in their software.
 
It's rubbish and an excellent money maker ...at best it will slow your PC to a halt at the worst you will lose all confidence in the logo of Microsoft that they use .put it down to experience you won't get your money back .
 
System Mechanic came pre-installed on my Dell Inspirion 15, so I thought it would be magical. For the first few months it seemed okay, then I started getting stalls, boggy performance, false error messages, and it kept getting worse so I finally uninstalled it, and performance has been greatly improved ever since.
 
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