15-Minute Reviews :: Advanced WindowsCare Professional v2.4.1.901

Hello everyone and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Advanced WindowsCare Professional version 2.4.1.901 by IObit.com – An application to aid in the protection from spyware and maintain you from various other issues.

A note: This will be a quick review as to time constraints on my behalf.

Software Description

As Giveaway of the Day states:

“Unleash the full power of your PC now. Advanced WindowsCare v2 Professional provides an Always-On and Automated, All-In-One PC Care Service with anti-spyware, privacy protection, performance tune-ups, and system cleaning features that find errors in your Windows OS that other utilities miss.

With our “Install It and Forget It” feature that works automatically and quietly in the background, you will keep your computer safe, error-free, and running at top speed. We highly recommended this program for your home and/or small business.

Advanced WindowsCare Professional, award-winning flagship product of IObit, is recommended most often by IT experts and editors around the world.”

Quick Pros

• It does set up a system restore point automatically before doing its thing as well as backs up at each stage
• Can review issues as it proceeds from step to step – Covers a lot of topics
• Spyware defense system which installs ‘dummies’ where spyware would normally reside
• Startup manager built-in
• Appears to do what it advertises; Did not break anything

Quick Cons

• Spyware defence can bloat your registry and drive usage
• A lot of changes to your system under system analysis may have undesired results for some
• Automated system could be a potential hazard
• Privacy sweep should really note that it does not clean everything

Expansion

This day and age, there is a lot to look out for when running your computer. Not only do you run the risk of being infected by a virus, but there is many other potentially-dangerous or system performance-affecting issues, such as spyware and adware, registry bloat, improperly set Windows settings and more. This application attempts to fill this market by providing not only a one-time scanning solution, but also services that regularily scan and correct issues. That said, as with any application which provides this service, I recommend doing your own backup in case the software does something to your system because of something gone wrong with your system which has not surfaced yet, or the software having a flaw.

Greatest part of this application is that does it not only seriously push you towards setting a system restore point for sheer level of protection (acknowledging that yes, the process may not be perfect – We will try to protect you in case we or your system messes up,) as well as automatic backup functions for each stage of the process (It is hidden to turn it off, a good thing for lite computer users.) Some other similar applications do not have any backup functionality, force you to opt-in for backup, or even discourage it (using statements telling you it will take longer.) This should be a requirement for any program such as this one.

A nice part of this application is that while it is scanning for issues, when it has completed one step, you can already begin reviewing that step while it continues on its way for any issues you may have with its choices. For those who are concerned about what it is altering and prefer to review it all before letting it go at it, it can be a time-saver for sure. It is a good thing too, the application does cover a fairly large number of services including spyware removal and defense, registry cleaning, system settings corrections, startup management, and privacy sweeping. With that said, the spyware defense system, by installing dummies in place of where the spyware would normally go should protect you from many spyware attacks; However, the issue is that it does install dummies into your registry and drives, which could slow up your system and possibly force other spyware applications to report false-positives.

When I ran the application, it ran smoothly. It scanned for spyware (It found the usual tracking cookies,) installed security defense, fixed up my registry (surprisingly, most of it came from my previous reviews leaving information in the registry,) tweaked some settings and cleaned up some of my privacy-related information. It all ran pretty well – A total of approximately 34000 changes (most of them being Security Defense) and they all appeared to be safe changes, not damaging anything on my system. I went through all the changes before proceeding as well this time, and nothing I could find was bad.

A few things I must note however. One, the System Analysis functionality should be carefully used. While it was safe for my system, it does want to change a lot of options, including internet-related, system related and so forth. I would recommend being careful with that option because there is a lot of settings there which may help some systems, some may find it may break a few things or alter functionality.

As well, while the application does have an automatic system for running itself on a schedule as well as Privacy Sweep on shutdown, this could be a recipe for disaster, since it is automatic. I would recommend turning at least the automatic care scheduling functionality – I feel that this does need a little more babysitting than an automated mode, even with its built-in backup functionality.

One major note should be made to those using the application besides making sure you back up yourself, should be that while the Privacy Sweep does clean up a lot, it does not clean all private information, only common locations of it. I have known people who have had false senses of security from similar applications that by running the application, all their private information is secure.

Final Verdict

As always, be very careful with any application which alters system files or registry entries; This one does both, and unfortunately it also offers an automated service as well. While it can help keep your system clean and zippy, it can also cause you a world of headaches if you’re not careful. If you do use an application such as this one, back up frequently. As a note; Any privacy-related application simply gives you a little better chance of losing information for some reason. It does not fully wipe all private information. With that said, I think this is the most comfortable I have felt with an application like this. While free, it would be great to pick up – Just heed my warning to back up. As for $29.95, it would not be a bad application for picking up either. It seems right around the right price-point for what it offers. If that is too much for you however, there is the alternative of the free version – It is not as feature-rich, but still helps.

Posted by BladedThoth on Monday, June 04, 2007