System Mechanic 4 Professional Review Stop Viruses, Snoops, and Deleted-File Detectives Eric Grevstad
Mon 10/20/03 -- A year ago, we reviewed System Mechanic 3.7 from Iolo Technologies and called it a solid utility toolkit for power-user nerds, though lacking some PC-protection and -maintenance mainstays such as antivirus software, an online firewall, and a hard-disk defragmenter.
Call this review Revenge of the Nerds. While version 4 ($50) offers useful improvements, the new System Mechanic 4 Professional edition ($70) does what market leader Symantec still refuses to do with its overlapping Norton SystemWorks and Norton Internet Security bundles: give you PC housekeeping, optimization, antivirus, firewall, and other tools in one value-priced box (or 33.2MB download).
It still doesn't do anything you couldn't stitch together yourself by collecting a slew of shareware and freeware utilities, but System Mechanic 4 Pro offers a convenient, central control panel with set-and-forget scheduled maintenance, plus special emphasis on PC cleaning for neatniks and security buffs who want to keep their systems free of junk-file clutter and private-file or Internet-history evidence. With Norton Utilities going years without updating and, this year, adding annoying, Microsoft-style product activation, there's never been a better time to bet on the underdog.
No-Harassment Panda
By far the biggest boost to Iolo's value is the addition of Panda Antivirus Platinum 7.0, which combines antivirus and firewall protection (and which itself normally costs $70 with one year's virus-definition updates; Panda has announced but not yet shipped an updated 2004 edition at $80).
We don't have the sealed labs and vast, toxic libraries to rigorously test antivirus programs ourselves; some recent reviews we've read from those who do rate Panda at 100 percent for catching and killing bugs currently "in the wild," though dropping it into the 90s -- below the dominant duo of Norton and McAfee -- when thrown exotic bugs from the archives. However, one thing we like a lot is that Panda by default retrieves and installs new virus definitions every day, as soon as you log onto the Internet or boot up your broadband-connected PC; we don't know of a more convenient or frequent update against fast-spreading new strains.
And both the antivirus and firewall components are about as easy and unobtrusive as you'll find -- well, unobtrusive except for a few audio announcements like "Welcome to Panda Antivirus" or "Scan complete." While you can configure applications' firewall permissions manually, normally you'll just click to allow or deny access (either permanently or just this time) whenever a pop-up alerts you that a program is trying to link to the Internet.
Our cable-modem-equipped System Mechanic/Panda desktop stopped all of the Symantec site's port scans and firewall probes, and passed all of Gibson Research Corp.'s ShieldsUp tests except for the so far largely theoretical Windows Universal Plug 'n' Play port 5000 loophole, which you can disable with one of Gibson's free downloads. (The latter's Shoot the Messenger, which stops ByeByeAds.com and other Messenger Service pop-up spams, is a new discovery that we endorse heartily.)
Another System Mechanic 4 Pro newcomer finds and removes spyware programs, keystroke loggers, or other parasites that may be hiding on your hard disk, such as the Alexa marketing-info snoop it found on ours.
Oddly, the weakest link in the combo's online security proved to be the new pop-up ad blocker, which stopped a fair share but let through noticeably more Web pop-ups than either the free Google Toolbar or free version of Panicware's Pop-Up Stopper. And while Panda Platinum 7.0 provides e-mail virus protection, it has no junk mail or spam filter to match Norton Internet Security 2004's.
