It's easy to use, and it's a very useful way to keep your drivers up to date. If just want that sole feature, check out the Editors' Choice award-winning IObit Driver Booster Pro. In addition, many of the utilities automatically fetch new drivers so that your hardware runs at peak performance. And KromTech PC Keeper Live has the unique Find & Fix option, which is an inbox where Microsoft-certified specialists leave improvement notes after you've run the utility.

SlimWare Utilities SlimCleaner has Instant Alerts, tools that leverage community recommendations to notify you that unwanted software, such as a toolbar that came packaged with an application, tries to insert itself into the boot process. AVG TuneUp, for example, offers multi-platform protection with a suite that includes Android, Mac, and Windows tools. The previously mentioned features are par for the tune-up utility course, but a few of the category's top tools contain standout components that aren't commonplace in the space-at least not yet. The other common features found in tune-up utilities include file shredders (for thoroughly deleting hard drive data), scheduling (for setting specific times to run tune-up sessions), and automatic backup (to safeguard your system data from file and system mishaps). Both let you clean as many computers as you'd like. That's why you should look for a paid tune-up utility with no installation limitations, such as Comodo PC Tuneup or AVG TuneUp. To be fair, many companies offer multi-license packages, but they can prove pricey, too. That's fine if you own a single computer, but in the age of multi-computer households, the license costs can put a dent in your wallet. Starting prices for tune-up utilities typically grant one license per purchase, which means you're allowed to install the software on one PC. There are even a handful of free tune-up utilities that typically contain less features than their premium counterparts. The subscription-based services can be had for roughly $20 to $50 per year. Sounds pretty good, right? It is! And, thankfully, you won't spend a small fortune to begin the PC clean up process. SlimWare Utilities SlimCleaner Plus troubleshoots your computer's start up process, helping you to remove apps that don't really need to be there that are slowing down your boot time. Some tune-up utilities perform just those basic functions, while more elaborate ones add numerous features that improve your computer in interesting ways.įor example, Iolo System Mechanic-a PCMag Editors' Choice for paid tune-up suites-cleaned our gunked-up test bed with its real-time system monitoring and Commonly Redundant or Unnecessary Decelerators and Destabilizers (CRUDD) Remover.

It performs several functions, including defragmenting your PC's hard drive, repairing the incredibly problematic Windows Registry, and freeing up disk space by deleting useless and duplicate files. What Is a Tune-Up Utility?Ī PC tune-up utility is an application that digs deep into your computer and fixes trouble areas. Instead, you can get often that fresh-out-the-box performance for tens of dollars-instead hundreds or even thousands-thanks to a relatively inexpensive tool: the PC tune-up utility. But that's a drastic solution, and one that's frequently unnecessary. When our machines become so impaired through use and neglect that we can no longer use Microsoft Word or play PC games with the same speed and efficiency to which we have become accustomed, we often ponder buying new computers. It doesn't matter how diligent you are, or what sort of productivity software you use to get the most out of your time if end up sitting around and waiting for your computer to catch up to you. Toolbars and other nasty plug-ins can precipitously slow our browsers to a crawl. Outdated drivers cease to work correctly. Eventually, our full hard drives choke the OS as it tries to run. Programs build up enormous caches behind the scenes that we don't even know about. Their hard drives fill up with forgotten files we've abandoned in folders whose existence we've forgotten. The operating system gets gunked up as apps are added and incompletely deleted, leaving behind drivers and all sorts of other system detritus.

Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security SoftwareĪll computers eventually lose that day-one luster, becoming lethargic, unresponsive, and even unreliable.

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