Back then we liked the cloud based community rating system that made it a lot easier to distinguish between applications in good standing with the community and those that received unwanted or even dangerous ratings.

This rating system has been improved in recent versions, giving SlimCleaner users now options to read all user comments and reviews from within the software. To make it even easier and better, reasons to keep or to remove are listed next to possible software alternatives.

This rating and suggestion system is one of the most powerful ones that I have seen today in a software program.

But that’s not the only new feature the developers have added to the program. The Browsers category is now listing useful information about Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. Here it is possible to change each browser’s homepage and default search provider, list extensions, plugins or toolbars along with community ratings.

Not all information were displayed correctly at the time of writing. No extension were for instance displayed for Firefox or Opera.

The idea however is excellent. Display extensions and plugins for all popular browsers along with community ratings and options to delete or restore them. This is going to be a great feature once it is working properly.

Other program features have not been updated that much, but that was not really that necessary either as they offered great value already.

Cleaner for instance offers to clean temporary files and information from Windows, applications, browsers and other locations (like the Registry).

Optimize uses the power of the community rating system to offer advise on startup items and services. And while the suggested action does not necessarily have to be the best for the individual user, they offer guidance for users who do not know if they autostart services or applications with Windows.

Hijack Log displays startup, toolbar BHO and ActiveX items again with community ratings, and an expert mode to display additional information.

Shredder finally can be used to remove files permanently from the system using various algorithms.

Interested users can download the latest version of SlimCleaner from the developer website. It is recommended to pay attention to the program installation process to avoid installation third party programs that you may not want or need.

The clean looking interface displays the four core modules, and the PC health status in the footer area on the screen.

The program recommends to run the deep care module first to tune-up the PC right away. Deep Care basically is a set of optimizations the program performs, from defragmenting the Registry to fixing vulnerabilities and optimizing the system configuration.

Unlike other tool collections who do not give you a say in what to run and what not, Advanced SystemCare gives you the option to run all, only select or even none of the modules (which would not make a lot of sense).

Scans take anywhere from one or two minutes to ten or more, depending on the PC. Results are displayed for each scan individually, with options to display details for all issues that have been found. It is recommended to look at the details before running the optimization to avoid issues later on.

Here is a list of all Deep Care modules:

• Full Malware Removal – Scans the system for spyware and security threats.
• Deep Registry Fix – Scans the Registry for errors, broken links and other issues.
• Registry Defrag – Optimizes the Registry to speed up system start.
• System Optimization – Optimizes select system parameters to speed up the PC.
• Startup Optimization – Optimizes and delays startup items to speed up the start of the computer.
• Shortcut Fix – Fixes or removes broken and invalid shortcuts.
• Privacy Sweep – Deletes web browser, Windows and third party application history information from the PC. Supports Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Opera, as well as
• Junk Files Clean – Deletes temporary files that are not longer need to free up disk space.
• Security Defense – Offers to block known, malicious or unwanted websites, cookies and ActiveX-based spyware.
• Disc Scan – Scans the hard drives for disk errors and attempts to fix them.
• Vulnerability Fix – Checks for vulnerabilities, e.g. security patches that have not been installed – and prompts to install them.
• Disk Defragment – A defragmentation tool. Advanced SystemCare blocks the defragmentation tool from running on Solid State Drives, a fragmentation scan is however still performed on those drives.

Advanced SystemCare Pro 5 creates a backup before it performs the selected actions. It is therefor always possible to restore the system if issues are encountered afterwards.

The Quick Care module runs only some of the scans that Deep Scan offers. The optimizations are configured to run automatically when the system is idle and on log on. The parameters can be changed in the options, for instance to only run select modules automatically or none at all.

New users should look at the – extensive – program settings. Every Deep Care and Quick Care module comes with its own set of options. Privacy Sweep for instance displays additional objects that can be removed when the module is run. It is on the other hand also possible to exclude a browser or program for the cleanup.

Turbo Boost is the third module. Two modes are offered here: Work Mode boosts the computer for better work experience while game mode does the same for a better gaming experience. Advanced SystemCare Pro suggests to turn of system services, background applications and to switch to a basic theme when either mode is activated. It offers suggestions on what to deactivate, but gives the user the last word for all operations.

Even better, it only takes one click to restore the previous system state to leave work or game mode again.

Toolbox

The Toolbox is a collection of system tools divided into the five groups Clean, Optimize, Repair, Security and Control.

Some tools, like Privacy Sweeper or Registry Cleaner, feel like advanced versions of the tools used by the Quick and Deep Scan modules. But there are other tools available that are not used by those modules. This includes IOBit Uninstaller to remove programs and run a scan for leftovers, the File Shredder to permanently delete files on the system or Driver Manager to update, backup and restore system drivers.

Those tools add lots of value to the program. Tools like System Control offer a surprisingly large amount of options to the user. It may look like the average run of the mill tweaking tool on first glance, which changes once you click on one of the entries there. Firefox users can for instance modify the browsers tab width and close tab button position there.

Interested users can download the free version of Advanced SystemCare right away to test the program’s functionality. Keep in mind that the program tries to install the IOBit Toolbar during installation.

Verdict

Advanced SystemCare Pro 5 is an all-in-one stop for all system maintenance needs. It combines the functionality of popular one-purpose tools such as Revo Uninstaller or CCleaner in an easy to use program interface.

Explanations and recommendations are provided, and backups are created so that it is always possible to restore the system to a previous state if a tweak or optimization does not turn out as it it should have.

Giveaway

We have 20 Advanced SystemCare Pro 5 licenses that we would like to give away. Leave a comment below to take part in the draw. Winners will be announced on our Facebook and Google Plus pages.

Defragmentation works by moving fragmented files into one continuous block, thus freeing up available physical memory. Smart Defrag is a freeware application by IObit, and software from IObit is impressive in general. Smart defrag analyzes a hard disk much more rapidly than you would expect and defragmentation completes quickly. The interface is a sleek and friendly, offering Auto Defragmentation to top things off.

Since fragmentation is occurring constantly, it is important to defragment your computer’s hard drive(s) on a regular basis. The interface is easy to use and the application will defrag your files system while your computer is idle and maintain optimal disk performance at all times.

On a PC that has never been defragmented, a significant amount of memory is unnecessarily occupied by fragmented files and this can slow down performance while blocking hard drive sectors from being usable. In this case, you will see a significant amount of fragmented blocks colored in red on the interface during analysis and the process will take longer to complete, but it is well worth the wait. A large amount of physical memory can be restored. For those of us who run a good defragmentation application regularly, there is little fragmentation at all and is much easier to sort out.

The Auto Defragmentation is a set it and forget it feature so you don’t have to be concerned anymore about cumulative fragmentation. Smart defrag does not run constantly in the background, as this would damage the hard drive over time. Instead, it has a “Safe Intelligence that decides when and how to start defragmentation. This feature also has an interesting interface that shows you the results of continued performance over time. The percentage of fragmented space is indication as well and there is a CPU meter built in.

Upon completion of defragmentation, Smart Defrag clearly .displays the amount of fragmented space before and after the operation is completed while indicating the number of defragmented files and directories. It does a better job than most other similar applications and this is apparent from the first use.

You can set Boot time defragmentation in addition to the Automatic feature. For the average user, this is usually not as essential as it is for those geeks among us who just have to install software and test it out and often we end up uninstalling it anyway. This leaves quite a mess and Smart Defrag is ideal for you to try out if you are frequently making changes to programs. It is designed for modern, large hard drives and, as a result, eliminates long waiting times without occupying too excessive resources and none of your files are ever harmed.

Enter SlimComputer, a free program that aids everyone in improving the performance of the Windows operating system. The program concentrates on removing software and disabling services to improve performance. Software in this regard includes trials and toolbars among others.

The program displays its main screen on startup. Here you can select the items that you want scanned on your computer. All are pre-selected by default and all you need to do is to click on the Run Scan button to scan the PC.

The results are displayed in a tabbed interface. Available for selection are Applications, Toolbars, Startup Items and Shortcuts, but only if items have been found during the scan that may be removed.

It is here that users come into contact with the program’s rating system. All users are allowed to rate programs on their computers. These ratings are accumulated and used in the program’s scan of the computer.

Ratings range from unwanted (red) to good (green). This plays right into the scanner threshold that users need to configure on first startup. It is always possible to change the threshold in the settings.

Applications, toolbars, startup items and shortcuts can be selected for removal. This triggers the default Windows uninstaller in the case of installed software.

SlimComputer creates restore points for uninstalled programs and changes that are made to the system so that they can be restored at a later point in time.

The program displayed three Security Updates for Microsoft .NET under Applications which should not be removed, obviously. Not sure if it is an oversight or one of the negative sides of a user based rating system.

The second feature of the program is its Optimizer. It uses the same rating system for all startup items so that it is relatively easy to optimize Windows based on the suggestions. It is still necessary to look at each item before it is removed, considering that what others may not want in their startup may be what you need after system start.

Services, strangely, are not making use of ratings. Two buttons are provided in the menu to restore the original settings and to super charge the services. There is no information on screen that explains what super charging the services does. It is likely that it will disable services that are not needed by the majority of users. A third button is available to undo the optimizations.

The third feature is an uninstaller. It taps into the standard Windows Uninstaller but displays ratings for all items on screen, which can be very helpful for users to determine if an application is unwanted by the majority of users.

All items have a more info button next to them which displays an items popularity, ratings in detail, description, comments and company or developer. These more info links are available in all listings.

There is also a Windows Tools section that links directly to Windows system tools like System Restore, Security, Hard Disk Manager or the Registry Editor.

It is possible to add a public VirusTotal API key to the program which then enables a virus scanning feature.

SlimComputer’s biggest advantage is the rating system which aids users in the decision making process. It is on the other hand not enough to rely on that solely, considering that it is user based and may offer suggestions that are erroneous at worst.

The PC optimizer is compatible with all 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. Additional information and downloads are offered at the developer website.

The program is developed by the same company that has created the driver updater Slimdrivers and the PC maintenance software SlimCleaner.

Besides that quick maintenance mode it also comes with lots of additional modules that are divided up into the five categories Clean Up & Repair, Optimize & Improve, Privacy & Security, Files & Folders and System Tools. All of them with three to four modules that start various tools to maintain the operating system.

The Privacy & Security category for example contains a Tracks Eraser, File Shredder, File Undelete and File Encryption / Decryption tool. Having said that it should be obvious that the software combines the features of various popular utilities in one application. While it can replace many applications it does not come close to some of the top applications in their fields. Taking Eraser for example. Eraser lets users deleted unused hard drive space so that the data cannot be recovered anymore. Glary Utilities on the other hand can only delete files so that they cannot be restored anymore.

Glary Utilities provides many tools that can be used for system maintenance. It provides access to the tools in a clean interface and could be worthwhile to test for users who love all in one tools instead of specialized tools.