Recommend Advanced System Care?

Topic

New Reply

Can anyone recommend Advanced System Care as a general cleanup tool?

Reply | Quote

Replies

Why would you need something like that? I stay away from all such cleaners, optimizers, speed and performance enhancers. They are the snake oil of computer software.

Reply | Quote

Hi Rui

I chap that does my IT support recommended Advanced System Care based on an article he read in a PC Magazine. I was skeptical hence my reason for posting on this forum

Howard

Reply | Quote

I think those things are dangerous, to be honest. I would never use one of those. If you want something, some Lounge members use CCleaner, so that probably is the less dangerous of them all, but I will still not use it except in case something goes terribly bad.

Reply | Quote

I have enough stuff from “CHINA” already. It is tooo hard to get around not buying things from china, so when I can I will
not buy from them, this program is 1 to stay away from, (Advanced System Care).

Reply | Quote

I, for one, can recommend it very highly. I’ve been using it for over a year, since version 5. It’s now up to version 7. I have the Pro version, but I’ve used the Free version and it is excellent also.

I use only these features (but many more are available at your discretion): Malware Removal, Internet Booster, Security Defense, Vulnerability Fix, System Optimization, and Disk Scan. All of these, except the Internet Booster option, are available in the Free version.

It is the most well-behaved of all the “system care” programs I’ve tried.

Frank D

Reply | Quote

I, for one, can recommend it very highly. I’ve been using it for over a year, since version 5. It’s now up to version 7. I have the Pro version, but I’ve used the Free version and it is excellent also.

I use only these features (but many more are available at your discretion): Malware Removal, Internet Booster, Security Defense, Vulnerability Fix, System Optimization, and Disk Scan. All of these, except the Internet Booster option, are available in the Free version.

It is the most well-behaved of all the “system care” programs I’ve tried.

Frank D

Thanks for offering your experience, Frank :).

Reply | Quote

In the right hands, it can be a great tool to use. In inexperienced ones, ASC can torch a Windows install, as by default the registry cleaner is overly aggressive. Yes, ASC does rate the potential damage of repairing these entries, but too many 1st time, inexperienced at these operations, blindly clicks the “Repair All” or similar worded click tab & the damage is done. I once had the Pro version of ASC, won a copy on another forum, but since has been uninstalled. The scans for errors would lead one to believe my computer was about to crash at any time, though it was running fine then & still is w/o it.

It does perform a backup prior to cleaning, but if the wrong key or critical file is deleted, then Windows may not reboot. Then the user may have to boot into Safe Mode (if that’s possible) to undo the damage.

I’m not going on a limb & state the software is useless, but a full system backup should be made prior to running ASC (whether or not the computer is running properly) to at least guarantee one can get back to the point before it’s ran. Also, visually check at what’s going to be repaired. Backups should be regularly made anyway, we shouldn’t have to be even discussing backup so much, but many of the topics created on these tech forums are due to the non-creation of images.

CCleaner is a safer alternative & is considered by many to be “disk cleanup on steroids”. There is also a registry cleaner in that app, one should create a folder (preferable on a Data partition or Flash drive, or both) labeled “CCleaner Registry Backups”, followed by the OS install name/PC model if more than one computer or dual boot is used. CCleaner offers the option of backing up the entries, point it to the created folder. That folder than then be copied to a Flash drive/other external for safekeeping.

As far as these all-in-one cleaners/tune up suites goes, anyone can download a random pick of the many offered. All will show lots of “needed” repairs, even if a similar utility was just ran. Some are just outright snake oil & can install spy/malware on the computer. My personal opinion is that the average computer owner doesn’t need these, unless recommended by someone reputable (verifiable) whom knows what they’re doing. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

Just my two cents worth.

Cat

Reply | Quote

CCleaner is a superior alternative. Over the last 86 years or more i’ve used CCleaner on a variety of desktop computers and laptops, and it has yet to cause any damage. (If you don’t want your internet browsing history or cookies removed then don’t run any of these cleaners!) When you run CCleaner’s Registry scanner it always offers to create a backup copy of the Registry in your My Documents folder before it removes/cleans unnecessary/leftover Registry entries. Each Registry backup copy is identifiable by the inclusion of year/month/date in its name. Other Registry cleaners may go deeper and remove more, but that is where problems begin. CCleaner is an effective, trustworthy program in my experience.

Reply | Quote

CCleaner is a superior alternative. Over the last 86 years or more i’ve used CCleaner on a variety of desktop computers and laptops, and it has yet to cause any damage.

I like CCleaner too but I don’t think it’s been available for “86 years or more” :rolleyes:

Bill

Reply | Quote

I have used the free version of ASC for many years and have been VERY satisfied. Consistent with the above thread, one feature I like allows me to to turn off the “privacy sweep” that protects all my website logins — something I could never find on CCleaner.

Reply | Quote

CCleaner and ASC are the only system maintenance tools that I trust. I have never had any trouble of any sort with either, no system boot or other corruption, and they both do a good job on keeping the system tidy and removing the excess temporary files and other crap. CCleaner is also great for preventing programs starting that you just don’t want running at boot-up, and for getting rid of right-click context menu additions that you don’t need.

I use both these regularly, as they are to some extent complementary. I even pay for the Pro edition of ASC as I get a cheap deal and it’s useful to have the extra wrinkles. Only one thing to look out for with ASC; System Optimization can disable services that it thinks you won’t need, which in certain circumstances can mean the network services that support HomeGroup, for instance, so after running it you need to uncheck the “Services” box in the results before running “Repair”.

One more free one that has been recommended, and I think might be good, is PrivaZer. This does a good job of removing every superfluous file it can find, but it seems still to be in development – I had it hang on me a couple of times, but without doing any damage. But the support from the development team was good; when I reported the bug they sent me the link for a new version.

If you just want to use one, stick with CCleaner.

Reply | Quote

I used to use ASC v6.0 Pro but I got sick of it popping up with an alert that my computer needed a tune up and I eventually dumped it.

I never allowed it to clean the registry, disk defrag or much else and will not use the registry cleaner of CCleaner, although that is deemed to be the safest of registry cleaners.

The number of times that I’ve seen forum threads asking for help because their Windows no longer works and then it transpires that they have been using some form of tune up program and that has included ASC, because of as it has already been said, some just click on Repair All or whatever.

There’s no need to use any registry cleaner to remove files left after uninstalling a program when they have been uninstalled with a good uninstaller program such as Revo, or Iobit’s uninstaller which I use – one good thing to come out of having used ASC.

The downside of the free version of Revo is that it will not list any 64 bit programs which the Pro version will, but Iobit has no problems.

I run CCleaner to clean out the cache and any cookies at the end of each session and my computer is running fine.

From this reply I think you will gather that I don’t recommend ASC or any other tune up program.

Reply | Quote

IObit UnInstaller download links to Cnet download web page. Cnet is not a good place to do download nowadays; the downloaded file may include unwanted installations and may also include tracking software.

I used to do cleanup myself after web surfing, etc., just not trusting cleaner software, including CCleaner, my favorite. I now use Sandboxie to run them in VM (Virtual Machine). After closing the program, all is clean, nothing left.
Some cleaning maintenance is really needed for peppy computing. Most people will be satisfied using Windows built-in cleaner. It is very safe. However, it does not clean out web content/cookies, persistent flash cookies, recent access item links … And these leftovers grow and grow, privacy notwithstanding.

Maybe no cleaning is needed today. Safer that way. Why take the risk?
With huge hard drive, ever faster hardware, by the time the system is loaded with junk, the PC is already old (hardware, OS, software, or all of them). Time for a new PC. How many Apple tablets/cell phones you bought since the beginning of Apple tablet/cell phone?

Reply | Quote

I have always had a positive experience with ASC Pro…I too avoid any aggressive registry cleaner, so that along with the defrag tool is something I avoid. I have used CCleaner’s registry cleaner with no issue on occasion, but am more apt to use jv16 Power Tools for that if warranted. I have never had any issue with any of the other components of ASC.

Reply | Quote