Advanced Windows Care Professional
Reviewed October 2007

What’s It Do? Advanced Windows Care Professional (AWC) claims to provide spyware detection and prevention, privacy protection, performance tune-ups, and computer repairing and cleaning functions.


Does it do what it Promises?

Reviewer 1: It does perform the stated functions.

Reviewer 2: Not exactly. It suggests and then makes a very large number of changes to optimize one’s system. There is no guidance for what the significance of each detailed change is, so most users will have to take the changes on faith. The biggest weakness I found is that many of the Internet changes are specific to Internet Explorer and do not include any of the alternative web browsers. With a generic setup (i.e. Windows out of the box) and are running Internet Explorer, then this may be an appropriate and useful program. With a number of customization tweaks or an alternate web browser, this program will be less than optimal.

Reviewer 3: Very easy, no problems at all. As for most software of this type, get the most current updates before making the first scan.

Reviewer 4: Although this is certainly an easy program to use, at least in its basic operation, I am not totally convinced that the one-click care that Advanced Windows Care advertises is really all that effective. As a first-step line of defense against malware, and as a first-stage tool in diagnosing possible problems, Advanced Windows Care performs adequately; but I have not found that it “finds what other utilities miss”, nor have I found it lives up to the other “X-features” advertised on the site. On the other hand, I would certainly recommend it over Microsoft Windows One Care.

Reviewer 5: Yes. Actual Windows Manager is an all-in-one comprehensive utility to, as its Web site claims, help protect, repair, and optimize your PC. In fact, however, it really does even more than this as it also provides additional tools to manage startup programs, defrag memory, view and edit system services, manage running processes, uninstall software, and for the more advanced user it even provides a TCP/UDP tool to examine who may be “listening” through open ports. The only exception I will take is to its claim that it will prevent spyware, hackers, and highjackers from installing malicious items on your computer. This is simply not true as there is no true real-time antispyware protection available, only a very basic spyware scanner and removal tool; and no single program can guarantee the aforementioned. This bit of hubris is unfortunate because otherwise IOBit, the developers of Advanced Windows Manager, has understated rather than overstated or exaggerated its claims regarding this program.


Was it easy to install?

Reviewer 1:  I had no difficulty installing the program.

Reviewer 2: Installation was generally smooth. I did my initial installation of Advanced WindowsCare (AWC) while I was on vacation and without Internet access. Unfortunately, AWC requires Internet access to activate this program beyond trial mode. When I returned home, I reinstalled with Internet access and found that it automatically checks for the latest version to download and install. The license agreement contains some unusual terms including an agreement that: the user did not rely upon anything outside of the license agreement including their own publications and that you “indemnify IObit fully against all liabilities, costs and expenses which IObit may incur to a third party as a result of your breach of the copyright and trade mark provisions of this agreement.”

Reviewer 3: Yes, this is a very comprehensive and configurable suite of applications that handles many areas of the operating system with little fuss. The main window when starting the program is the “Scan” window. Here one can select of deselect with checkboxes the various areas to be scanned for problems. It does this in one big sweep and the default is scan and clean, so data might be inadvertently deleted.. When done, it lists “problems found” and a “show details” link for each area scanned. This scan can be done on an automated basis via a scheduler found under Options>Settings drop-down menu. The areas include: Spyware Removal, Security Defense (blocking of spyware), Registry Fix, System Optimization, Start-up Manager, Privacy Sweep, Junk Files Cleaner. Be sure to examine each tool to see what it does to avoid unintended consequences. The program also updates itself automatically on a settable schedule, to keep the latest spyware definitions current.

Reviewer 4: Yes. It allowed me to choose where to put the program folder, as well as the location of the shortcuts. Once the installation was complete, the program went through a short set-up process, to adapt the program to the way that I use the computer and establish a few program defaults. The first time that I ran the program, it was necessary to update the database. This was accomplished very easily following the update wizard. One thing that I liked here is that as you go through the wizard, there are hyperlinks to different announcements about the program, including a link to the Users Forum. So, I actually registered there before completing the update and running the program for the first time.

Reviewer 5: Yes. The 4.7MB download is relatively small considering how feature-rich this utility actually is. It installed quickly and easily using standard wizards. All configuration options during installation can be changed if desired after installation as well. I experienced no difficulties whatsoever in either downloading or installing this program.


Good Points.

Reviewer 1: Advanced Windows Care provides a number of valuable protections and information about one’s computer. Its normal scan includes spyware detection and removal, prevention of new spyware installing itself, registry fixes, system optimization, startup program management, privacy sweep, and junk file cleanup. AWC also offers some useful additional tools, including a process manager, a list of all system services (with non-Windows services highlighted in green), a list of ports being used, a software uninstaller, and a cookie manager. Also, all changes made with several of these functions (Spyware Scanner, Security Defense, Registry Scanner, System Analysis, and Startup Scanner) can be monitored by the Restore Center and, if need be, changes can be undone (but see further discussion below).

Reviewer 2: It warns to backup before running it for the first time and offers an option to do this, but this appears to be a Windows Restore Point – a process which is probably sufficient but not as strong as a full backup. The “Details” section displays an impressive amount of information about hardware configuration. Upon the initial scan, an impressive number of suggested changes are categorized and listed with the option to examine and deselect each one.

Reviewer 3: Once setup, it ran unattended and made no waves. It just worked as it was setup to do. To avoid inadvertently removing data, the user must be very sure to read about what each module does and how to control it. I prefer the “just scan option so I can maintain control.
Note: this program automatically makes a backup of everything before cleaning the system so that data is recoverable via the restore center. The Restore Center also has the ability to set a restore point manually at any time, a good practice before installing anything. One can set which areas are backed up and the number of backups to retain in the settings selection of the Restore Center. Found under the Tools>Add-ons dropdown are even more tools: Process Manager, System Services, TCP/UDP (what is connecting / connected to the computer via TC/IP), a software uninstaller and Cookie Manager.

Reviewer 4: In spite of the misgivings I expressed above, Advanced Windows Care does provide some protection and does help to streamline and make the general operation of Windows leaner and more efficient. I installed Advanced Windows Care on two computers. One has three different programs geared towards protecting the computer from external threats. The other has one anti-spyware program. On the first computer, Advanced Windows Care does not usually find too much to complain about and usually the cleanup operations that it proposes are minor -- recently-used lists, cookies and occasional references in the registry to files that no longer exist. On the other computer, when I first ran the program, it found much to do. Again, most of the problems were not critical, although there were some that did need attention. However, once the first scan and one-click cleanup was performed, it settled back into a relatively quiet existence. Since then it has continued to run in the background, and requires little attention. About once a week, I run the scan manually. Generally, the problems and solutions deal with minor issues.

Advanced Windows Care includes a number of additional tools. The Start-up Manager lists all the programs that are called into action when the computer boots up, and which continue to run from then on. Beside each program in the list there is a rather interesting comment recommending whether each item should be there or not. In particular, I like the category called, “Trustworthy -- But not required, typically infrequently used tasks that can be started manually if needed.” I realized that a lot of programs include an Auto-update feature which is not really necessary, and which consume valuable computer resources. There is an additional “Description” which was sometimes informative, and sometimes sparse. Except as noted below, the program did not cause any catastrophic errors. When I had occasion to correspond with the support people, they replied quickly, efficiently and courteously.

Reviewer 5: I have been using this program on a daily basis for nearly five months and if there is a way to stress test a software program, then this program has been stress tested. It is just about as perfect a program as I have seen in this type of all-in-one utility, and yet the developers continue to improve and refine the program continually. I am a relatively advanced computer user and so-called “expert,” and I keep my computer clean; my registry clear of old, obsolete, and useless entries; my system services and running processes trimmed to the minimum for resource efficiency; and I do “tweak” my system for the best potential performance. Nonetheless, Advanced Windows Manager found and offered legitimate ways to tune, clean, and improve my system further for even better efficiency and performance. The GUI (Graphic User Interface) is clean, attractive, and intuitive; however, if the user doesn’t like its appearance, there are several alternate looks (themes) from which to choose. There are multiple configurations available to customize the utility to specific computer use and type of Internet connection, as well as to the use of the utility and its features, and all are easily located and written in a clear and concise language that even the least experienced user can comprehend, The opening window displays information about the computer and network, and the last scan date. Updates can be checked from this window. Advanced Windows Care has no less than seven scanners: spyware, registry, startup, security, system optimization, privacy sweep, and junk file cleaner. Remarkably, the entire time for all scans took slightly less than two minutes and used barely any computer resources. One is given the option to simply allow the program to execute whatever is suggested based on its scan or to examine each scan area separately to determine which if any suggested changes will be allowed. The program does create a backup which can be restored if the changes or deletions made turn out to cause some unexpected problem; however, in well over 100 scans on my computer I allowed it to “do its thing” so too speak and never once had a problem result. In fact, the only result was a cleaner, more efficient, and smoother running computer. As delineated above, the additional tools are really a bonus and with the exception of the memory cleaner which I strongly advise against using (I advise against using any memory cleaners/defragmentation utilities as they will actually slow a computer in the long run and do possible damage), each are invaluable in and of themselves. Currently, support consists of 24/7 online support (with live support promised to be coming soon), help files, an FAQ, and an excellent and very active “Community Forum”. All but the latter are accessible through the program interface. I had no need to use support but did spend considerable time regularly reading the posts and answers in the forum--all of which were answered in less than a day, were informative, and in most cases answered by the developers themselves.


Weak Points.

Reviewer 1: One of Advanced Windows Care’s biggest weaknesses for me is that too often it provides inadequate information. For example, its System Analysis identified 12 supposed problems, but it failed to explain the problems adequately. It listed 11 “bottlenecks” of my system but didn’t say why it considered them to be bottlenecks. One of these “bottlenecks” was “Routing and Remote Access,” which it said “offers routing services to businesses in local area and wide area network environments,” something for which I have no need. AWC wanted me to change the Routing and Remote Access setting from “Disabled” to “Manual,” but it didn’t say why. In several other instances, it wanted me to change a feature’s setting from “Automatic” to “Manual,” but it again failed to explain why. Moreover, the “Service Descriptions” it offered for these “bottlenecks” were very hard to read, since not enough room was provided for the description, and the usual method of dragging to enlarge a section worked very poorly. The “Rating” section of the Startup Manager module had a similar problem: descriptions were truncated because not enough room was provided. Also, the Startup Manager provided no information about Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher, which it identified as an “unknown program.” I’m surprised that it had no information about part of a program as well known and widely used as Adobe Acrobat. Another area where I’d have liked more information is the Privacy Sweep included in AWC’s scan. Privacy Sweep is set up to delete my Firefox browser’s cookies, download history, history, saved forms info, and internet cache. I think more information should be provided about each of these. For example, will Privacy Sweep delete all cookies or just those not protected in Firefox’s Cookie Culler? And what effect will deleting the Internet cache have? Because I didn’t know what cookies would be deleted, I removed cookie deletion from Privacy Sweep. And because I make frequent use of the information in history (to find Web sites I’ve been to in the past week or so), I removed that section from Privacy Sweep as well. I then let AWC correct the remaining entries, only to find that it wiped out the record of which messages I had already seen on several Web forums. This could have been prevented had there been an explanation of what these proposed deletions would entail. Another reservation I have concerns the “Registry Fix” component of AWC’s normal scan. I have used the highly regarded JV PowerTools’ Registry Cleaner for years. It gives the choice of “normal” or “aggressive” cleaning, with a warning issued if “aggressive” is chosen. I generally choose “normal.” To my surprise, AWC apparently uses aggressive cleaning. For example, JV PowerTools found and removed 74 problematic registry entries. I then ran an AWC scan, which found an additional 908! Frankly, I prefer to err on the side of caution. The only way I could do that in AWC is to go through the many hundreds of entries it turns up and decide which ones should be deleted, something I have neither the time nor the registry expertise to do. Finally, AWC claims that its Restore Center can be used to undo any changes one regrets making. The Help file claims that “X-RESTORE is always active to automatically backup all of your changes in the background. Just one click in Restore Center, you can undo all of your changes if need be.” However, though I run AWC scans frequently, routinely make changes, and have set all available modules to be protected, the Restore Center lists only two backups available for restoring, both from several months ago.

Reviewer 2: This is largely a “take it on faith” program. A multitude of changes were suggested on my system, but there was very little detail provided regarding the benefits and risks of those changes. Some of the solutions presented are very specific to Internet Explorer (IE). For example, it offered to block known bad Web sites. I allowed it to proceed although it gave no clue about how it was going to block those sites. Only when a warning message from CounterSpy popped up did I learn that it was adding those sites to the restricted zone of IE. I use Firefox as my main browser, so these IE solutions were not very helpful to me, but they did leave me wondering whether there were Internet issues that might not be addressed for other browsers. (Suggestion to iObit: If you block bad Web sites using the Hosts file, the site will be blocked for all browsers, not just Internet Explorer.) There is a “System Optimization” section that breaks up the display of problems into a set of discrete pages. I started with the one that dealt with visual effects and selected the ones I wished to change. To my surprise, when I clicked on the button to make the changes, I found that it made all of the changes on all of the System Optimization pages and I was left not knowing which changes I had made. When I returned to this section upon reinstallation, I found the detail for the tweaks that I had missed the first time. I also installed the updated version (2.5.5.926) and found that the I was able to successfully optimize each section as I was unable to do before. I sent an e-mail request to technical support in July asking whether there was a log file or other method of determining which changes AWC had made on my system. No reply was received.

Reviewer 3: This program must be used with care. Using the “Scan” will scan and repair anything the program finds. This is the default setting. The saving grace is that it’s recoverable.

Reviewer 4: I did not find Advanced Windows Care to do the deep cleaning that I expected it would from the description of the program on the site. For example, although there is a Registry Scan, that finds and fixes problems in the Registry, I have not abandoned my usual registry backup, cleaning and packing programs. When either of those programs was run, even right after a scan by Advanced Windows Care, there would still be a significant number of items that needed to be fixed. Nor have I given up the anti-spyware or anti-virus programs I have running. I also found that I had to be careful in using some of the additional Tools, which extend the functions of the basic one-click process. One that caused me quite a bit of trouble was the Start-up Manager. Thinking that I was moving programs from the “Unknown” category (several of which I felt should be “known” – Open Office comes to mind) I tried to give them “Trusted” status. However at the next reboot, none of these programs started up at all. I did a restore, and was able to get them back into the start-up procedure. When I looked at the Start-up Manager again, I found all the programs to be there, and listed as “Trustworthy -- placed there by the User.” So it had worked, but not quite as I had expected.

Reviewer 5: There really are no serious weaknesses as far as the operation of this program or its promises. As with any program, especially a relatively new program still being actively developed and refined, a user can always find things they would like to see improved. I only have a few suggestions for improvement. I would like to see a more detailed explanation of the suggested changes from the System Optimization scan as well as well as what those changes will actually do. Blind faith is a little much to ask when making changes deep inside the operating system. I would like to see a more detailed explanation of what the registry keys are or their function or what program they are tied to before asking me to delete them. Some keys are self-explanatory but most are not and it is possible to do serious damage to a program or the entire system deleting a key found in error. I would suggest including a link to the Community Forum along with the other support choices under Options. The Community Forum is excellent and will eliminate most if not all need for technical support. This is a superb feature and one of which to be proud, and is rather hidden both in the Interface as well as on the Web site. Eliminate the Memory Cleaner. Memory Cleaners are not a substitute or recipe for needing more RAM as all they do to “increase” memory is to swap running programs out to the page file which in actuality will slow them down. While I understand this is a “popular” feature—especially with the uninitiated— and offers some additional marketability, this tool cheapens the utility and hurts its credibility with the serious computer user. Finally, I would suggest that you eliminate the spyware scanner. It is really superfluous and possibly, unintentionally I am sure, will give the user a false sense of security. Let those that specialize in antispyware programs scan for spyware. They have the 800,000+ definition file databases that would be impossible to have in such a program as Advanced Windows Care and thus can do a more effective job of finding spyware. Advanced Windows Care already does so many things superbly and adding features that are not needed and cannot compete realistically or effectively only weakens this program.


Comments.

Reviewer 1: I was somewhat dismayed by AWC’s End User License Agreement (EULA). At the start, it informs that acceptance of the agreement “shall bind you and all of your employees to the terms of this license.” Why should my personal use of the software bind my employees to the terms of this license? Further on, the EULA states: “You acknowledge that you have exercised your independent judgment in acquiring the Software and have not relied upon any representations made by IObit which have not been stated expressly in this agreement or upon any descriptions or illustrations or specifications contained in any document including catalogues or publicity material produced by IObit.” In other words, don’t believe our Web site, our Help file, or anything else we may tell you.

Reviewer 2: A critical point was their claim in the FAQ that “X-RESTORETM is always active to automatically backup all of your changes in background. Just one click in RestoreCenter, you can undo all of your changes if need be”. I do not use Windows Restore Points on my system, opting to rely on imaged backups instead (and using the disk space/resources for other things). Since I did not allow AWC to set a restore point, I found that there was no way to restore changes in their Restore Center.

Reviewer 3: This is a useful and very configurable program. Like anything this powerful, one should take the time to read and understand what it can and will do before actually running a scan.

Reviewer 4: There is an Advanced Windows Care Personal Edition which is freeware. It has many of the main functions of the Professional Version of the program. Those interested could start with the Personal Edition for a good idea of what the program can do and how it works; however, it does lack quite a number of the features offered by the Professional Version. For example, there are no automated functions, so it can be used once daily, then turned off. The Professional Version, which provides continual automated protection, should be left on all the time.

Reviewer 5: There is a freeware version available that is not quite as feature-rich. The Pro version comes with a 30-day money back guarantee and at $29.95 is priced well under the competition such as System Mechanic. I highly recommend Advanced Windows Care without reservation.
IObit, the developers of Advanced Windows Care, is a young and relatively new company now in its second year of business, It has quickly become one of the most highly respected and successful software developers today. IObit just recently announced that Advanced Windows Care reached the 5 millionth download, not bad for a product that is less than two years old. Furthermore, it has consistently ranked in the top 50 most popular downloads at Download.com, the biggest download site in the world, and has won numerous awards. The proof, however, is not in awards or number of downloads or even professional reviews but, as I have oft repeated in these reviews, in what everyday users think. With that in mind, I would point you to http://www.download.com/Advanced-WindowsCare-Personal/3640-2086_4-10744227.html  where you can see for yourself that of the nearly 200 user reviews that vast majority are positive. Again, a small company of dedicated people who are customer service oriented and dedicated to making an excellent product.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1: No.

Reviewer 2: No.

Reviewer 3: Yes, I liked its flexibility and automatic features. It is a very useful “all-in-one” tool that did not seem to consume too many resources

Reviewer 4: Yes, I will, in conjunction with my other utilities.

Reviewer 5: Absolutely. It is now one of my “can’t live without utilities” and has replaced two other utilities that were much more expensive and consumed far more of my computer resources. This is a winner.
 

OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro, XP Home

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