iolo makes a range of useful cyber security products, including ByePass, a helpful password management suite, and Malware Killer, a lightweight program that can eradicate ransomware and other unwanted bits of code lurking on your PC. Another excellent iolo tool is Privacy Guardian which protects any sensitive data you generate while online. These iolo products can be purchased separately or with the System Mechanic Ultimate Defense bundle.
Found that your computer is showing its age by not responding as fast as it once used to? Then there’s a good chance that your problems could be fixed by better optimizing your system. That’s exactly what the iolo System Mechanic software package promises to do.
By defragging your hard drive and adjusting important settings related to your CPU and RAM management, System Mechanic can bring even the most sluggish PCs back to life. But that’s not all. System Mechanic is actually a full suite of different iolo products. Together, or separately, these tools will help you to recover lost data, fight malicious software, protect your privacy, and manage your digital credentials.
iolo is a one-stop-shop for making your PC work better. While other cyber security companies focus on providing one service at a time, such as blocking malware, iolo does it all at once. What’s more, all iolo products can be installed on an unlimited number of Windows machines. That puts iolo firmly ahead of other cyber security software manufacturers, like BitDefender, who restrict the number of devices their packages can be added to.
With bold red and black styling, the look of iolo’s interface won’t be for everyone. Each iolo product is very user-friendly, though. Simple menus allow you to swap between different functions and start malware scans or activate system clean up utilities.
Once you’ve activated a malware or system optimization scan, you’ll see a scan progress window. Here, at a glance, you can see what iolo is changing on your system and prevent it from searching in certain areas to save time.
Unfortunately, there’s no good way to find out how well iolo Malware Killer and System Shield actually works when it comes to antivirus protection because the products haven’t been tested by independent labs. Anecdotal reports suggest that System Shield offers patchy protection from known samples of ransomware.
However, things look much better when it comes to the reliability of the Privacy Guardian tool. Once loaded onto our test system, Privacy Guardian threw up a notification every time we visited a website that seemed likely to have ad-profiling software embedded.
With each iolo product, you get one year of coverage. After that, you’ll have to purchase the package again to keep using the software. In some cases, iolo’s website suggests you may get a cheaper renewal price, but there’s no guarantee that’ll be the case.
ByePass | Malware Killer | System Shield | Privacy Guardian | System Mechanic | System Mechanic Pro | System Mechanic Ultimate Defence | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Price | $15.96 | $19.96 | $31.96 | $27.96 | $29.99 | $55.96 | $63.96 |
Optimize Your PC | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Protect Online Identity | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Manage Your Passwords | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Find and Remove Malware | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Blocks Malware | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Wipe Drives and Recovery Lost Files | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
iolo offers a wide variety of different products and some are a better deal than others. For example, System Mechanic Ultimate Defence comes with so many different features that it will save cash compared to paying separately for antivirus, file optimizer, and password management programs.
iolo customers can access customer support staff via a free phone line during PST standard working hours. For less urgent queries, a ticket service is available too. You can also troubleshoot through an iolo customer forum, but unfortunately, it’s quite inactive.
If you need an all-in-one PC optimization and cybersecurity toolkit, iolo is a great option to consider. However, there are both strong and weak parts to the iolo cybersecurity product lineup. On the one hand, its privacy protection and password management tools work just as well as any competitor in the business, but iolo's malware detection capabilities certainly leave room for improvement.
Founded in 1998, iolo technologies is a software manufacturer best known for its System Mechanic PC tune-up suite. Besides system optimization, iolo products will help you to keep your online accounts and identities secure, and protect your computer from unpleasant pieces of malware and other viruses.
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