Iola System Mechanic Versus Ccleaner?

[countrykid]

My Toshiba Laptop is a few years old and is no doubt full of "clutter", which causes it to run much slower than when shiny new!!! The other day a message came through on my PC which suggested I could download some free software from Toshiba that would speed up my PC. I don't fall for tricks like this without looking into things a bit further, but it transpired it was really a link to Iola System Mechanics and I'd get a FREE system check up. It checked my PC and revealed I had a shed full of issues, which if I wanted fixing, I'd need to download a paid for version. Reviews for this product seem mixed, from very good to a waste of money. One magazine review suggested CCleaner is better overall, giving more control to the user, with more options. Having said that it did also say that Iola was very easy to use, and I do like things to be simple - so long as it does what I need it to do eg speed up my PC. Anybody any experience of either? The deal suggests I get 50% off thye regular price, so I'd pay £19.98. I haven't checked the price of CCleaner yet. Thanks in advance

[Baldric]

Malwarebytes (Free) version

[RobNorth]

Have you defragged the hard drive? This can sometimes help and it's free in Microsoft.

[fender62]

use ccleaner, then defrag, after that reboot

[Guilbert53]

>>>It checked my PC and revealed I had a shed full of issues

Of course it did, they are hardly going to say there was nothing wrong with your PC or you would not buy it.

These type of programs will ALWAYS say there are dozens of things wrong with your PC when there isn't.

DONT fall for pop up adverts for programs that promise they will help to improve your PC if you pay them lots of money.

p.s The original message probably did not come from Toshiba they probably knew you had a Toshiba so pretended their software was supported by them, A plain lie.

If you had a Sony laptop they said it was from Sony.

NEVER trust ANY pop up advert you get on your computer. If you stick with that rule you will be ok.

[Guilbert53]

Doing a defrag of you have an SSD (Solid state drive) and not a hard drive is a BAD idea.

[Buenchico]

Registry cleaners can, if not used carefully, do more damage than good. I know nothing about Iola System Mechanic but I see no reason to pay for it. The free versions of CCleaner and Glary Utilities (which are the only two registry cleaners I'd trust myself) can do everything you need.

[ro2124]

Yeah I used to go for all that cleaner type stuff, until I read registry cleaners can actually make things worse. Think best leave alone. Used to have Advanced System Care, but apparently that can have issues. So now only use CC ..and a prog called Wise disk cleaner- wont speed things up but saved me tons of HDD space.

[SlackAlice]

I'd use CCleaner (free version) with no worries, although I wouldn't use the Registry Editor. Windows copes quite well with an untidy scruffy registry quite well. Only mess with the registry at your peril!

Shouldn't be really necessary to do a 'defrag' either if your using Windows 7 or higher. SSD's should not be defragged, use the SSD Makers own utilities if necessary.

[ivor4781]

any "free scan" by these all in one cleaners will find you have lots of issues,NOT all are gen issuse its to make you think, hell i must buy this product,

[countrykid]

Many thanks for all responses and suggestions/advice. Sounds like the free version of CC is worth using - and as buenchico said, one of only a few he would trust. If this version has any option to tweek the registry - sounds like I should leave that alone!! I'll google for a link to download free CC