OB Roundup
There are many joys associated with buying a new PC, but the most obvious one is the assurance that your new computer, be it a budget business laptop or a tricked-out gaming desktop, will run at peak capacity. You boot it up, and sit back as windows and programs open and close and operate at a brisk pace. It's wonderful. But it doesn't last. Eventually, PCs slow down. That's when tune-up utilities prove their worth.
All computers eventually lose that day-one luster, becoming lethargic, unresponsive, and even unreliable. The operating system gets gunked up as apps are added and incompletely deleted, leaving behind drivers and all sorts of other system detritus. Our hard drives fill up with forgotten files we've abandoned in folders whose existence we've forgotten. Programs build up enormous caches behind the scenes that we don't even know about. Eventually our full hard drives choke the OS as it tries to run. Outdated drivers cease to work correctly. Toolbars and other nasty plug-ins drag our browsers to a crawl.
When our machines become so impaired through use and neglect that we can no longer use Microsoft Word or Steam games with the same speed and efficiency to which we have become accustomed, we often ponder buying new PCs. But that's a drastic solution, and one that's frequently unnecessary. Instead, you can get often that fresh-out-the-box performance for tens of dollars—instead hundreds or even thousands—thanks to a relatively inexpensive tool: the PC tune-up utility.
What's a Tune-Up Utility?
A PC tune-up utility is an application that digs deep into your computer and fixes trouble areas. It performs several functions, including defragmenting your PC's hard drive, repairing the incredibly problematic Windows Registry, and freeing up disk space by deleting useless and duplicate files. Some tune-up utilities perform just those basic functions, while more elaborate ones add numerous features that improve your computer in interesting ways. For example, Iolo System Mechanic—our Editors' Choice for paid tune-up suites—cleaned our gunked-up test bed with its real-time system monitoring and Commonly Redundant or Unnecessary Decelerators and Destabilizers (CRUDD) Remover. SlimWare Utilities SlimCleaner Plus troubleshoots your computer's start up process, helping you to remove apps that don't really need to be there that are slowing down your boot time.
Starting prices for tune-up utilities typically grant one license per purchase, which means you're allowed to install the software on one PC. That's fine if you own a single computer, but in the age of multi-computer households, the license costs can put a dent in your wallet. To be fair, many companies offer multi-license packages, but they can prove pricey, too. That's why you should look for a paid tune-up utility with no installation limitations, such as Comodo PC Tuneup or Iolo System Mechanic. Both let you clean as many computers as you'd like. AVG PC TuneUp, on the other hand, does an excellent job of degunking PCs, but you only get a single license for each purchase.
Our Recommendations
This tune-up utility collection includes not only the utilities mentioned above, but several other programs, too. It doesn't highlight every single system-enhancing tool on the market—these are the best tune-up utilities, after all. Some of the highlighted applications are free, others will cost you, but they all have one thing in common: They'll put some pep back in your PC's step.
Click the links below to read full reviews of these PC tune-up tools. If you an experience you'd like to share with one of the tune-up utilities we've reviewed or if you have one you like better than the ones we've reviewed here, let us know in the comments.