Iolo System Mechanic Defense packs antivirus and computer optimization tools in one product, as such offering the best of both worlds. It secures, speeds up, and optimizes the computer for maximum productivity, all while providing real-time protection. Let's evaluate its efficiency at length in this detailed review.
Written by Yasir Saeed - Cybersecurity Expert Updated on October 14, 2021 |
Iolo offers a discount if you purchase through an affiliate link, which is $15 off the regular price of $79.95 at $63.96. There are currently no other discounts offered on the website.
System Mechanic Defense is a one-window security and maintenance suite for Windows users which comes with 7 various tools, namely:
In our initial tests, we found it packed with several features including antivirus and system tune-up tools.
Unfortunately, there were no tests on AV-Comparatives and AV-Test websites. This is perhaps the first antivirus product tested with no independent lab test results.
As such, we rate it 3/5
The checklist would give you a quick glimpse of the inside-outs of System Mechanic Ultimate Defense.
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days |
| Free Version | No, only a 30-Day trial |
| Platforms | Windows |
| Parental Controls | No |
| Email Protection | No |
| Chat | No |
| VPN Services | No |
| USD Virus Scans | Yes |
| Automated Virus Scans | Yes |
| Game Mode | No |
| Safe Browser | Yes |
| Passive Mode | Yes |
| Smart Phone Optimizer | No |
| Back Up | No |
| Tune-up | Yes |
Let's see how System Mechanic Defense counters Damocles' sword of virus and its fraternity.
| Anti-spyware | Yes |
| Anti-worm | Yes |
| Anti-torjan | Yes |
| Anti-rootkit | Yes |
| Anti-phishing | Yes |
| Anti-spam | Yes |
| Adware prevention | Yes |
| Malicious URL Blocking | Yes |
System Mechanic Ultimate Defence has several privacy features. It touts as a complete antivirus and security suite with 7 built-in tools that you don’t have to buy separately.
The Firewall option lets you control your PC's Firewall. If everything is alright from the Firewall's side then you will see a green icon in the upper left corner of the program’s dashboard. If not, then the icon will turn grey stating that it has been turned off. It has the option of adding an extra layer of protection alongside using Windows 10 Defender’s firewall. Simply put, it does not have a conflict with Windows Defender and works in harmony with each other.
Safe Browsing - ByePass is an extension that manages all the passwords across devices, regardless of platform. Moreover, the ByePass remote universal logout function aka Guardian lets you log out simultaneously. It also stores and encrypts credit cards so keyloggers cannot track your activities online. Unfortunately it only supports Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox as an extension and excludes support for Safari and Edge.
the ByePass remote universal logout function aka Guardian lets you log out simultaneously. Unfortunately, it only supports Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox as an extension and excludes support for Safari and Edge.
The private Search feature offers extra anonymity to internet searches. It also clears the logs that remove your search history. What it simply does is that all searches made in Private Search mode are done through Onesearch.com, which is not available across all locations. The software and the website also fail in showing which websites.
When it is not available in your location, it shows the following error:
Just like a PC cleaner, the Internet Cleanup option scans and cleans your computer of all temporary and junk files stored due to browsing habits. When you click on Analyze Now, it will scan the system and come up with a list of all files that ought to be deleted.
Once the scanning is completed, the system shows items that need to be cleared. In our case, there were zero items.
The Privacy Guardian is a handy feature that comes with System Mechanic Defense Ultimate. It scans the entire system for any traces of invasive data collection of your online browsing habits.
There is no dedicated feature for blocking ads, however, the privacy guardian feature blocks any attempt of websites trying to collect data from your system.
Our rating: 4.5/5
Why? It contains several useful features that you may find extremely useful. We didn’t rate it 5 because of the lack of independent test results.
System Mechanic Defense never compromises on security; a quick review of the security-oriented features would clear the mist.
The dedicated malware killer section in the program scans the entire system for any malware and proceeds with deletion or quarantine. You have the option of scanning the entire drive or system files for any malware. You can find this option at the end of the left menu.
When you click Scan Now, the program will scan your system for any malware.
Once the scanning is complete, you can select an action from the drop-down menu such as Clean, Exclude, or Move to Quarantine.
You can also see the items in Quarantine, any Exclusions, and the History.
Spyware is more malicious than malware as it steals information. A quick jerk of spyware could make you bankrupt. The spyware protection scheme of System Mechanic mitigates this risk in the first place.
The Digital FingerPrint Protection is a part of Privacy Guardian that does not allow you to run any custom scans but blocks malicious websites trying to track your browsing habits in real-time. You get notifications in the bottom right corner of the system tray, whenever the Digital Fingerprint detects any spyware.
Ransomware penetrates the system and hacks the data until the extorted amount is paid. System Mechanic assures maximum protection against all types of malware but not enough evidence suggests that it can successfully thwart ransomware.
Adware protection is a part of the Privacy Guardian - Digital Fingerprint feature that automatically scans malicious code of websites for spyware and adware.
The emails are also handily screened by the utility software. The Phishing Detector tool in Privacy Guardian helps thwart phishing attempts in all emails received.
In the advanced options of Privacy Guardian, head over to Privacy Shield and scroll down to where it says Allow email access. Once this option is Enabled, phishing detection is automatically turned on.
We weren’t able to find any spam protection in the program. The only option closely resembling spam protection was the Allow email access as discussed in the previous section.
The strongest utility software is also hit by the constant exposure to the malicious environment. System Mechanic is not an exception. Nevertheless, the auto-patch system keeps the software fixed and updated whenever new databases are released.
Our rating: ⅘
Why? We were unable to find dedicated options for protection against ransomware and spamming. Also, there was no mention of these on the official website of Iolo.com
Performance is a key requirement that a utility software must possess in good grades. The performance results of System Mechanic are as follows.
A single tap scan option is available that scans your system for any threats. Fortunately, the usability is super simple. The software asks for permission to scan, you allow, and here it goes.
The antivirus scanning option is only found in Malware Killer, a feature to find malware in your system. It is our educated estimate that since there is no antivirus scanning option, the program does all of the scannings from Malware Killer.
The complete scan of our 256 GB SSD took around 90 minutes, which was higher compared to Kaspersky, Avast, and Norton taking no more than 45 minutes.
While the scanning took place, it consumed nearly 600 MB of RAM and 5.2% of the CPU. While this may seem high, we didn’t notice any performance lag or system slowdowns.
System Mechanic kicks up the lethargic computer by replicating all the basic tune-up benefits right into your PC. The Tune-up tools keep your system up to date with an extremely optimized performance. These are:
Browser accumulates all the rough cache that sticks to the drive and makes your computer a beast of burden. This is the heroic broom of the System Mechanic that keeps this cache grime a mile away.
System Mechanic Defence provides a complete set of system speed-up tools that allows you to increase the speed and thereby maximize the performance of the processor, internet, RAM, and hard drives. This effort finally provides a feather-light effect to the computer.
It has several options that you can use, such as:
The performance of System Mechanic is satisfactory enough in our unbiased review.
Our rating: ⅘
Why? We believe the software has too many features that Windows already has, such as browser cleanup, cookie cleanup, and Firewall. These shouldn’t come at an extra cost.
Our rating: 3.5/5
Why? It is too complex for a beginner to understand. To us, it seems as if they just wanted to sell a premium product with lots of features just thrown away in the program.
Any reliable software vendor has independent test results that back up its claims of malware and virus removal. We searched the internet but were unable to find any independent lab test results. The most prominent websites with lab tests are AV-Comparatives.org and AV-Test.org.
Both websites did not have any test results, and hence we only had to rely on our own ratings to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the antivirus program. Solely based on our tests, we cannot confidently recommend the program despite receiving feasible results.
The user interface of System Mechanic isn’t super simple though. To be honest, it took us quite some time to get used to the dashboard with all the features tucked in various menus. But after a little digging, we were able to get a hold of all the features that the program provided.
The user interface has 4 options on the left-hand side, with each one of them having several sub-menu items. All 7 system optimization tools and malware killers are to be found in the menu. We wished the user interface should have been much simpler and easier to understand with the main Malware Killer on the home page, and advanced features only in settings.
The major hiccup of the System Mechanic Defence is its exclusivity for Windows. It does not support the mobile versions.
The official System Mechanic Defence does not support Mac.
Android compatibility is also non-existent with the journey of System Mechanic Defense.
There is a trial version of the software, the link to which is not available on the homepage. You have to search for System Mechanic Ultimate Defense free trial to land on the free trial landing page, as below
Once you are on the page, simply click the Download Trial Now to download the product.
Once the product is downloaded, proceed with the installation, which usually takes no more than 5 minutes.
There are three versions of this product:
| Plan | Period | Price | Features |
System Mechanic | Free | Basic System Repairs, Cleanup, Speed Boost. | |
| System Mechanic Pro | Per annum | $55.96 | System Optimization, Repairing, System Error Prevention, Junk Cleaning, Antivirus, Monitoring of System Performance. |
| System Mechanic Ultimate Defense | Per annum | $63.96 | All Basic + Extra Features like System Shield, Search and Recover Deleted Data, and Drive Scrubber. |
The customer support team of iolo could be reached both online or by phone. According to Pacific Standard Time, the scheduled support time is 8:00 am to 5:00 pm excluding weekends, holidays, and occasional maintenance periods.
The phone support is only available in English. There are two different numbers for customer support, one for basic, and the other for premium. This is not standard practice for leading antivirus vendors to have premium support for premium clients. The same can be said for Avast, charging as much as $70 per call for their premium support to resolve queries.
The customer support is not inspiring and considering the real-time experience, we give it a ranking of two out of five.
After considering all the aspects, System Mechanic Ultimate Defense proves to be an efficient utility software that manages the day-to-day maintenance regularly.
Unfortunately, there are several questions left unanswered. For example, there are no independent lab test results on AV-Comparatives and AV-Test.
Moreover, there is no knowledge base or dedicated help center. The website also seems to be outdated.
The price is too high and does not come with all the bells and whistles as compared to Norton and other market-leading antivirus solutions.
The customer support is almost non-existent. Our rating is 3/5, and we do not recommend this as a feasible antivirus solution.
1. Does System Mechanic Defence have a free version? |
The trial version with limited access comes for free. Purchase is necessary for enjoying the full benefits. |
2. Is System Mechanic Defence a good antivirus? |
| No independent lab tests mean a lack of enough evidence to deem it appropriate. In our own tests, we also did not find it to be anything out of the ordinary. |
3. Does System Mechanic Defence remove malware? |
Yes, malware support is a prominent feature of System Mechanic, it does this task with utmost efficiency. |
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