Review by Susan Katz

I have been using SM for nearly 5 years now. I first purchased it when my primary computer began acting sluggish – it was in need of maintenance but I had no idea what. For me, SM was a god-send … it breathed new life into an aging machine and allowed me to keep it up and running for 4 more years. I love the product so much that I’ve used the trial version on my elder parents’ machines. I also use it on my DH’s machine … and he’s an IT professional. I now have new machine, and one of my first installs was … you guessed it, SM 9 for Win7.

That said, some words of advice when using SM.

–> Back-up your registry & system before the first install.n–> Check online for updates, especially after the first install.n–> Always, always, always back-up your system & registry before any major changes to you computer, including the ones that SM makes/suggests.n–> Don’t use Active Care. Instead, use the individual tools or tool groups.n–> Make changes incrementally. Reboot after making a change & re-analyze for recommendations. Evaluate.n–> Before you make a change, do some research and understand a bit about what the change/fix is. Just because a program suggests a change/fix, doesn’t mean that you should make it.n–> SM Standard is probably sufficient. I’ve previously owned SM Pro and never used the additional features. However, SM Pro is non-subscription pricing but SM Standard is yearly subscription (at least as of the last I checked).n–> Price the SM 3-PC license versions. I’ve found this to be one of the best values – only problem, the clock on all the licenses starts ticking on the first install & activation.

That said, SM is a great all-in-one maintenance utility – it’s a worthwhile investment in your computer, and it just might improve your knowledge about PCs. That’s what it’s done for me.

Highly recommended!