Labs

Not only does Fix-it Utilities include the system maintenance tools that come with the other suites, it also incorporates anti-virus protection, with a year of free updates, and an anti-spyware scanner. At first glance, then, it looks like great value for money. Appearances can be deceptive.

The anti-virus

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scanner is enabled by default, so if you already have anti-virus protection installed you're likely to suffer conflicts from the outset. The program also loads in the background on Windows startup, so we found it increased our startup time slightly - one of the very problems we wanted to solve. You can disable these features, but it wasn't as easy we would have liked.

Fix-it doesn't automatically back up your Registry or temporary files, but does prompt you to do so before completing an operation. The program's interface isn't as polished as TuneUp's, and many of the individual utilities looked as if they were from a completely different application.

We were pleased with the range of system optimisation tools, and the Registry cleaner was one of the most thorough on test. Despite its flaws, if you want to speed up your PC and also need anti-virus, Fix-it can do both for under £25.