Is Glary Utilities safe to use?
Your PC gradually ages as a result of web browsing, gaming, video editing, and other activities as your operating system and hard drive accumulate unused registry keys, lost files, and other computer clutter. As a result, your formerly quick computer can take longer to start up, crash more frequently, lock up more frequently, or experience more errors. To put an end to these issues, the tune-up application Glary Utilities Pro makes use of a collection of more than 20 tools. Although the app is simple to use and enhances the efficiency of your system, its license restrictions and dearth of software explanations keep it in the middle of the pack.
Both price and compatibility
For computers running Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, or XP, Glary Utilities Pro is a little program that downloads and installs rapidly. The software delivers junk-file removal, registry repair, and disk cleanup capabilities for $39.99 per year, which is usual pricing for tune-up products. It also contains a few helpful features that aren’t present in Glary Utilities’ free edition, such the option to set tune-up times and automated program upgrades.
The only drawback is that a Glary Utilities Pro membership only gives you three licenses. Although that number is respectable, the licensing constraint could be problematic and even expensive if you live in a home with many of computers. On the other hand, Iolo allows you to install its System Mechanic tune-up software on as many PCs as you’d like ($14.98 at iolo technologies).
Features
You start by starting a system scan to find issues with your PC. Using Gary Utilities Pro’s 1-Click Maintenance tool, you have the option of fixing each issue individually or all of them at once. Regardless of your strategy, the cleanup procedure starts when you click the Repair Problems icon after the scans are finished. Depending on how disorganized your PC is, the tune-up can take anything from a few minutes to a few hours. It took nearly to an hour to clean out my outdated test PC’s fractured registry, out-of-date drivers, and junk-filled hard drive.
In contrast to SlimWare Utilities SlimCleaner Plus ($29.97 at Slimware), Glary Utilities Pro advises you to remove undesirable software and garbage files, but it lacks extensive instructions, which is a missed chance for informing users. People frequently—if not always—just erase things without giving them any thought, which can be dangerous. Fortunately, Glary Utilities Pro contains backup and restore features that might come in handy when you accidentally break your PC and need to travel back in time.
Sadly, the application doesn’t offer user-based ratings that could assist you decide which programs to keep. I greatly like SlimWare Utilities’ much more educational approach, which not only teaches you about applications’ functionality but also assists you in deciding what should be deleted.
On the plus side, Glary Utilities Pro has a very handy driver updater that searches for new drivers when the ones on your PC that are currently installed become out-of-date. My test system’s half a dozen dust-covered, obsolete drivers were found by Glary Utilities Pro, which then downloaded the most recent ones to restore my hardware and software to optimal performance.
You can set up tune-up times so that Glary Utilities Pro takes care of the maintenance at predetermined periods. This isn’t a unique feature—other high-quality tune-up utilities like CCleaner Professional Plus ($19.99/Year at CCleaner) have it, too—but it’s always a good addition. The Startup Manager and File Shredder utilities are additional helpful functions. The former enables you to shorten the boot time by controlling the software that starts up when your PC turns on. The latter makes deleted files very difficult to recover by securely overwriting them. When it’s time to delete sensitive data, such information related to tax preparation, this option comes in handy.
Fortunately, Glary Utilities Pro’s extensive feature set is simple to use and activate. The tune-up package offers an intuitive interface that makes navigating through it simple. One of the most often ignored qualities of utility software is how easy on the eyes the blue and white color scheme is. You don’t have to sacrifice software aesthetics just because you’re working in your PC’s mudhole!
The Test Fields
I ran two tests—the Geekbench system performance tool and monitoring boot times—before and after using this collection of PC-tuning utilities to see how well Glary Utilities Pro might speed up my computer. I perform each exam three times, then I average the outcomes. My laptop, a 2GHz Intel Core i7 X990 Style-Note with Windows 7, 4GB of RAM, and an 80GB Intel SSD disk, scored 5,914 on Geekbench and started in 50.3 seconds before Glary worked its magic.
The performance of my testbed increased when I used Glary Utilities Pro. The boot time reduced to 45.2 seconds and the GeekBench score increased to 6,111, which is slightly behind SlimCleaner Plus’ 6,218 score.
Those data show significant improvements, but they would be meaningless if there was no swing, which is fortunate since there is. My testbed opened windows and apps with a vigor that wasn’t there when the machine was jam-packed with junk after running Glary Utilities Pro. Even the notoriously bloated iTunes and Steam felt faster. But Iolo System Mechanic and SlimCleaner Plus provide better all-around performance improvements, as evidenced by their higher performance ratings and the improved responsiveness of the PCs they optimize.
Putting the Broom Away
With its defragmentation, deletion, and boot-up management capabilities, Glary Utilities Pro is a capable tune-up program that revitalizes outdated PCs. I still think the software could do more to differentiate itself from the competitors. Iolo System Mechanic and SlimWare Utilities SlimCleaner Plus are our Editors’ Choice picks, but Glarysoft’s Utilities Pro could join them if a later version is updated with product descriptions and unlimited licenses. Glary Utilities Pro is a good option right now, but it’s not the greatest you can find.
