Glary Utilities

Pros

• Exceptional tool selection
• Simple interface
• Fast performance

Cons

• Popup reminders in the free version
• Few customization options for advanced users

Glary Utilities is a program designed to help clean and optimize any computer system. The application comes in a free personal version and a professional version that must be purchased. The free version has a large amount of the same functionality although certain options are restricted. One of the minor issues with Glary Utilities is that it does not immediately let users know what options are only in the professional version. Clicking these options causes a somewhat annoying popup window to appear asking users to register. Installation is easy otherwise and does not include any spyware although it does add an automatic updater for the program.

Glary Utilities has a wide range of options for scanning and optimizing a system. All these options are gathered in a simple interface that has just a few screens. Users get basic information about the system on the first screen. This includes how fast the computer boots and how that compares to the averages of other people. The first overview screen also has a simple to use startup manager. This lets users browse through the programs run at startup. Each program can be enabled or disabled quickly to affect boot times. The program provides a brief description of each startup program and the percentage of users that recommend disabling it.

The main control panel has all of the different tasks that Glary Utilities can perform divided into 11 categories. Everything is easy to see and understand. Glary Utilities can perform some basic tasks to help improve system performance like defragmenting the hard drive and checking for disk errors. It also has more advanced tasks like ability to remove malware, backup an entire computer and encrypt private files for added security. A few specialized tasks are included like a command that can split large files into smaller individual chunks for archiving.

There are optimization commands that perform a number of different functions. The application includes a complete suite of tools that can scan, repair and restore the critical system registry. There are system options to help create more random access memory or to clean up the entire hard drive to free up extra space. There are even simple tools for managing the currently running processes, scheduled system tasks and active services. This all gives users a high level of control over the system and performance.

Glary Utilities includes a one-click maintenance button. Users can customize exactly what is done when the button is clicked. The options include jobs like fixing the registry, deleting temporary files and repairing broken shortcuts. Glary Utilities manages to pack a large amount of functionality into just three screens and a program that is less than 14 megabytes in size. It is simple to use and effective. The only criticism other than the popup windows in the free version is that there is not granular control of some of the tools for advanced users.

Pros

• Exceptional tool selection
• Simple interface
• Fast performance

Cons

• Popup reminders in the free version
• Few customization options for advanced users