PC Matic 3.0 review: Holistic healing with a race car aesthetic - bakerfisir1971

Antivirus suites with wads of features tend to revolve about detection and managing threats first, and past throw in some "tune up" utilities as extras. PC Matic 3.0 from Iowa-based PC Pitstop takes a very different approach. This software is instead an optimization tool for your PC with antivirus organism sporty unmatchable part of that larger whole.

That focus connected optimization is made clear the moment you control PC Matic's Nascar-like sensuous or that of PC Pitstop's site—even the name gives it away. In the worldwide of PC Matic, your PC needs to be a finely tuned machine primed and ready to deliver the carrying into action you require.

Note: This reexaminatio is part of our best antivirus roundup. Adam there for details about competitive products and how we tested them.

Non your usual A/V suite

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PC Matic 3.0's default dashboard.

PC Matic is precisely so funny. I get into't say that Eastern Samoa an insult but an observation. After reviewing nearly all major antivirus product over the past twelvemonth, I've never run crossways a program quite like this.

You don't scan your PC for threats in the traditional sentience with PC Matic. Rather, you run a CAT scan on your Microcomputer for a whole host of issues including disk fragmentation, benchmark execution, and oh yeah, malware.

Features and services

First, nonetheless, PC Matic has to coiffure a diagnostic scan to see where the problems are. The diagnostic has four star components: Upkeep, Stability, Security, and Execution. During these diagnoses, information technology scans for scrap files, checks for disk fragmentation, craplets, system quality, driver updates, various forms of malware and other security threats, and then runs a series of benchmarks.

You can run just a pure malware scan if you prefer by unchecking options, but the default on is to approach all of these as equally important.

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PC Matic 3.0 after the initial diagnostic scan.

Erst the diagnostic scan is finished, you get your results. All the various issues are color coded. Carmine indicates a failing try requiring your attention, green means the PC passed all tests for that issue, gray means a skipped test, blue is noesis, old means advice, and purple indicates a advisable but nonessential pinch.

Clicking connected the color codes shows you what the problem is, including the problematic file or outdated software. Once you've reviewed everything, you click Next and you'll see a block out with all the various suggested actions. Uncheck any of the items you Don't want to fix and select Continue.

Peerless thing I noticed therein process was that PC Matic suggested defragmenting my C drive. The only trouble therewith is my drive is an SSD. Common wisdom says you should not defragment an SSD—though not everyone agrees. I asked PC Pitstop about this and the company said that PC Matic ordinarily detects when soul has an SSD, which suggests my experience was likely an anomaly.

One really courteous affair about PC Matic is that you can get word the status of wholly PCs connected to your account directly in the desktop political platform. Dawn on the name of the Personal computer, and you'll see a splasher succinct with speedometer-like statuses for the most Holocene epoch RAM, Central processor, and disk exercis. Below that in that location's also selective information about that PC's statistics, including viruses saved, patched vulnerabilities, disk defragmentation, and so on. Here, you can also schedule scans and position performance trends charts.

That's in truth the bulk of PC Matic's desktop program. It carries out all of these items at once. There are a few features you can tweak, however, by clicking on Options from the main splashboard.

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PC Matic 3.0's Options screen.

By default, for example, PC Matic does a speedy malware glance over, simply under Options > Scan Options > Quick/Full Malware Scan, you can change that to Full, or Selective to scan a specific folder. You could also turn happening a registry cleaner, which is turned off by default.

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Combined feature film that I did have problems with in PC Matic 3.0 was SuperShield. This is the course of study's alive scanner that looks at programs and files in material time to keep active malware operations. In my tests, however, PC Matic obstructed virtually every mini program PCMark 8 in use for benchmarking. It likewise wouldn't allow an uninstallation utility to run for a lesser-known VPN.

One of the differences with PC Matic 3.0 is that IT uses a whitelist approach to programs. Meaning that by default on it solely allows programs information technology knows are trusted to run. This is in rate to stop ransomware and other lesser-known malicious programs from laying waste your daytime. That's wholly well and good, especially compared to blacklists where an antivirus suite keeps a list of disallowed programs (instead of allowed programs) that arrive at it easier for unseen malicious programs to sneak past. The name approach is the middle-aged manner of doing things, however, as Sir Thomas More and more antivirus programs are turning to behavioral analysis and artificial intelligence to deal with subtle malware.

Subordinate normal circumstances I would've just reversed off SuperShield later it pestered me one too many times, but since I sought-after an accurate picture of the program's performance I had to whitelist every EXE file during PCMark's first happen. It was a pain, and to be antitrust it was the only time I experienced fanatical activity on PC Matic's persona.

As for pricing, it's moderately standard. You can fund $50 to cover five PCs for a year operating theatre $200 for lifetime coverage for the same number of computers. For 10 PCs, you pay $100 each year or $400 for lifetime. The lower pricing option is unusual, as is the lifetime option—just about antivirus suites are priced at $100 for 10 devices including Bitdefender, Bullguard, McAfee, and Norton.

Carrying into action

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In its July 2018 tests, Av-Test gave PC Matic a score of 97.5 percent for its zero-day, net, email, and malware attacks quiz supported 225 samples. The organization's larger malware test with 5,565 samples scored 100 percent.

PC Matic was not a part of A-V Comparatives' or SE Labs' tests in Holocene epoch months.

As for our in-business firm functioning tests, overall PC Matic had no more significant impact on performance based on the Personal computer Mark 8 benchmarks. Without Personal computer Matic installed, the test PC had an norm score of 2,493; after a full run down with PC Matic the average was slightly lower berth at 2,484.

There few caveats with Microcomputer Matic. First the antivirus does non function in offline mode, soh all tests were run with Wisconsin-Fi active. Moment, PC Matic required a reboot after to each one scan so a subsequent scan to complete the cognitive process, which was finished each time.

As far arsenic the Handbrake test goes, again there was no change. The Personal computer reencoded a 3.8GB MKV file cabinet to Handbrake's Android preset in combined hour, 14 transactions, and 36 seconds. With PC Matic running; after a full scan that time went up by 19 seconds to unitary hour, 14 minutes, and 55 seconds.

Termination

Overall, PC Matic is an interesting broadcast. It's odd compared to other AV suites and leave bring out or s getting wont to with its optimization focus. That's not solely because of the whitelist approach, which can embody problematic, merely even running something as simple atomic number 3 a manual malware scan takes a high degree of user involution than other suites. But at $50 for five devices, it may appeal to those looking an antivirus suite on the cheap.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/401716/pc-matic-30-review-holistic-healing-with-a-race-car-aesthetic.html

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